Chicago Bulls: 5 takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season

The curtain has finally closed on the Chicago Bulls and the 2018-19 NBA season. Before we look too far ahead, here are five takeaways from the past season.

As we now know, the Chicago Bulls‘ 2018-19 NBA season didn’t go as many had hoped. Indeed, it was far worse than most had expected. During the summer and the subsequent training camp, there was a segment of fans and media types touting the Bulls as a potential playoff team.

Obviously, that never came to fruition, as the team stumbled out of the gates, dropping 19 of 24 to start the season. Fred Hoiberg was dismissed as head coach and his lead assistant Jim Boylen was installed as his (not interim but permanent) replacement.

Coming off a 27-55 record in 2017-18, the expectation for this squad was for at minimum, progress in the new season. With Zach LaVine fully healthy, Lauri Markkanen bulked up and coming off a successful rookie season and the addition of seventh overall draft selection Wendell Carter Jr., this edition of the Chicago Bulls was expected to take flight early.

Instead, LaVine was tasked with the heavy lifting early as Markkanen recovered from a severe elbow injury. Kris Dunn and Bobby Portis would miss significant time early with knee injuries and swingman Denzel Valentine would miss the season following ankle surgery. The signing of Jabari Parker would prove to be a failed experiment and the lack of an adequate veteran backup point guard would severely hamper the growth of this team.

Here are five takeaways from the 2018-19 NBA season for the Chicago Bulls: