Remember when the Chicago Bulls were headed into a rebuilding period last offseason? Then out of nowhere, they signed Rajon Rondo, got Dwyane Wade to come home and all of the sudden became a ‘force’ in the Eastern Conference, that could contend with the powerhouses in the playoffs.
That was until that quick rebuild experiment didn’t work.
The Bulls ended up sneaking into the postseason at the 8th spot, choked against the Boston Celtics in the first round (who knows how different this story would have ended if he wouldn’t have gotten injured in the series), finally traded Jimmy Butler and are now back to square one with even less pieces than they started last offseason. Now, Rondo is being waived by the organization and a buy out for Wade is imminent. Great rebuild, right?
Because of Rondo being released before Friday’s deadline, Chicago now saves about $13 million dollars in cap space heading into next season. They still owe Rajon about $3 million in guaranteed money, but that sounds better than what they would have paid for the experiment going into a second season after a tumultuous year in Chicago. The team tried to trade him before waiving him, those talks were going absolutely nowhere.
Plus, they clear space in that logjam of a backcourt that already features young guards like Kris Dunn, Jerian Grant and Cameron Payne.
There’s only one question, though. What in God’s name is the Bulls front office doing?