The Chicago Bulls didn’t make any major splash in the NBA draft. Still, they managed to come away with an exciting athletic talent in homegrown Ayo Dosunmu of Illinois. The main event is still to come as free agency begins August 2nd at 5:00 p.m. CST. At that point, most of the buzz points toward the Bulls making a run at one of the top point guards on the market. The hottest name being 23-year old Lonzo Ball.
He will be a restricted free agent, free to accept offers from any team. Then it becomes a question of whether the New Orleans Pelicans will match it. By the sound of things, momentum is already building towards Ball having a desired landing spot. That being Chicago. According to top NBA insider Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the point guard intends to work out a contract with the Bulls unless something unexpected happens in the next 48 hours.
Watching NBA TV’s free agency special. Well respected @ChrisBHaynes reports unless there’s a major “hiccup”, sources tell him Lonzo Ball intends to work out a contract with the Bulls. Pelicans are going hard after free agent PG Kyle Lowry.
— Mark Schanowski (@MarkSchanowski) August 1, 2021
There are even estimates on the likely numbers.
Around four years at $80 million. That would put him in the same ballpark as Fred VanFleet in Toronto. Not too bad from the Bulls’ perspective. Ball is still quite young and coming off a pretty solid season in New Orleans with 14.6 points, 5.7 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game. His ability to see the floor and distribute the ball is something Chicago has sorely lacked for years. Adding him alongside Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic would give this team some serious firepower.
Ball also brings value on the defensive side too. Something else this team needs. It isn’t a huge surprise Arturas Karnisovas would target him. He checks the two primary boxes required for this offseason. Landing Lonzo Ball wouldn’t be a blockbuster splash but it would be a good one, making the Bulls a better basketball team. The best part is he is still scratching the surface of his true potential. If Billy Donovan can drag it out of him? This will be a big move.