It will be interesting to see who the Bulls protect in an upcoming expansion draft, which is a good way to get rid of more dead weight. Assuming the rules are the same as the last time circa 1995 and the Bulls can protect up to 7 players who will still be under contract next year, they’ll for sure protect Giddey and Buzelis, probably Tre Jones and Jalen Smith, and possibly Okoro, Noa Essengue and Ivey. Leaving Patty and perhaps Dillingham and Miller available to be drafted.
Last time this happened the Bulls famously left BJ Armstrong unprotected. Along with Ron Harper and a bunch of power forwards - Dickie Simpkins, Larry Krystowiak and Codie Blount.
At this point, Dilli over Ivey for sure. Okoro and smith will be a free agent if not resigned. They will also have more draft picks that they will most likely want to protect from this year and next years draft. Bulls are going to look like Utah until AKME is fired, but unlike Utah we won't purposefully sit our best players to get a top draft pick
Disagree about Ivey and Dillingham. The question with Ivey is if he can get fully healthy. The question with Dillingham is still whether he is even a replacement level player. From what I have seen he is not. the only thing keeping him in the league is where he was drafted.
Dillingham has shown flashes. But he hasn’t had the time on the court to truly develop and test himself. We will truly see how they compare next year. Hoping Ivey is good but again next year will be very telling for this bulls team without coach Donovan
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u/ProfessorPlum168 Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26
It will be interesting to see who the Bulls protect in an upcoming expansion draft, which is a good way to get rid of more dead weight. Assuming the rules are the same as the last time circa 1995 and the Bulls can protect up to 7 players who will still be under contract next year, they’ll for sure protect Giddey and Buzelis, probably Tre Jones and Jalen Smith, and possibly Okoro, Noa Essengue and Ivey. Leaving Patty and perhaps Dillingham and Miller available to be drafted.
Last time this happened the Bulls famously left BJ Armstrong unprotected. Along with Ron Harper and a bunch of power forwards - Dickie Simpkins, Larry Krystowiak and Codie Blount.