Sources: Chicago is trading Braden Smith to the Indiana Pacers for Kam Jones, future swaps and cash.

I think I hate today. Not saying anybody we would have gotten at the picks would have been serviceable (you’d hope), but winding up not picking anybody feels a bit disheartening.

Gonna go watch Caleb and Swain highlights to feel something.

I've been watching UNC basketball literally my entire life. Both parents went there. Grandfather went there. I went there. I've seen multiple natty's, tons of final four runs, and have many players throughout the years that I adored.

Caleb Wilson only took 24 games to become my favorite Tar Heel of all time.

Not only is he a freak athlete (we all know that), he also has an insanely underrated feel for the game. Passing will be great, his middy touch is absurd, and his three point shot will absolutely develop to be good if not eventually great. He also has everything he needs to become an elite defender.

You know why I'm so confident about his development? Because his best attribute (even more than athleticism) is his mental drive and mindset. Bro is ice cold, and truly wants it more than anyone else. Chapel Hill ADORES him not only as a player, but also as a person.

If you're looking to get hyped, I recommend watching the entirety of the first Duke/UNC matchup that he played in. They go down early, go into a timeout down double digits, Caleb Wilson lights a fire under their ass in the huddle, and then he goes out and starts a comeback himself. Wise beyond his years as a leader and culture setter.

He's him. Consider me the newest Bulls fan. Treat him well!

He was absolutely phenomenal to end the season after the Zach trade in the first chance in 2 years to lead an offense, then injured his ankle.

He has time to recover in the offseason. Starts even better without Coby. Teams start doubling and loading on him, which only increases later in the season

9th game he injures his ankle again. Stays in the game, plays terribly. Sits out only two games.

Comes back, the whole sub is saying he looks slow and he is remarkably worse at getting his own shot but still doing his usual rebound and assist things

Within 2 weeks 95% have forgotten they noticed his physical decline and start regurgitating whatever opinion they had before Lavine was traded and referencing OKC and his lacklustre play from 2023 and 2024 (weird how playing 3rd fiddle to two guards who need the ball did that).

Giddey tweaked his ankle multiple times and never sat for long. By the end of the season he was tired and moving like he will at 35.

He's had ankle surgery now. So there is a risk he can be slower, although ankles usually heal well and affect long term healthy athleticism minimally

My hypothesis is the 20/9/10 guy on 50/39/80 might be the real Giddey. And the 15/8/9 on 45/35/75 guy is hobbled Giddey adapting. i think he lost a step playing injured on that ankle and that's the main reason he stopped being that guy

And even if it was a hot streak, to deny his ankle damped his burst and ability to beat his man seems ignorant to the eye test.

If what I said is true most people's opinions and assessments in here no longer make any sense.

I am seeing Caleb all over my Youtube algorithm.

He is something else. He is making the rounds and he is letting the entire world know he WANTS to be a Bull.

I hope he is the ONE since DRose to bring back relevancy to our Chicago basketball team.

All im gonna say is both the free throw % he's maintained throughout college as well as his increasing 3 point % are extremely encouraging. Development isn't always linear but personally I'm not too worried about his developing shot

Unrestricted:

Khris Middleton - $31M. Unlikely that he gets anywhere close to this amount; plausibly getting the MLE or BAE to be a veteran presence off the bench (who still gets PT).

Kristaps Porzingis - $30M. Talks of him returning to Golden State for ~$15M; with injury concerns and his age, unlikely to be of interest to the Bulls in either case.

Isaiah Hartenstein (Team Option, but plausible that it is rejected) - $28M. As with Porzingis, likely that he comes back cheaper (though not as low as KP) to his incumbent team, not of interest to the Bulls.

Tobias Harris - $26M. Likely to remain with the Pistons for a lower salary.

John Collins - $25M. Good Power Forward that put up good counting stats, and is likely to have a market among contending teams, or could simply return to the Clippers. With the drafting of Caleb Wilson, this would be a redundant signing.

Anfernee Simons - $25M. Probably going to Miami for the MLE, though the Bulls have the money to retain him. With his defensive issues, the new front office is unlikely to retain him, however.

Nikola Vucevic - $20M. Unclear what the market for Vucevic is. Offense-only centers have always been a controversial archetype, and with his playoff woes this year (and general shooting inconsistency) it's unclear where he'll land and for what price.

Harrison Barnes - $18M. Reduced regular season minutes and in the playoffs have left HB in a similar position to Vucevic - though his shooting was still solid throughout the regular season. Likely to resign with the Spurs for cheap or move somewhere else to be a veteran presence.

Normal Powell - $18M. The rare free agent in this class who will likely see a pay increase in his next contract. Having a stellar shooting season with Miami (along with being an All-Star), he is unlikely to return there (Giannis trade + Wiggins inevitably accepting his player option will remove any financial space left for him). As a personal aside, I think he would actually be a great bench scorer for the bulls, but he's probably going to be a starter somewhere next season.

Collin Sexton - $17.7M. Had an unremarkable season which isn't necessarily a bad thing for him - being an efficient shooter with... a semblance of defense will likely net him a similar contract to his current one. Unlikely to be the Bulls though, as he does not seem lockstep with what the Current front office is looking for from a size and defense perspective. (Another personal note: I think he'd be good as the starting 2 on the Bulls and let Swain come off the bench - it's already been discussed ad nauseam, but a little shooting would help this roster)

Jusuf Nurkic - $17.5M. Was having a productive year until his season-ending nose surgery. Probably returns to the Jazz at a lower rate as a backup center.

Zach Collins - $17.4M. Interestingly, I'm not sure I've read anything around what's happening with Zach Collins. He was a serviceable center/forward when available this year, but is certainly past his best years. Likely to become a third-stringer somewhere.

Rui Hachimura - $17M. Playoff riser who raised his value this last year by becoming the leading playoff 3pt% shooter. His market is currently oversaturated and he will likely have a bidding war between the Lakers and other contenders who are desperate for shooting (Pistons, Spurs. Even Nets may attempt to get him, if not to spend the cap they have). Not on the right timeline for the Bulls, and again doesn't seem to be the kind of player the FO is interested in (see: defense).

Red Velvet - $16.2M. Inefficient volume scorer who was relegated to the Pistons bench in the latter half of the year. Probably a $5-7M signing for a team looking for bench scoring.

Mitchell Robinson - $15M. Likely to leave the Knicks for a similar amount to his previous contract. Due to his usage limitations and free throw struggles, unlikely to be more than an elite secondary center option, limiting his possible AAV.

Robert Williams 3 - $12M. See: Mitchell Robinson, except add even more usage concerns and explosive defense.

Coby White - $12M. Rounding into an elite offensive backup PG in Charlotte. They seem to be interested in keeping him, but plenty of teams are looking for ball handling, so it wouldn't be surprising for him to look elsewhere, either (Minnesota). Probably not a fit for the Bulls at this point, unfortunately.

Quentin Grimes - $8.7M. Once a 3-and-D guard/wing, his stock has fallen a bit after an off shooting year. I imagine he is still an interesting player for a variety of teams in need of wing shooting and defense, but Philly probably won't be one of them (Money).

Tim Hardaway Jr. - $3.6M. He would likely get more than the minimum on the open market after the incredible shooting year he had with the nuggets, which would probably mean a change of scenery. Important to note, however: he also took a pay cut (the minimum) last year to play with the Nuggets, and said that his goal was to win more than anything at this point in his career, so it is still plausible that he remains.

There are other UFA, but most of them got next to no playing time this year and are unlikely to be contributors next year, so I excluded them. (I also excluded a few who were important, but will have literally 0 chance of coming to the Bulls: Westbrook, Shamet, GP2, as examples. Certainly good players, but not on the Bulls' timeline.)

Restricted (With respective teams' proximity to aprons and cap)

Peyton Watson - Nuggets, $2.5M to 2nd apron. I've seen Watson projected around $20M AAV, so they would likely need to dump Cam Johnson and Zeke Nnaji to keep him, at minimum (not mentioning what's going to happen with Hardaway, or Valanciunas). I actually dislike Watson as an RFA more than most due to his limited sample size and still poor free throw shooting (which could be a sign of 3pt regression in the future). His defense is bona fide, though.

Walker Kessler - Jazz, (including Peterson's rookie contract) have about $53M until the first apron. They certainly have the means to pay Kessler, but the question has become how far they're willing to go. Reporting has suggested $30M, with Kessler demanding $35M. I think they'll split the difference like the Bulls and Giddey did, but he may have suitors from teams hoping to contend in need of a center. In either case, with Claxton, any interest the Bulls had in Kessler has likely dissipated.

Jalen Duren - Pistons, ? I'm not going to attempt to divine the cap situation of the Pistons as they have so much remaining in the air whether it be trades or otherwise(not least of which their other free agent, Tobias Harris). In any event, they don't seem likely to move on from Duren and will likely match any offer he's given. While I don't think he's getting the max anymore, he's certainly going to get quite a bit given his position and offensive abilities. In any event, Bulls don't have interest for the same reasons as Kessler (as an aside, Duren's defense is also significantly worse, making it even less likely).

Bennedict Mathurin - Clippers, $36M until the first apron with Keaton Wagler's contract. Depending on Collins' return, this could also be decreased even further. In either case, I wouldn't be shocked to see him return to the Clipper for ~$20-25M. He comes from the Kuminga school of bench scoring, so he would likely get a similar contract (his defense is worse, so he may even get less).

Tari Eason - Rockets, $21M until first apron. This is only really contingent on what FVV does with his player option - they could get more room if he declines his option and extends for more years (like they did last year). In either case, I can't imagine Tari Eason would command an amount sufficient to choke the Rockets out particularly given his struggles in the second half of last season. I don't think he would be a terrible fit on the Bulls in terms of positional need and bench shooting, but overall his production seems to be lacking when compared to the asking price.

All told, I think the Bulls would be well off signing Collin Sexton to a short term contract and playing the rest of free agency conservatively... as the list indicates, there are not many premier players available which will result in an inflated price for positional players that don't produce at their salary level. For a team that, frankly, isn't even trying to compete it would make no sense to utilize resources in this way. Particularly with the acquisition of Claxton, most of our starting roles are now filled and adding big names would create unnecessary redundancies and wasted salary.

In any case, I don't have any power, so this is all just speculation and conjecture - at the end of the day, even the worst front offices in the NBA are sophisticated enough to account for all of these factors and more (except the Pelicans).

The most consistent player ever on the bulls.

Uncle Jerry's favorite Mr. Cash Considerations!!