Chicago Bulls: The power of patience

After practicing patience on all fronts, the Chicago Bulls are starting to reap the benefits.

Any Chicago Bulls fan with a pulse still has love for Phil Jackson, even if he wrecked the New York Knicks in what was a nearly incoherent string of bad (and not so boujee) moves as their team president. But one thing about Jackson that has allowed him to become one of the most decorated NBA coaches of all time is the unflinching patience he has exhibited.

So it goes, the patience is strong with GarPax and in the Windy City, as they are now seeing the fruits of their investments come to a head.

For instance, after a lengthy but thorough recovery, Zach LaVine appears to be back up to snuff and has been trending up in a big way, capping off his surprisingly consistent post-injury run with a ridiculous 35-point performance against his old team, the Minnesota Timberwolves. Practicing patience with LaVine will likely help the Bulls retain what will become a franchise player to anchor Chicago’s offense for a long time.

Meanwhile, Kris Dunn may be out of the concussion protocol, but bringing him along through the G League is about as smart a move as any. After a lengthy three-week absence, most won’t realize how difficult (and frankly, hazardous) it is to jump directly back into game action.

To keep Dunn in the G League through the All-Star break is prudent and with no playoff berth on the horizon for this season, it is a perfect way to keep the team in contention for a high lottery pick in this year’s draft.

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Finally, the Bulls traded the rights to Milocan Rakovic to the Portland Trail Blazers for Noah Vonleh. Truth be told, Vonleh fills the rebounding void the Bulls had and while he may have been had for a higher price tag earlier, when it came down to the deadline GarPax knew that Portland would be desperate to get under the luxury cap.

They were right. Portland caved and sent the 22-year-old big man to his third team since being drafted in 2014. His potential is definitely still there, and now he is a Bull.

Juxtaposed with their Central Division rival Cleveland Cavaliers, the patience of the Bulls organization is even more apparent. The Cavaliers have pulled the trigger left and right for the past few years in attempts to satisfy LeBron James, exposing to the basketball world the ugly outcome of allowing players to play GM.

That’s the price to pay for a team contending for championships, but for a team very far away from that destination like Chicago, patience is key.

Next: Biggest winners and losers of the 2018 NBA Trade Deadline

With two players to be featured in the All-Star weekend in Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen, this is certainly the beginning of a bright future in Chicago, and a lot of that can be owed to luck, and of course the virtue of patience. Look for Lauri Markkanen and Kris Dunn to go head-to-head in the NBA Rising Stars game on Friday.