Chicago Bulls: Evaluating the Bulls as the team heads into the hiatus
3. The Chicago Bulls are in the midst of an incomplete rebuild
It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the Chicago Bulls this season. This was the season they’d push for a playoff berth. With the Windy City hosting the 2020 NBA All-Star Weekend, the hope, really the expectation, was that the Bulls would be well represented during the mid-season festivities.
The franchise and fans alike had ambitious dreams of Zach LaVine thrilling fans during the Slam Dunk contest, Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. participating in the Rising Stars game and of course, that both LaVine and Lauri Markkanen would make their All-Star debuts in front of the home crowd.
😤 21 in the 4Q for Zach LaVine! 😤@ZachLaVine (42 PTS) leads the @chicagobulls back from 19 points down with a HUGE 4th quarter. pic.twitter.com/5sDezLubFa
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2020
Of course, none of that happened, though LaVine did perform in the 3-point shooting contest and has had an All-Star caliber season thus far and Carter was selected for the Rising Stars game but didn’t play due to injury. Oh, and the team stinks. 22-43 at this point wasn’t supposed to happen.
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The Bulls still have a decent core to build around, but the issue is, we still don’t know what the ceiling is for this squad. Injuries have taken a major bite out of Markkanen, Carter, Otto Porter Jr. and Kris Dunn‘s time in Chicago. So far, losing and the seventh pick in the lottery has been the only constant the last few years around this franchise.
It’s simply too difficult at this point to know what this team is, or what it can become as currently constructed. The lack of offensive imagination, outside shooting and secondary scoring for much of the season sullied this season from the start.
Of course, a discussion surrounding the current state of the Chicago Bulls isn’t complete without mentioning the brain trust of Paxson, Forman (GarPax) and Boylen. While GarPax has had at least some success in the past, Boylen hasn’t proved much as an NBA head coach yet still seems to hold favor in the organization, earned or not.