The Bulls guaranteed that the “Cristiano Felicio” era of Bulls basketball would continue for many years when they gave him that 4-year, 32-million dollar deal a few seasons ago. As contracts have inflated recently, it’s become less of an egregious overpay than it was when he first signed it, but there is still no one earth who knows what the Bulls were thinking when they offered him that deal. Not even the people responsible.
You may disagree with my assessment that the last half-decade has been the Cristiano Felicio era of Bulls basketball, but the fact is, he’s the only person still on the team from the 2015-16 season. Most of his teammates have been on MULTIPLE other teams since then, or are out of the league (shout out to Cameron Bairstow for somehow staying in the league two seasons). Felicio has been the one constant; when you turn on a Bulls game, you are guaranteed to see Felicio. Maybe not on the court, but definitely on the bench being supportive of his teammates. So I don’t really know what else you would call this era. Calling it The Denzel Valentine Era seems even more depressing.
Felicio still doesn’t have much in the way of skills, but if you give him the ball next to the basket, there’s a good chance that he’ll be able to get you a bucket. That’s one of the perks of being in the center in the NBA; most of the players can’t really stop you if you’re literally right there at the rim. It’s just a matter of if the Bulls have players (or plays, actually) good enough to get him the ball there. Tonight, they did. Other nights? No.