Chicago Bulls: Assessing 3 2019 NBA free agency rumors
3. Julius Randle
Julius Randle enjoyed a career year in his only season in New Orleans, averaging 21.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. The 6’9″ big man also shot 52.4 percent from the field, including 34.4 percent from 3-point range, boosting that average by 6.6 percent from his previous career-high.
Randle is a nice player who posted strong numbers in a contract year. It’s obvious he wants to get paid this summer, and it’s intriguing to the say the least about where the Bulls fit in here.
According to The Athletic‘s Shams Charania:
"“The Bulls are expected to express early interest in free-agent forward Julius Randle, league sources said. Randle is expected to receive interest from several teams, including the Knicks and Nets, according to sources. Coming off his best NBA season, Randle opted out of his $9 million deal for the 2019-20 season.”"
As mentioned, the Bulls are quite thin in the frontcourt. At this point, the concept of Felicio securing any meaningful minutes next season is a worst-case scenario for Chicago. Gafford could play some minutes, but counting on a rookie second round pick to provide worthwhile production is a scary proposition for any team.
With that being said, pursuing Julius Randle when the bell rings on free agency would be a surprise. It’s one thing for a team to load up on a specific position and have strong depth, but it’s another thing to bring in a (still) young player coming off a career year and relegate him to a bench role. Besides, he’s going to be wanting a significant bump from the $8.6 million he made last season from the Pelicans.
Bulls are interested in Julius Randle according to Shams. I like Randle. I don’t know what he does on this Bulls roster.
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) June 26, 2019
The Bulls were one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season. With Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, 40 percent of the starting lineup is below-average defensively at this point. Paying Randle big money to serve as a backup to Markkanen seems a bit silly. Sure, he can score, but he won’t defend the way the Bulls would need him to.
It’s possible the Bulls have a real interest in Randle, but the fit is questionable at best.