It may seem like cheating to write this after the Bulls have gone 3 - 0 to start the season, but I assure you, I will not be biased by that. In fact I'm guessing they will lose their next three games and for that pattern to repeat itself all year long... like it has for the past 10 seasons or so.
Four years ago, the Bulls made some pretty significant moves. They completely revamped their teams and attracted free agents for the first time since the hey day of the Michael Jordan Bulls. That plan worked incredibly well... for the first two and a half months of the season. They actually had the best record in the Eastern Conference when one of those huge free agent acquisitions, Lonzo Ball, went down with a seemingly routine knee injury. Well he didn't play for over two seasons and returned as a shell of himself last year. So since that 2021-2022 season in which they went 46 - 36 on the way to a first round playoff exit the Bulls have gone 40-42, 39 - 43, and 39 - 43. During that time they have made the play in tournament all three years and won zero of those guys. Yuck. We call that basketball hell. Did I mention Yuck?
So after posting nearly the exact same record for three years in a row, have the Bulls gotten any better? Have they gotten any worse? Sadly, I think the answer to both of those questions is a resounding "No". They remain in basketball Hell where they are not good enough to win a playoff series but they are not bad enough to get a high draft pick. In other words they are in their owner's, Jerry Reinsdorf, version of heaven. Reinsdorf does not have to spend any real money on salaries and they are still competitive enough where fools like me will continue to go to and watch their games.
Let's look at how this team will manage to finish within two games of a 41 - 41 record this year.
The Bulls biggest move of the off-season was not losing Josh Giddey for nothing. Although they dragged it out forever and looked like the foolish cheapskates they are, they eventually gave Giddey the four year $100 million contract everyone knew they would give him three months earlier. They also resigned backup point guard Tre Jones. So they basically did nothing in free agency... again.
The only major move they made was to trade Lonzo Ball for something. It might not be something great, but you can't argue that it is something. They traded ball, who should be a very good backup on a playoff team for a possible starter on the Bulls bad team. In the deal with Cleveland, the Bulls received small forward Isaac Okoro. Considering the Bulls didn't have a starting small forward on their roster, getting even a bad starter was better than the nothing they had. Okoro has the reputation of being a 3 and D guy... which is actually what the Bulls need. The Bulls currently have four starters who score but play no defense. So not having to spread the ball to a fifth player is a good thing. Sadly he can't guard all 5 positions at once but at least he can guard the opponent's best wing.
Aside from that, the Bulls have a bunch of players who have hit their peak. Coby White has shown that he can shoot and score but will he really improve on his 20 points per game average from last year? Maybe he gets as high as 24 points, but does that equate to more Bulls wins? I doubt it. Because of the number of players who are at their relatively low ceiling, the Bulls actually have a very deep team. Zach Collins, Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones, and Jalen Smith are all solid role players. I might add Patrick Williams to that list but he should be hurt any second now so no reason to count him. They also have a few young guys who can add minutes here and there but nothing too exciting.
The problem for the Bulls is that they don't have a real star. They have a bunch of great 3rd options. They basically have an entire team of those. That helps teh depth and is enough to win around 41 games, but you aren't going anywhere without a star. The Bulls only hope is that Matas Buzelis develops insanely quickly and becomes a top 20 player this year. Unfortunately even if he does that, it might not be enough to balance out Nikola Vucevic taking a step back due to age. So as always, the Bulls take one step forward and at least one step back.
The only really good thing about this year is that the Bulls should play really fast. they aren't going to waste any time or energy on defense so there should be plenty of opportunities for them to score. Josh Giddey can be very fun to watch and I still love how solid Vuc is. If Buzelis does develop quickly, they can actually be exciting on their way to a first round playoff exit.
And like a fool, I will be there in front of my tv for all of it. I'm an idiot.
