Unless Artūras Karnišovas turns into Brad Stevens 2.0 over night, the next three seasons are going to be painfully mediocre for the Chicago Bulls.
This is not to say that the last three years have been anything different.
Looking ahead, Chicago is most likely stuck with Zach LaVine for the rest of his contract (expires after 2026-27 season), which would be splendid if Lavine was a legitimate No. 1 option or if he wasn't making $46 million per year.
The Bulls do have some nice young pieces. They should extend Josh Giddey. Hopefully, Matas Buzelis pans out (eye test is good so far). Jalen Smith might surprise a lot of people in the next few years by taking a leap.
Sadly, Chicago will be stuck in NBA purgatory until the summer of 2027, at which point LaVine will finally be off the books.
As the Bulls look ahead to that summer -- which at the moment feels decades away -- they need to prepare to be in position make an offer to one of four mega stars who will be free agents. This means that Chicago must have cap space at that point in time but also be seen as a desirable destination (i.e. the opposite of what's happening now).
If Giddey, Buzelis, Smith and others (Chicago's 2025 lottery pick?) develop on an upward trajectory, there's no reason a superstar would be turned off by the Bulls come 2027.
Four franchise players are set to become free agents that summer: Donovan Mitchell, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, and Luka Dončić.
Before getting carried away with this list, it's worth noting that Dončić will almost certainly get a max extension before 2027 (unless things go wildly awry in Dallas), and there's no way that Denver is going to let Jokić leave.
Mitchell and Antetokounmpo are more interesting possibilities. It's not difficult to imagine Giannis leaving Milwaukee's aging roster for greener pastures. Mitchell could easily leave Cleveland (he's likely already considered doing so).
Chicago's next successful era could begin by building around either Mitchell or Antetokounmpo in three years.
Until then, tasteful tanking is the name of the game.
More NBA: Wizards could surprisingly trade for Bulls' All-Star guard owed $138 million
