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Why Chicago Bulls management expects few changes

There weren't too many answers given, mostly just explanations, when the Bulls management team of John Paxson and Gar Forman met with reporters on Wednesday.

At the same time, there weren't a whole lot of unanswered questions to begin with.

For the fans seeking changes, they already got it. Just two players remain on the roster (Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic) from the day coach Tom Thibodeau was fired after the 2014-15 season.

The plan now is to see if the roster filled mostly with inconsistent young players can grow. Paxson said there's a "really good chance" Rajon Rondo will be back next season. There was no indication the Bulls expect Dwyane Wade to opt out of his contract. There was no declaration that Butler won't be traded, but the deal that sends Butler packing and somehow makes the Bulls a better team probably won't arrive.

The Bulls' cap space could increase significantly if Wade did opt out, but Paxson essentially poured cold water on the idea of chasing major free agents this summer.

"We have so many guys currently under contract, that will all be based on what happens with Niko and Cristiano (Felicio, both restricted free agents), because that all determines what kind of money we have," Paxson said. "So it's still to be determined."

If both Wade and Rondo return, the Bulls would have about $20 million in cap space, but whatever money is used to re-sign Mirotic and Felicio will eat into that total. If Rondo doesn't come back, the Bulls would have $30 million in cap space. If both Wade and Rondo moved on, the figure would approach $55 million, but again, that's an unlikely scenario.

"There are a lot of teams really well-positioned financially to have a lot of cap space," Paxson said. "We're not one to have a lot of cap space unless we would renounce guys and that's not what we're going to do."

So unless Wade decides to chase a ring, or the Butler offer they can't refuse shows up in a text message, expect the Bulls to stay pretty much the same, with maybe a couple of value-priced free-agent additions. Paxson confirmed coach Fred Hoiberg will return next season, but that was already a foregone conclusion since he has three years left on his contract.

The management duo talked again about having payroll flexibility for the future, likely eyeing 2018 as a more realistic timeline for bigger personnel moves.

Paxson, the vice president of basketball operations, did most the talking during the news conference, deferring to Forman mostly on personnel questions.

"We thought we had a nice blend and balance of veterans and the young guys," Paxson said. "We saw what you saw and what a lot of our fans saw, and that is inconsistency in our play and really a team that was searching for an identity much of the season.

"Getting to the playoffs for a young group of guys is something they can learn from. But with that said, we always know that's not the goal, just getting to the playoffs."

The talk about Rondo returning wasn't a surprise, based on his performance late in the season and all the positive talk coming from Hoiberg, Wade and Butler. But it is an impressive turnaround since Rondo seemed as good as gone at the all-star break. The Bulls have an option to bring Rondo back at $13.4 million.

"As we get younger, it's still really important to have quality veterans around your young players. To a man, our young people loved Rajon. He was great in the locker room. He was great off the court with these guys.

"To be candid with you, when we had that incident where Dwyane and Jimmy spoke up in January, when he stood up for our young guys, that empowered them a little bit. It might be small but there was some growth with our young guys because they felt they had a voice as a young player and for us that was important."

If there was anything surprising from Wednesday's talk, it was probably the praise given to Mirotic considering how wildly inconsistent he's been during three seasons with the Bulls. Paxson talked about wanting Mirotic to spend the full summer in Chicago, rather than join the Spanish national team like he did last year for the Olympics.

"We value Niko. We see him as a 25-year-old, 6-10 guy who can shoot," Forman said. "He's got to get better in certain areas. We had a really good conversation with him the other day. Niko made it clear that he wants to be in Chicago; he's comfortable here, his family's comfortable here. We made it clear that we would like for him to be in Chicago. So with that said, when those things align, you hope you can get something done when July 1 comes."

Of course, Mirotic could get a giant offer sheet from another team, but if that happens it probably won't be difficult to say goodbye.

As far as future goals for the roster, nothing has changed. The Bulls have gotten younger, but they're still looking for outside shooting and more athleticism.

"We decided a year ago we're going to try to remain competitive while getting younger," Paxson said. "We knew there'd be a lot of bumps in the road and pains along the way. That's a difficult thing to do. The alternative at that time (was) blow it all up. You see it around the league, it's 6, 8,10 years before you get back in the playoffs."

In other words, don't expect too many changes to the roster, but part of Paxson's plan is for those inconsistent young guys to transform themselves at the Advocate Center this summer.

"Gar and I are committed to reshaping the roster, continuing to do that in that in a disciplined fashion," Paxson said. "We're going to put a lot of resources and time into our player development this offseason and try to create a culture where (the young players) can grow and try to become the best players that they can."

Get the latest Bulls news via Twitter by following @McGrawDHBulls.

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