As the NBA enters the dog days of the offseason, The Athletic decided to issue some report cards.
The Chicago Bulls’ summer has yet to feature any fireworks. After drafting Noa Essengue and Lachlan Olbrich in the 2025 NBA Draft, the team settled for another questionable one-for-one player trade. The franchise sent Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for defensive-minded wing Isaac Okoro.
As for the free agent market, the Bulls were able to retain Tre Jones on an extremely team-friendly deal, but they still have yet to complete their most important piece of business. Josh Giddey remains unsigned as the two sides appear to be at a standstill in negotiations. Most recent reporting has the 22-year-old guard asking for a deal around $30.0 million a year, while the Bulls have attempted to stay far closer to the $20.0 million range.
One can argue that a proper grade should not be handed out until we see where the Giddey deal lands. Especially if the Bulls end up inking him to a long-term contract well below his asking price, that would feel like a sizable win. Nevertheless, The Athletic felt like they had seen enough to hand over a not-so-favorable grade.
Chicago Bulls Receive Low Marks From The Athletic
Only one team finished with a worse grade than the Chicago Bulls on The Athletic’s latest report card. Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley earned their team a D+, putting them ahead of solely Joe Dumars of the New Orleans Pelicans (D) for the league’s worst performance.
For Joel Lorenzi’s complete explanation of why he gave the team such low marks, I encourage you to give the full article a read. In short, he alluded to the Bulls’ overall lack of direction and heavy reliance on internal development. You can’t argue any of those points. In fact, if we are grading based on where the organization stands as a whole, a D+ feels depressingly accurate.
However, if the assignment is to grade on this offseason alone, I have a hard time going below a C. While I do not support the Ball-Okoro swap, especially because it does add a longer-term contract to the books, Okoro’s $11.8 million in 2026-27 isn’t a major eyesore. He also does happen to fill a decently sized hole for this team on paper and projects to be far more dependable.
The Tre Jones contract is a win, in my opinion. In a league with few true point guards, Jones provides a pretty underrated skill set and is still only 25 years old. He is a trustworthy and careful distributor who came to Chicago fresh off back-to-back seasons averaging over 6.0 assists with only a little over 1.0 turnover a game. For a franchise that has struggled at the point guard position in the past and is attempting to instill a more uptempo and dynamic offensive attack, Jones is a strong fit at only $8.0 million a year. And what if things don’t work out? The Bulls slapped a team option on this deal instead of a player option. I know, rare!
Do I love the Billy Donovan extension? Not necessarily, particularly because it rewards someone after three straight Play-In Tournament exits. However, Donovan is far from the organization’s main concern, and he is a very servicable head coach. Let’s just say I’d much rather have him on the sideline than see the Bulls take another chance on a Fred Hoiberg or Jim Boylen.
None of this is to say the Bulls should be praised for their offseason decision-making. A “C” isn’t going up on the fridge. However, I never believed this summer would feature a big splash. They clearly made financial flexibility for 2026 their main priority with the Zach LaVine trade at the deadline. Internal development also appears to be a point of focus over this next season. I know that may not be a particularly sexy plan, but it does feel like slightly more of a plan than they have had in the past. With that in mind, I can accept this relatively quiet offseason and will be far stricter with my grading next summer.
Apr 22, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas (right) talks with general manager Marc Eversley (left) before game three of the first round for the 2022 NBA playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY SportsHence then, the article about the athletic s grade for the chicago bulls offseason not great was published today ( ) and is available on Bleacher Nation ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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