The Chicago Bulls hoped their trip to Nashville last often would h🌃elp the organization make more noise than a bachelorette trolly down Bꦍroadway. It did the opposite.
Instead of acting as the spark for a fun-filled season, the destination training camp led to a whole lot of nothing. The writing for another underwhelming season was practically on the wall after a players-only meeting made headlines on Night 1. Chicago would go on to record their second-straight losing season and Play-In Tournament exit. Finally moving onဣ from the nucleus of Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and DeMar DeRozan became an offseason priority.
Front office leader Arturas Karnisovas made quick work once the summer began. He moved Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for 21-year-old jumbo guard Josh Giddey. Next came drafting Matas Buzelis with the No. 11 ov🀅erall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and sꩲending DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento in a sign-and-trade. Despite the looming presence of LaVine and Vucevic, a youth movement is in full effect in Chicago. And that means no desperate attempts at building chemistry.
confirmed on the latest Bulls Talk Podcast that the Chicago Bulls will remain at the Advocate Center for this year’s training camp.
“I can confirm no remote training camp this year. There will not be a trip to Nashville. That was a unique set of circumstances to try to galvanize that group for their last run. And that run is now over. And prominent member are now elsewhe🦩re, so no remote training camp. They’re not ꦜputting the bill for Matas Buzelis to go to Nashville,” Johnson laughed.
As bummed as I am that this officially rules out any photos of Coby White riding a mechanical bull or Jalen Smith wearing cowboy boots, I think we can all agree it’s for the best. The new-look roster belongs in its own building, and the focus for everyone inside the organization should be strictly on establishing a new identity.
We also learned on Thursday that the Chicago Bulls will begin trainin🐲g camp on Oct. 1. Media Day will be held the day before, .
The big question now is whether or not Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic will show up on time and in good spirits. As Johnson made sure to꧙ note in the podcast, this is the time of year when players begin to return to their respective cities.🥂 The next few weeks will tell us a lot about how eager those two veterans are to meet their new teammates and prepare for the upcoming season.
LaVine’s return to Chicago, in particular, will be a must-watch. He’s been nothing short of professional about the trade rumors in the past, but he also hasn’t been forced to address the situation for months. Could he look to put some more pressure on the Bulls to find a trade during the training camp process? We can’t put it past an organization like Klutch.
Anyway, if you want what else Joh꧋nson said on the Bulls Talk podcast, .
