Outside the Chicago sports landscape, the Chicago Bulls aren’t a very interesting team this year. They stumbled to the finish line last year and didn’t do much to improve the roster this offseason, attributing a majority of their struggles to injury.
Most analysts see them as a definite play-in team, unsure if they’ll even be able to make it into the playoffs. ESPN’s stats-based predictions has them as the 12th seed in the East, mustering only 38 wins.
However, while the Bulls don’t have a flashy young star or a core of perennial all-pros like some other eastern conference teams there are variables that could drastically influence the ceiling of this team.
That’s what makes this Bulls season so exciting as this is the year everyone will be able to see whether all the decisions Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley have made since taking over will pay off.
Whether it’s seeing how Zach will perform as an official max NBA player, whether DeMar stays hot, or how Patrick Williams looks this season, there are a plethora of storylines to keep Bulls fans engaged all season long.
There is a very similar vibe to the first year under AKME as this core will truly be under evaluation this season, with the potential for landscape-altering moves if things don’t go as planned.
The Chicago Bulls are still a major wildcard in a vastly improved Eastern Conference.
While I totally understand why there’s reason to be down on the Chicago Bulls, they are still a major X-factor in the Eastern Conference. Why? They still have an All-NBA star in DeMar DeRozan, an elite, athletic wing in Zach LaVine who arguably should have been a starter for the East last season, and a top-7 center in Nikola Vucevic who averaged 18 and 11 in a down year last season.
Not to mention the continued growth of Ayo Dosunmu, a healthy new and improved Patrick Williams, and a deeper bench with Alex Caruso, Goran Dragic, and Andre Drummond – this Chicago Bulls team has the potential to beat anyone in the East on any given night.
What follows here are three expectations I have for the upcoming Chicago Bulls season. My expectations are informed by what I’ve seen this team and certain players accomplish and what they’re capable of, combined with the hope that they stay healthy all year.