Fans and experts alike are still perplexed by the Chicago Bulls’ choice to stick with their existing core of backs despite their lackluster performance in the previous campaign. The clubs finished with a sub.500 record and were not selected for the Play-In Tournament, despite the fact that the Bulls’ “Big 3” remained healthy and played the most minutes together of any trio in the entire league.
Without Lonzo Ball to coordinate things on both ends of the floor, it was obvious that this roster was performing well. Nevertheless, it appears that the front staff missed the mark, as the Bulls suddenly find themselves much below the mediocre level despite relying on the same core to try and make the team relevant this season.500 mark and stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Broken core
Individually, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic are talented players capable of filling up the stat sheet on any given night. However, in the NBA, cohesion is key, and when it came to the Bulls, they couldn’t seem to find the right balance between all of them. The fans see it; the numbers prove it, but somehow, the front office decision-makers deduced bringing them all back this season was the right call.
The Chicago Bulls, who have not finished above.500 since Lonzo Ball’s knee injury in December 2022, have struggled this summer. This front office nonetheless determined that this was a core worth maintaining and growing, for reasons that are only known to them. They didn’t have enough win-now skill to matter in anything other than the play-in tournament race, but they played like a win-now squad. Additionally, Zach Buckley posted on Bleacher Report that they had been turned away from that dance thus far.
The Bulls not only signed Vooch again, but they also signed Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White to new deals, added Jevon Carter, and signed Torrey Craig.
Buckley went on, “They might not have overpaid by a great deal, but the whole thing—committing more than $141 million to Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Jevon Carter, and Torrey Craig—resulted in one enormous head-scratcher.”
In what direction is this going?
It is not a good idea for any team to keep doing the same things and expecting a different outcome. If the Bulls want to get back into the East and start being regular contenders, they must adopt a new strategy. The Bulls have good players in place, but they need discipline and organizational strength to contend again. They won’t be able to really matter in the East until then.
“Exactly where did they believe they were going? Had they forgotten the past launch failures of this nucleus? What made this one supposed to be any different? Buckley pondered.
“This offseason, or perhaps earlier, it should have been evident that whatever the Bulls are doing isn’t working.”
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