Chicago Bulls: Why it’s too early to panic about this winless squad

The Chicago Bulls have lost the first three games of the season, but they still have plenty of time to turn things around and contend for the playoffs.

Losing the first three games of the year is not what Chicago Bulls fans had in mind when the NBA released the schedule for the 2021 season. After an offseason that included hiring respected head coach Billy Donovan and drafting promising prospect Patrick Williams, the team looked poised to turn over a new leaf.

Although an 0-3 start is far from ideal, there’s too much basketball left to be played to give up on the season now. The team is young, but most of its core has been together for a few seasons. Billy Donovan has a reputation for manufacturing a product that is better than the sum of its parts. This season should be no different.

 Familiar faces on the Chicago Bulls roster

Five of the Bulls’ top six rotation players were with the team last season. Rookie Patrick Williams is the only new addition to the starting lineup after a surprisingly strong showing during training camp and the preseason. Through the first three contests, he’s averaging a solid 10.3 points per game. The player Williams replaced in the starting lineup, Otto Porter Jr, has made a solid contribution off the bench with averages of 12.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game thus far.

The rest of Chicago’s core consists of Zach LaVine, Lauri Markkanen, Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. There’s no reason that a team featuring a prolific scorer like LaVine and an All-Star caliber player like Markkanen shouldn’t compete for the seventh or eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Last year, as coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Billy Donovan had the luxury of having a leader like Chris Paul in his locker room. The question for this year’s Bulls team is who is going to assume that leadership role both on and off the court and demand the most from their teammates on a nightly basis?