Jacari McRae | April 5th, 2020
The Chicago Bulls are reportedly interested in Goran Dragic and Derrick Jones Jr, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Both players are expected to be unrestricted free agents in free agency, whenever that starts. The Bulls are also interested in Miami Heat vice president of basketball operations Adam Simon.
The report mentioned Nuggets GM Arturas Karnisovas and Toronto GM Bobby Webster as two candidates to be interviewed, but a source told the Sun-Times on Friday that a lot of Reinsdorf’s focus has also been on Miami – not only in their front office personnel like vice president of basketball operations Adam Simon, but also mimicking the structure, as well as scouting several of their players that will enter free agency.
The Bulls have been putting both point guard Goran Dragic and small forward Derrick Jones Jr. under the microscope the last month, and are hoping the new hire – or hires – will be aggressive on the trade front to move a tight cap corner that they have painted themselves into.
If the Bulls want to be respected again, following the Heat’s structure should be the way to go. Since Pat Riley took over the team in the 90s, the Heat have been one of the most respected and stable franchises in the league. Miami also has done a great job of finding and developing talent in the past few years with Simon playing a huge role. Simon has been credited for finding Bam Adebayo, Josh Richardson, and Kendrick Nunn.
The Heat would love to retain both Dragic and Jones. The team could have the funds to do that with a projected $27 million available in cap space. However, with the team eyeing Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021, the Heat will likely offer one-year deals to maintain cap flexibility. It’s way too early to tell if the players will accept short-term deals. We’ll see what happens once everything goes back to normal and the NBA is back.
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