Norman Powell is very well aware of his situation.<\/p>\n
After all, the veteran Bulls guard might not be a hardened businessman, but he has been around the league long enough to understand the business.<\/p>\n
So when he signed a two-year, $45-million contract with Year 2 being a team option, he did the team a favor because of the flexibility it allows but also did right by himself because of how fluid it keeps him on the trade front.<\/p>\n
If the Bulls feel the need to move Powell come February, it\u2019s essentially an expiring contract. That also means Powell likely would be sent to a contender. At age 33, it\u2019s not a bad situation to be in, and it\u2019s also the new mindset in the NBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think with the way the league is and free agency, just the aprons and things like that, teams are trying to get creative,\u201d Powell said last month. \u201cFor me, I go into every situation wanting to be here, wanting to help win and contribute anyway I can. But looking at the business of it, I\u2019ve been around so long that those things have crossed my mind. I\u2019ve thought about [the flexibility the deal allows], but I don\u2019t pay too much mind on it. My focus is on being here, being in the moment, and how I can help.\u201d<\/p>\n
How he can help is to make sure the Bulls don\u2019t finish in the bottom three of the league. Because of the new \u201c3-2-1 lottery\u201d system, the days of tanking to the basement are over. The actual sweet spot in the standings for a rebuilding team \u2014 which the Bulls certainly are \u2014 is finishing Nos. 4-10. That earns three lottery balls and an 8.1% chance at No. 1.<\/p>\n
Just one reason the Bulls wanted a veteran such as Powell, and a rebuilding franchise like Brooklyn added Julius Randle and retained Michael Porter Jr.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the new way of approaching team building. It\u2019s like the adage about being in the woods with some people and coming across an angry bear. You don\u2019t necessarily need to be faster than the bear. Just faster than the people you\u2019re with.<\/p>\n
Did executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham accomplish that? That remains to be seen, but he did purchase the best running shoes available to give himself that chance.<\/p>\n
Bottom of the NBA<\/p>\n
30. Sacramento: The Kings have been an absolute mess for a few seasons and don\u2019t expect that to change this season. Zach LaVine opted in for the final year of his max deal, while Domantas Sabonis was a trade candidate but has yet to be moved.<\/p>\n
For the Kings it\u2019s all about rookie Darius Acuff Jr. and his development, but on paper it\u2019s the worst roster in the league.<\/p>\n
29. Memphis: The Grizzlies actually started the new era of basketball last season when they began to purge the roster. Once Ja Morant was traded over the summer, the rebuild was on. The good news for Memphis is that the cupboards aren\u2019t bare. Zach Edey showed some signs, Cedric Coward was an All-Rookie Team performer, and No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer might have the highest floor in the 2026 rookie class.<\/p>\n
28. Milwaukee: In finally moving
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks started their new chapter, doing so with an interesting but flawed roster.<\/p>\n
Tyler Herro has All-Star DNA, Myles Turner can\u2019t be as bad as he was last season and rookie Brayden Burries looks like a dude. It just feels like a car with a lot of parts that don\u2019t necessarily fit.<\/p>\n
27. Brooklyn: The Nets could be the Bulls\u2019 biggest competition for that No. 4 or No. 5 spot in the basement. Randle and Porter can play, Egor Demin had a solid second half of the season and an outstanding Summer League, while rookie Mikel Brown Jr. showed flashes in Las Vegas of becoming something special.<\/p>\n
The Nets easily could be way better than people think.<\/p>\n
26. New Orleans: Is Zion Williamson finally becoming a consistently available player? He did appear in 62 games last season, which was progress. If Williamson goes back to his bad habit of sitting in street clothes with frequent visits to the training room, the Pelicans can be a bottom-three team.<\/p>\n
25. BULLS: Any delusions of becoming play-in eligible in Year 1 of this rebuild should be checked at the door for now, but that doesn\u2019t mean the Bulls can\u2019t sneak up on teams. The frontcourt has a chance to be a force on the defensive end, while Josh Giddey and Powell will be an interesting backcourt.<\/p>\n
What helps is the Bulls also have some depth coming off the bench, which should keep them out of the bottom three.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Norman Powell is very well aware of his situation. After all, the veteran Bulls guard might not be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-849615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}