NBA Power Rankings Week 19: April review and the rising Phoenix Suns

24. Chicago Bulls

Last Week: Beat Miami Heat 110-102, Lost to New York Knicks 113-94, Lost to Milwaukee Bucks 108-98, Lost to Atlanta Hawks 108-97

This Week: 5/3 vs. Philadelphia 76ers, 5/6 at Charlotte Hornets, 5/7 vs. Boston Celtics

For a team looking to make a push for the playoffs, someone seems to have forgotten to tell the Chicago Bulls that the games still matter. In the Bulls’ meager defense, Zach LaVine played just eight games this month. Be that as it may, the rest of the team still left plenty to be desired in the way of competitive drive.

The team is undoubtedly young and inexperienced but that is not enough of an excuse. Nikola Vucevic is a two-time All-Star but has never contributed enough in the way of winning to make enough of a difference. He averaged 22.3 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game on shooting splits of .486/.434/.813. This is fine, but when he is supposed to be the best player on the roster without LaVine, fine is not good enough.

The young players have mostly struggled of late. Coby White was forced to be the lead ballhandler more often and is not efficient (43.5 percent from the field). Lauri Markkanen has been objectively terrible of late and can not get out of town soon enough. The Bulls made a bet at the deadline that they were ready to make it back to the postseason. Just over a month later, that bet is not coming to fruition.