Chicago Bulls: Change now, or risk irreparable damage

The Chicago Bulls are continuing to trend in the wrong direction, and things must change before it’s too late.

The Chicago Bulls have reached a bit of an inflection point. Sure, they have been mired in a rebuild for what feels like an eternity, so this season may simply feel like more of the same. However, things feel different recently, and if ownership doesn’t make a change soon, it may not matter when they ultimately do.

It has become increasingly more difficult for Zach LaVine to hid his frustrations with the current state of this team. Whether it was his clear disgust with Jim Boylen’s end of game timeout call down 24-points to the Toronto Raptors, or his most recent comments about getting their — ahem — rear ends whooped, he’s not happy. One can even point to a recent statement he made regarding the team’s injury woes.

Reading ever so slightly into his comments, it appears to express some displeasure with the coaching staff, as Zach has never questioned his teammates or their effort, so what or who else could he be referring to but Boylen.

To go along with Zach’s displeasure, we now have reports that Lauri Markkanen is also unhappy and ready to jump ship and leave the organization at the first opportunity. He reportedly does not want to play within the structure the Bulls currently have in place. Again who else could he be talking about but Boylen?

In other words, there seems to be one common-denominator creating a lot of unhappiness within the team, and the is Jim Boylen.

Now granted, there have also been reports that the Bulls plan to make major changes, including to the front office, this offseason. Whether that ultimately comes to fruition, and they are meaningful changes remains to be seen (I have my doubts about the latter).

But let’s assume for a second that these rumored offseason changes include firing Boylen. The way things are going, at this rate it might not matter. It may be too late at that point. The players almost mutinied at the start of the Boylen era. At this point, they seem to have become disenfranchised. If that’s where they are in February, what is their mental state going to be, come June?

If the Bulls fail to make a change now, at least with respect to the head coach, they risk doing irreparable damage to this team, such that it might not matter what changes they make in the offseason. The dye may already be cast, and the script already written on two of the team’s cornerstones.