DeKALB – The Chicago Bulls will focus on taking care of each other this season — at least that’s what Head Coach Jim Boylan said during Tuesday’s news conference. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as the Bulls will need every single player on the roster to perform at their best. The Eastern Conference is wide open, and the Bulls will have to show they can compete for a playoff spot. Here are our staff’s predictions for the Bulls’ 2019-20 season.

 

James Krause, Reporter

Twitter: @Jkrausepro

Picking up only 22 wins last season, it would be a more impressive feat if the Chicago Bulls somehow failed to improve on their campaign from last season.

The Bulls picked up point guard Coby White in the draft, adding even further depth to their backcourt along with Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and former Washington Wizard Tomas Satroansky. 

Chicago also added 31-year-old forward Thaddeus Young to their bench to hopefully bring veteran leadership to a team that currently is the second youngest on average in the league.

While none of these moves will set the Bulls back even further than 22 wins, they do very little to push the needle in terms of a potential playoff spot. The Bulls should still fall short of a playoff spot, finishing in the ninth or tenth seed, as they need to find true star power somewhere in their rotation that their already solid young core can play around.

Kyle Mathas, Contributor

Twitter: @MathasKyle

The Bulls will have a decent season this year. While their performance won’t be as bad as last season, it won’t be much better. The Bulls will be in the middle of the Eastern Conference with a 36-46 record on the season.

Players like Lauri Markkanen, Ryan Arcidiacono, Zach LaVine and Denzel Valentine will have break out seasons, with rookie Coby White having a chance to become rookie of the year, if he plays like he played during the preseason.

 

Jarret Huff, Contributor

Twitter: @JarrettHuffNS

This season is vital for the future of the current core of the Chicago Bulls. The rebuild that began in the summer of 2017, after the Bulls dealt star guard Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves, will be entering its third season.

The Bulls finished with a record of 22-60 last season after going 27-55 in 2017-18. With several new additions from last season and this summer, the makeup of the team will be better.

With Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen leading the team, there is no reason they can’t contend for a playoff position in the Eastern Conference, but that’s only if they’ve made improvements to their games, as well as the rest of the young core.

The Bulls have a real chance at a seventh or eighth seed, provided the coaching staff figures out how to best utilize its young players and injuries don’t affect key players like in the past two seasons.

Expect the Bulls to be more competitive and finish near .500, which could be enough for the eighth seed.

 

Marcel Carrasco, Sports Editor

Twitter: @CarrasMarcelNS

“Trust the Process” is what Joel Embiid would say, and as the season begins for the Chicago Bulls, they, along with their fans, can only trust the process. However, the Chicago Bulls don’t have a superstar athlete or superstar team to trust. The Bulls put together a team of average players with average talent.

Three years of rebuilding have led to the second youngest team in the NBA, and the Bulls will show it throughout the season. LaVine and Markkanen will be Chicago’s best players, and both have a chance at appearing in the All-Star week events.

Rookie Coby White will turn heads, but that’s it. Chicago will not win more than 40 games this season. Growing pains and inexperience will limit Chicago to a 38-44 record which will unsurprisingly be enough to put the Bulls in playoff contention in a weak Eastern Conference.

It will be a stressful season for Chicago, and Bulls’ fans should look into choosing a second team to root for come playoffs.

 

Brandon Giesey, Video Editor

Twitter: @Giesey12

Despite my colleagues’ opinions on the Chicago Bulls season, I am highly optimistic for this years Bulls team. Maybe it is my sports skepticism, but I see a strong possibility of improvement for this young squad. 

The Bulls were 28 games under 500, that is not a hard mark to beat, and keep in mind the important additions. The Bulls added versatile guard Tomas Satoransky, a player who can play point guard, but defend players that play small forward. Chicago drafted dynamic point guard Coby White, a player who shined in limited preseason play, and signed stretch power forward Thadeus Young to level out the front court.

I’m not saying this is an NBA Finals roster, but there is room for optimism surrounding a young Chicago Bulls team.