The early-round winners and losers from NBA free agency
If the Bulls keep Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan together for a third season, LaVine sees an “unstoppable” offense in the making. But let’s not start calling the Bulls free agent winners just yet.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
Arturas Karnisovas wasn’t the only member of the Bulls preaching continuity when the season ended on South Beach back in April.
Two-time All-Star Zach LaVine was right in step with his executive vice president of basketball operations, promising another year working with veteran forward DeMar DeRozan would leave the opposition gasping for air.
“It’s just we’re really close on having one of those offenses that’s unstoppable,’’ LaVine said of the Batman-Robin roles he and DeRozan filled. “When we’re both on, it shows. We’re able to take over games. But we just need to do a little bit more and figure out how to get that to a little more winning. I think that’s the thing that we were both a little bit frustrated about, how we can both play off each other better?’’
Adding another outside shooter to take some pressure off the self-proclaimed dynamic duo helped, and that’s why the Bulls wasted little time when the free agency bell sounded on Friday, agreeing to a three-year deal with former Bucks sniper Jevon Carter.
A big win for the organization? If it was checkers, yes. Unfortunately for the Bulls, there’s a good portion of front offices around the Association that are playing chess.
FREE AGENCY WINNERS
Pat Riley – The Miami executive remains the “Teflon Don,’’ always a step ahead and hard to bring down. After watching the Heat fall short in the NBA Finals to Denver, rather than run it back and count on continuity, the Heat have cleared the decks to land Portland All-NBA guard Damian Lillard. There’s still work to do on that front, but teaming Lillard up with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo would make Riley’s crew the favorite to come out of the East.
More importantly, what it really showed was while Karnisovas and the Bulls are hoping to eventually become a destination place, Miami is the destination place.
Cleveland Cavaliers – Up-and-coming has now arrived, as Cleveland continued building one of the best all-around rosters in the league, adding outside shooting to go along with Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and bigs in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Forward Georges Niang and former Bull Max Strus were both added to the mix, as the Cavs take yet another step forward to being a contender.
Los Angeles Lakers – While the Bulls seem to operate close to the salary cap, the Lakers seem to treat the cap like a line they have no problem coloring outside of. Way outside.
Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, and Jaxson Hayes were added to the depth, while they retained Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura.
A lot of workable pieces for LeBron James and Anthony Davis to take advantage of.
Fred VanVleet – The one-time undrafted point guard cashed in on Day 1 of free agency, agreeing on a three-year, $130 million max contract with the Houston Rockets.
Along with coach Ime Udoka, VanVleet will help raise the young – but very talented – Rockets in hopes of pushing for a playoff spot as soon as this season.
FREE AGENCY LOSERS
Portland Trail Blazers – “Dame Time’’ has run out, with Lillard finally requesting a trade from the Great Northwest. Portland will likely get a haul back for the guard, but not enough when it comes to one of the premiere scorers in the league over the last decade.
Luka Doncic – The Mavericks had very little choice but to run it back with Kyrie Irving, but that means running it back with a duo that went 5-11 when they both played last season. Doncic is signed through the 2026-27 season, but could he be the next big-name player to request a trade?
Philadelphia 76ers – James Harden is again trying to hold an NBA team hostage, while the 76ers lost key role players like Shake Milton, Jalen McDaniels and Niang. They did add former Bull Patrick Beverley, but the Harden trade situation could get ugly as the market dries up.
NOTE: A source confirmed that the Bulls have applied to the league for a Disabled Player Exception worth $10.2 million in the wake of the Lonzo Ball left knee injury. Ball, who had a third surgery in just over a year, was already expected to miss the entire 2023-24 season.