DeKALB – The NBA season is fast approaching with opening night scheduled for Oct. 24. The Chicago Bulls season opener is Oct. 25 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
After returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2017 in the 2021-2022 season, the Bulls finished the 2022-2023 season with a 40-42 record.
The Bulls finished last season in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and were eliminated by the eventual Eastern Conference champions Miami Heat in the play-in tournament, failing to reach the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.
The Bulls will once again be led by their trio of shooting guard Zach LaVine, forward DeMar DeRozan and center Nikola Vučević.
LaVine, a two time All-Star, is the longest tenured Bull, coming to Chicago in the Jimmy Butler trade in 2017. LaVine underwent surgery on his left knee after the 2021-2022 season and played through a hand contusion during the early stages of the 2022-2023 season. LaVine will be fully healthy heading into the 2023-2024 season.
DeRozan is heading into his third and final year under contract with the Bulls. The 15-year veteran has made the All-Star team in each of his two seasons in Chicago, including an All-NBA Second Team selection in 2021-2022. DeRozan, 34 years old, has missed just 14 games over two seasons with the Bulls and still remains an elite scoring threat for Chicago.
The Bulls re-signed Vučević to a three-year, $60 million contract following the 2022-2023 season. The move was controversial within the fan base considering many fans believe Vučević is a poor defender and settles for outside shots too often. Nonetheless, Vučević will be back in Chicago for the foreseeable future while being a double-double threat on a nightly basis.
Last season, the Bulls’ biggest weaknesses were three-point shooting and rebounding. The Bulls ranked last in the NBA in three-point field goals made and ranked bottom-10 in rebounds per game.
A huge reason for the Bulls’ struggles in three-point shooting and rebounding was the loss of point guard Lonzo Ball. Ball has been sidelined since January 2022 with a knee injury, causing him to miss the entirety of the 2022-2023 season. He is also expected to miss the entirety of the 2023-2024 season.
The last game Ball played was Jan. 14, 2022. At the time, the Bulls were in first place in the Eastern Conference with a 27-13 record. The Bulls finished the 2021-2022 season 46-36, falling to a sixth place finish in the east in 2022. The Bulls regressed even further in 2023 with Ball missing the entire season.
In 2021-2022, Ball shot a career best 42.3% from three-point range and averaged 5.4 rebounds per game from the point guard position, according to ESPN. Ball also provided elite defense, averaging 1.8 steals per game and 0.9 blocks per game in 2021-2022.
To help with the Bulls three-point shooting woes, Chicago brought in a career 39.7% three-point shooter in point guard Jevon Carter and forward Torrey Craig who shot 39.5% from beyond the arc last season with the Phoenix Suns. Both Carter and Craig have reputations around the league as plus defenders.
In addition to resigning Vučević, the Bulls brought back guard Coby White and center Andre Drummond. White shot 37.2% from the three-point range last season and showed huge strides as a playmaker. Drummond is one of the greatest rebounders of his era, averaging 13 or more rebounds in seven of his 11 seasons.
If the Bulls want to make any noise in the East in the 2023-2024 season, they will need to be respectable from three-point range, their big three to improve defensively, and rebound the ball in order to give a low-scoring offense as many possessions as possible.
