Chicago Bulls: Loss to Nuggets points out obvious current flaws

The Chicago Bulls battled back Monday night, but ultimately fell to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

After the first quarter, Chicago was down by 12 and the momentum seemed to be carrying the Nuggets to a dominating victory. However, Chicago won the next two quarters and actually took a 6-point lead a few minutes into the fourth quarter.

Denver took it back late in the game, though, and never gave it back up.

One of the main reasons for the win? Go ahead and act surprised: Jokic.

The Bulls were obliterated all night long by one of the best players in the game today. Jokic was a force against the Bulls, scoring 39 points to go with 14 rebounds and nine assists. He also added a couple of blocks, too.

The story for the Bulls was found close by Jokic’s domination, as he bullied Wendell Carter Jr. for the entirety of the night. Carter actually only played 23 minutes because of how bad he looked against Jokic.

Instead of trusting Carter for the majority of the game, Billy Donovan played Thaddeus Young down the stretch because of just how bad Carter’s defense looked.

The Chicago Bulls may want to consider moving on from Wendell Carter Jr.

While the Bulls may not make a move before this year’s trade deadline, they should look at doing some serious retooling in the offseason — and they will. One of the moves should be dealing Carter. The experiment hasn’t worked out. He’s been inconsistent, struggled with injuries and is no where near as physical as he should be.

Jokic’s performance against Carter was Exhibit A as to why Carter doesn’t fit in the Bulls’ long-term plans. He’s always been too soft, and the Bulls can’t win with a center like that. Dealing Carter in the offseason should be a priority.

One of the other problems that presented itself was in the form of swing man Denzel Valentine taking an unnecessary amount of shots. Valentine finished the night going 5-for-15 from the field. He went 3-for-8 from long distance, which would have been an acceptable line if those were all the shots he attempted for the game.

Donovan has been a great coach for the Bulls up to this point, and he used a hilariously effective lineup to take a lead on the Nuggets Monday night. It featured Valentine, Young, Ryan Arcidiacono, Luke Kornet and Coby White.

But, that lineup fizzled out in a hurry after taking a lead. Valentine continued to shoot, and it hurt the Bulls. At one given point, Valentine had attempted more shots than Zach LaVine.

That’s a problem.

There should never be a point where, in the fourth quarter, Valentine has taken more shots than the team’s best player. If he continues to shoot, and he’s not making the majority of his attempts, Valentine should be taken out immediately. The Bulls’ offense does not go as Valentine goes. That’s not how this works.

It’s LaVine’s show, period.

This loss can be attributed to Carter’s deficiencies on defense, sure, but also to the fact that LaVine hadn’t been as aggressive. Valentine cannot be a guy taking that many shots, and LaVine cannot wait until six minutes into the game to attempt his first field goal — yes, that actually happened.

This was such a winnable game for the Bulls, but in the end, a few mistakes prevented them from coming out on top. In the long run, Carter and Valentine aren’t suited for this team and the Bulls should move on. For now, it’s on to continuing a playoff push.