Playing buy or sell with each NBA playoff bubble team

Chicago Bulls: Stand pat

Man, oh man, what a disappointment. The Chicago Bulls made some smart moves this summer, no doubt. Tomas Satoransky is a plug-and-play guard in myriad lineups, Thaddeus Young defends forwards who play up on the biggest stage and Coby White was a good pick. The Bulls put themselves in a  position to push for a playoff spot.

Zach LaVine is improving. He’s still a putrid defender who commits far too many lazy mistakes, but has become a good first option and acceptable playmaker for a competitive basketball team. That matters!

Kris Dunn is functional, even though defenses don’t respect him beyond five feet. He’s a smart player on both ends who finds ways to fit in. Wendell Carter’s playmaking has yet to be unlocked, but at worst he’s a stout defender at the rim who won’t get toasted on switches. Daniel Gafford is productive when he plays, which is really all you can ask for from a second rounder.

There are issues though. The skill that made Lauri Markkanen such an enticing prospect — his shooting — has not been up to snuff this season, as he is only hitting 34.4 percent of his 3s. White is intriguing and talented, but objectively bad so far with a minus-4.5 box plus-minus and .006 win shares per-48 minutes

Otto Porter has only played nine games, which has been a huge hole in the lineup. Luckily he is set to return sometime around the All-Star break. Unfortunately that may be too little too late, as the Bulls are slowly fading out of the playoff picture.

The Bulls’ cap situation doesn’t allow for them to sell off parts though. Everyone except Dunn, Denzel Valentine and Shaquille Harrison is under contract for next season, assuming Porter takes his $28.5 million player option. And those the Bulls will want to sell, other teams won’t be as giddy to buy.