Chicago Bulls: 3 post All-Star break hopes to finish the season

3. The Chicago Bulls have to get healthy at some point, right?

Last season the Bulls traded for Otto Porter and the team responded well during his brief time on the court, fueling the playoff aspirations that kickstarted the 2019-20 campaign. What has happened in reality has been far from expectations. Porter has played in just nine games all season with a left foot injury. In fact, he’s remarkably still only played in 24 games for the Chicago Bulls.

Lauri Markkanen is missing time with injury, again. He’s now missed significant time in all three seasons of his young career and even when healthy, his play has been mysteriously short of expectations this season.

The list goes on and on – Kris Dunn, Daniel Gafford, Carter, Chandler Hutchison, Denzel Valentine – In what feels like an annual tradition, the Bulls have simply struggled to stay on the court.

Injuries aren’t the only reason this team hasn’t been good this season, but to dismiss them entirely wouldn’t be fair either.

Without Carter, their defensive catalyst, the Bulls have floundered. In his absence, Chicago has gone 6-11 with a net rating of -6, with a defensive rating of 113.4. With Carter, the team went 13-24, but their net rating was -1.5 and their defensive rating was 105.6. The Bulls need their big man healthy, and soon.

It’s also worth pointing out that when this team was healthy and on the court together, they didn’t win then either. The Chicago Bulls at full strength only won three of their nine games with Porter and company on the court.

With that said, if – that’s a big if – the team can get healthy for a decent run down the stretch, maybe we’ll see if they can have any success. Maybe.