Each NBA team’s projected starting lineup for 2023–24
By Cal Durrett
Projected starting lineup: Chicago Bulls
Point Guard: Alex Caruso
Shooting Guard: Zach LaVine
Small Forward: DeMar DeRozan
Power Forward: Patrick Williams
Center: Nikola Vucevic
Chicago definitely underperformed given their talent level last season, and unfortunately, they didn’t improve over the summer. That puts the Bulls in sort of limbo going into the 2023–24 season. As is, they aren’t bad enough to get a high lottery pick and aren’t good enough to be more than a play-in team.
Worse yet, two bad trades have handcuffed their ability to improve their situation and even resulted in them losing the lottery pick to the Orlando Magic. They even have terrible injury luck, with point guard Lonzo Ball being ruled out for the year. The last time he was fully healthy, the Bulls had a 22-13 record and looked like a legit playoff team.
Compare that to their record of 126-222 without Lonzo, and it’s clear that they miss his playmaking. Without many other options, re-signing Vucevic and running it back was probably the best option on the table. However, the Bulls may decide to go for an in-season teardown if things don’t improve this season, which appears likely at this point.