Chicago Bulls: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

1. Fred Hoiberg will be back for another season

With the Bulls deciding to enter into a full-scale rebuild — along with the announcement by John Paxson that the team’s win-loss record would not be the barometer in terms of defining how successful the season would be — the fans pretty much knew what to expect even before the season began.

Although the Bulls finished the season tied for the sixth-worst record in the league to go along with two first-round draft picks, the season is still considered a failure in the eyes of some. Sure, the preseason incident certainly didn’t do the team any favors.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

Furthermore, with injuries to key players at various stretches, the team struggled to create chemistry. This especially holds true for the trio of LaVine, Dunn and Markkanen, who appeared in just 12 games together.

On the flip side of the narrative, the players came out and competed at a high level on most nights, even if the final score didn’t indicate as much. Additionally, the offense known as “Hoiball” was finally implemented to some extent this season.

After placing at 29th and 24th in 3-point attempts over the previous two seasons, the Bulls actually finished sixth in this category in 2017-18 and they shot the long ball at a respectable clip, knocking down 35.5 percent of their attempts.

Even more important, several players improved under Hoiberg’s watch. Portis had a career year. Dunn was a completely different player compared to his rookie season in Minnesota.

Denzel Valentine doubled his scoring and rebounding numbers from a year ago while shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point land.

Heck, even Cameron Payne (8.8 points and 4.5 assists per outing) played well enough to turn the competition at the backup point guard position into a two-man race again. A few other players who may have played their way onto next year’s roster include David Nwaba, Sean Kilpatrick and possibly Noah Vonleh as well.

Next: 2017-18 Week 26 NBA Power Rankings

So while the tanking strategy didn’t quite go according to plan, Hoiberg checked all of the boxes in the eyes of the front office, and for better or worse, he will be back for a fourth season.