Chicago Bulls Notes: Offseason Officially Begins, Prospect Workouts, Contract Talks, More (2024)

The Boston Celtics are your 2023-24 NBA Champions, and you know what that means!

Congratulations to Chicago Bulls legend Luke “Robert Horry” Kornet! We all knew it was only a matter of time before you were wearing a ring!

Chicago Bulls Notes: Offseason Officially Begins, Prospect Workouts, Contract Talks, More (3)

In all seriousness, Kornet does join a very limited club of former Vanderbilt Commodores to win an NBA title. The most famous, of course, is former Bulls big man Will Perdue, who took home four titles in the 90s. He posted a little message on social media to honor the Celtics’ backup.

pic.twitter.com/QdrkJo3Cvq
— Will Perdue (@Will_Perdue32) June 18, 2024

The Celtics went a staggering 16-3 during this most recent postseason run. While many will point toward injuries to Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, and Tyrese Haliburton, there is no denying this roster was the best in the NBA over the entire season. They currently hold the ninth-highest single-season playoff winning percentage among champions. The only Bulls team to rank in front of them was the 1991 squad, who went on to take down Magic Johnson to claim the franchise’s first ring.

Last night, the Boston Celtics finished off one of the most dominant postseasons in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/nf9uI0RP0W
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) June 18, 2024

The Celtics have moved ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the most NBA titles of all time. The Golden State Warriors sit in the No. 3 spot with seven rings, while the Chicago Bulls are fourth thanks to Michael Jordan’s six. ESPN shared a graphic last night that displays the four teams, which included the most recent title year. It reminded us that the top 3 organizations have each won within the last four years. Meanwhile, the Bulls’ last title came 26 years ago. They also haven’t made a single championship series appearance since then. Gotta love history!

Look at the years … pic.twitter.com/uxkxEoJJgX
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) June 18, 2024

The NBA moves fast. While the Boston Celtics go take a champagne shower, 29 others teams are trying to solidify their draft boards. The 2024 NBA Draft is just over a week away, and the Bulls reportedly brought in several first-round prospects on Monday to take a closer look. To be sure, this shouldn’t be the first or last batch of players who come into the Advocate Center, but it is the first group that has been publically reported.

Bulls Reportedly Hosted a Loaded Pre-Draft Workout Group Today

NBA teams can also begin negotiations with their own free agents. This is a new wrinkle in the league’s CBA, which previously had restricted teams from talking to players until the official opening of free agency. We’ll now be on the look out for updates regarding DeMar DeRozan (UFA) and Patrick Williams (RFA), who should both have legitimate suitors in the open market if the Bulls can’t manage to get a deal done before June 30. More on that here …

The Negotiating Window for Key Bulls’ Free Agents Is … NOW

The Chicago Bulls find themselves in a financial pickle, folks. I plan to map this out more as we inch closer to free agency, but re-signing both DeRozan and Williams with Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball on the cap sheet is bound to throw them over the luxury tax. And, well, we all know how ownership feels about that. This is another reason why draft night feels so darn important. I have to imagine the Bulls will be working phone lines on Zach LaVine, hoping to get his hefty salary off the books to have more wiggle room come free agency. If they can’t manage to find a deal for him, however, things with both DeRozan and Williams could get pretty dramatic.

Ryan Dunn was one of the many players to reportedly work out for the Bulls on Monday, per Darnell Mayberry. The Virginia standout is viewed as arguably the top wing defender in the draft, but I highly doubt he will end up wearing red. While the Bulls could undoubtedly use his length at the wing, Dunn’s limited offensive skillset has him projected to fall later in the first round. Unless the Bulls pull off a surprise trade that gets them another pick, Dunn is probably destined for a contender.

“He’s the best wing defender I’ve evaluated in a long time,” 👀
– @Sam_Vecenie on Ryan Dunn
(🎥 @DraftExpress )
pic.twitter.com/Wu7V6gyuKc— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 18, 2024

With Al Horford earning a ring, Karl Malone and John Stockton sit right next to each other again on the coveted list of “most NBA playoff games without a title.” That’s a shame.

pic.twitter.com/gYbYHtwjaK
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) June 18, 2024

Sportico released their WNBA team valuations, and the Chicago Sky currently sits as the fifth-most valuable franchise in the league. The team is worth $95 million, per their estimate. .

Inaugural WNBA team valuations via @Sportico.
▪️ Average team worth $96M
▪️ Aces #1 at $140M; sold for $2M in 2021
▪️ Avg 2023 team revenue: $13.2M
▪️ Revenue range: $8.8M (Atlanta) to $18M (New York)https://t.co/n2Kdv6TFMj pic.twitter.com/nF60lxJwK9— Kurt Badenhausen (@kbadenhausen) June 18, 2024

Do I want to know?

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written by

Elias Schuster

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

Chicago Bulls Notes: Offseason Officially Begins, Prospect Workouts, Contract Talks, More (2024)

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