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The Chicago Bulls are taking a long-term approach to their starting point guard Lonzo Ball’s recovery from a bone bruise in his surgically repaired knee. By all accounts, the most recent procedure – an “arthroscopic debridement” went as well as hoped.
But that does not mean they should not be exploring all of their options in the (unlikely) event that he is unable to return to form or hold up once he does.
That could lead them to turn their attention to Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet.
VanVleet is playing out the final locked-in year of his contract and could be a player the Bulls should target in free agency when the time comes. We know they are locked into this current core. But we also know that they have a built-in opportunity to pivot coming after this season if all goes poorly.
Bringing VanVleet Home
The Raptors’ point guard is set to earn a little over $21 million this season. He holds a $22.8 million player option for the 2023-24 season. Heading into this season, there is a belief that, should VanVleet make it to free agency, the Bulls would indeed be interested.
“That is going to be an important time for [the Bulls],” an Eastern Conference executive tells Heavy’s Sean Deveney, “they’ll have to move on from [Nikola] Vucevic and probably [DeMar] DeRozan by then, too – he will be older. You’ll be trying to put together a team around [Zach] LaVine and yes, if you’re looking for a point guard to go with him a guy like VanVleet is ideal.”
VanVleet – who was born and raised in the Chicago-area suburb of Rockford, Illinois – averaged 20.3 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.4 rebounds last season. All of those set new career highs for the former undrafted free agent out of Wichita State.
He shot just 40.3% from the floor but did connect on over 37% of his triples (on a career-high 9.9 attempts per night) and he notched 1.7 steals per contest.
“He is probably going to be the top free-agent point guard then and because Zach is a good ballhandler, it would make sense for them to have a guy who can shoot and play off the ball the way that VanVleet can.”
To the executive’s point, VanVleet shot better than 43% on his catch-and-shoot threes alleviating any concerns about him playing off of the ball.
Big Hurdle to Landing VanVleet
“Toronto is not going to trade him and not going to want to let him go in free agency,” the exec told Deveney.
That is a disheartening stance after thinking of the ways that VanVleet could help this team even with Ball expected to make a full recovery. But it is rooted in reality as the Raptors and VanVleet have held preliminary talks about a contract extension.
He was not willing to divulge much. But VanVleet did update his current feelings about his situation and the organization he helped win an NBA title in 2019.
“I will just say that I love being a Raptor,” VanVleet said at Raptors media day. “I have a great relationship with management, ownership, coaching staff. There’s nothing I could really ever complain about being on this team. But I’m not going to speak on contractual things so you guys will know when it’s time to know. I’m happy with where I am and I think it’s a mutual love.”
Raptors Vice-Chairman Masai Ujiri was equally as positive about an extension getting done.
That could leave the Bulls in the cold when the time comes which is still a ways away. But they would be wise to pursue VanVleet if for whatever reason he does become available. Be it in free agency or the unlikely event Toronto changes its mind on the 28-year-old.
Bulls Plans at Point Guard
Not only is VanVleet still in good standing with the Raptors and vice versa, the Bulls are not necessarily hurting for point guards. They do have second-year guard Ayo Dosunmu who drew the first start for the Bulls in Ball’s absence.
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Dosunmu has said that he is simply looking to improve over worrying about retaining the starter’s role. And head coach Billy Donovan has hinted at a platoon situation.
But the Bulls view Dosunmu as a future star and he has met every other challenge so far.
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