|
The Chicago Bulls are Running it BACK Last Season The Bulls pretty much brought back their 2021-22 team except without Lonzo Ball. They finished 40-42 and got the ninth seed. In the first play-in game, they felled the Toronto Raptors because DeMar DeRozan's daughter screamed at them and made them miss a bunch of free throws, then they nearly defeated the Heat before Jimmy Butler went Jimmy Buckets Mode on them and knocked them out of the playoffs. The season was by all accounts extremely disappointing and it would seem like the current iteration of the Bulls has hit its ceiling with two of its top players entering their mid 30s and Lonzo Ball out for another year with another knee surgery. Instead, Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley decided to give it another shot and bring back basically the same roster for the third year in a row hoping to magically just be much better. If and when the Bulls crash out of the playoffs (they should at least make the play-in again), it will be time for some big decisions with DeRozan's contract up. If the team completely sucks, they could have a fire sale at the deadline and try to recoup the picks they lost going all in on this extremely mediocre team that I love with all of my heart and will get mad about if other people say they stink. KEY LOSSES  Derrick Jones Jr.  Javonte Green  Javonte Green  Javonte Green  Javonte Green  Javonte Green MEET THE TEAM  Zach LaVine, SG LaVine is what he is at this point: one of the most efficient scoring guards in the NBA and that's about it. Despite handing him a max contract, if you believe online rumor mongers, the Bulls have been unsuccessfully attempting to trade him all summer except he doesn't seem to have a lot of trade value around the league. That's insane. In my opinion, national NBA writers, who do not watch the Bulls, focus exclusively on what Zach cannot do (make plays, play effective team defense, not do a really boneheaded thing every game) instead of the fact that he is an elite scorer who would be unstoppable in a smaller role on a contender. LaVine is also either very good a managing his public persona or is the most boring person who has ever lived and has never said or done anything interesting, except kind of get mad at Jim Boylen a few times. I WILL NOT tolerate Zach LaVine slander unless he is traded to a team I dislike in which case he is an empty boxscore chump.  DeMar DeRozan, F DeMar is one of the greatest midrange scorers in the game today, he is clutch, he is an underrated passer, and a cool dude. It drives me nuts that modern basketball has made his talents less obvious: DeMar would be a far more valuable player if, instead of completely mastering a set of scoring skills that almost no one else has, he was 50% worse at basketball but just shot more threes. That's bullshit, to me. Everyone knows DeMar is going to the free throw line and taking 75 pump fakes and then shooting that midrange or spinning around and putting up a layup and no one can stop it. DeRozan is a free agent next season, and it would probably be dumb to give him a huge contract, but I wouldn't mind continuing to watch him cook.  Nikola Vučević, C Vooch is not a Modern Center. He is not a rim protector, he is slow, his post-up moves are archaic, and his outside shooting is overrated because his name ends in "-ic." The Bulls brought him back on a large contract because, due to the vagaries of the salary cap, they essentially had no choice. A lot of Bulls fans are down on the big man because he will invariably get destroyed by one of the superstar centers every time they come to town. But when Vooch is aggressive and able to get to his spots inside, he can dominate a game and is pretty much an automatic double-double. Apparently he met with Donovan and they agreed to run some more offense through him as part of his decision to return (also it is likely no other team would offer him nearly as much money and years on his contract lol), so we'll see how his role might change this year. Probably impossible to get off his contract for at least two years.  Patrick Williams, F The Bulls could get much better if Williams makes The Leap this season, and gets more aggressive on defense. This is the third year in a row hearing this. Williams has evolved into a decent defensive player and a high percentage (though low attempts) three-point shooter, but at some point he's going to have to show that he can actually do something on the court other than just be a cromulent rotation player. There's an argument that Williams has no chance to flourish here with DeMar, Zach, and Vooch all needing the ball, but I hope they can find something for him to do other than stand in the corner and gradually shoot three pointers. Williams is still very young but the Bulls will have to move him or pay him next year and it's starting to look like he might be another player that flourishes after leaving the Bulls no matter how many training sessions he has with DeMar.  Coby White, G It looked like Coby would be yet another underwhelming Bulls pick sent out to flourish elsewhere like fellow #7 picks Lori Markkanen and Wendell Carter, but Coby came on late last year and turned into an important weapon. White is still very fast and is also the second-best shooter on the team and he seemed great in his role of sixth man instant offense. But the Bulls are the Bulls and did not sign a starting point guard despite knowing that Lonzo is out, and there's a decent shot he'll be the starting PG this season after miserably failing in that role a few years ago. Coby is a much better player now and gives the Big Three some desperately-needed spacing with his shooting, but he is still not the passer they need in that role. At worst, though, he can head back to the bench.  Potential Hair Theory Experiment BENCH  Alex Caruso, G Caruso finally got a that First Team All Defense nod last season. This aerodynamic, penis-shaped man is one of the best defensive players in the NBA and will fling himself around the court with relentless abandon. He got stuck guarding much bigger players last season often, but shines locking down guards and wings and hurtling himself through screens. Unfortunately, his shooting never really developed and he's not much of a point guard, but that's not what he's here for. Expect to see his name in trade rumors all season.  Jevon Carter, PG Another relentless dog at PG who also shoots threes, Carter is also From Chicago, which is incredibly important for the current Bulls FO. Carter's offensive specialty is launching fastbreak threes, which will help the team's goal of playing faster and shooting more from distance. Carter's biggest weakness is that he's only 6'1." He could start, or he could play a lot with Caruso forming one of the most annoying guard tandems in the NBA for opponents.  Torrey Craig, F Another 3 and D guy, but Craig is 6'7." Was a rotational player for actual good teams and gives the Bulls an actual power forward after the Bulls have been relying on 6'3" guys to play the four for the past couple of years.  Andre Drummond, C There's a clip of Andre Drummond in summer league telling rookies about how he went from a max salary guy to a minimum salary guy and how quickly things can turn for you in the NBA. His lesson was professionalism, but perhaps he should warn them about how through no fault of your own the entire way that NBA basketball can change and leave you in the cold. Drummond is a relic, one of the last of the Big Centers who rebound and do post moves and no longer get paid or drafted high or at all, but Drummond still offers something an NBA team needs: he is loving huge. Big Andre is an absolute load and still dominates on the glass, and the Bulls absolutely need some competent size off the bench. The tradeoff is that Drummond is a bit of a goofball and it is in his contract that he gets to do one profoundly stupid backwards pass or crossover move per game, but I really liked having this dude on the bench last year to shove guys around when Vooch is out and absorb some fouls against Embiid or Jokic and the other star big men. Ayo Dosunmu Ayo had a bit of a sophomore slump and, with the Carter signing, seems in danger of falling out of the rotation. The Bulls still signed him to an extension and it's never bad to have young guards who can play defense and move the ball under contract-- in my opinion, Ayo was the best Bulls guard at getting Vooch the ball on the roll-- but if he can substantially increase his three point shooting, he will carve out a role for himself. I'm rooting for him! Dalen Terry The Bulls' last first-round pick in 2022, Terry was barely able to get on the court. He was drafted as a raw, toolsy defender with playmaking upside, but was a turnover machine in the G-League and right now looks like a complete bust. Short of a disastrous wave of injuries, it is hard to see how he gets on the court this year. Elite bench celebrator. Julian Phillips, F The Bulls didn't have a first-rounder this year, but picked Phillips in the second. Like Terry, a long defensive stopper with a questionable shot and a long road to playing in the NBA. Will mostly be a G League guy this year. My friend saw him in the elevator when accidentally staying in the hotel that all of the draft prospects were in on an unrelated trip to Chicago and I have inside intel that he is very polite to random dudes in elevators. Onuralp Bitim Turkish dunk champion and shooter who was signed to a 2-way, probably won't play for the Bulls this year but they really need a guy like this. SEASON OUTLOOK I genuinely think the Bulls will be better this year. They have better role players, two young guys who could improve, and had really bad luck in close games last year. Will all of that add up to actually winning a playoff series this year? Probably not. If you're a person who can't stand to watch basketball teams unless they will win championships, then you will not like the Bulls. If you like decently competent ball with some fun dudes, you could do worse. My prediction is 7th seed and first-round exit. R.D. Mangles fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Oct 11, 2023 |
#
¿
Oct 11, 2023 05:11
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 9, 2024 19:58 |
|
|
bumping this thread 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 20, 2023 03:16
|
|