Outside the Chicago sports landscape, the Chicago Bulls aren’t a very interesting team this year. They stumbled to the finish line last year and didn’t do much to improve the roster this offseason, attributing a majority of their struggles to injury.
Most analysts see them as a definite play-in team, unsure if they’ll even be able to make it into the playoffs. ESPN’s stats-based predictions has them as the 12th seed in the East, mustering only 38 wins.
However, while the Bulls don’t have a flashy young star or a core of perennial all-pros like some other eastern conference teams there are variables that could drastically influence the ceiling of this team.
That’s what makes this Bulls season so exciting as this is the year everyone will be able to see whether all the decisions Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley have made since taking over will pay off.
Whether it’s seeing how Zach will perform as an official max NBA player, whether DeMar stays hot, or how Patrick Williams looks this season, there are a plethora of storylines to keep Bulls fans engaged all season long.
There is a very similar vibe to the first year under AKME as this core will truly be under evaluation this season, with the potential for landscape-altering moves if things don’t go as planned.
The Chicago Bulls are still a major wildcard in a vastly improved Eastern Conference.
While I totally understand why there’s reason to be down on the Chicago Bulls, they are still a major X-factor in the Eastern Conference. Why? They still have an All-NBA star in DeMar DeRozan, an elite, athletic wing in Zach LaVine who arguably should have been a starter for the East last season, and a top-7 center in Nikola Vucevic who averaged 18 and 11 in a down year last season.
Not to mention the continued growth of Ayo Dosunmu, a healthy new and improved Patrick Williams, and a deeper bench with Alex Caruso, Goran Dragic, and Andre Drummond – this Chicago Bulls team has the potential to beat anyone in the East on any given night.
What follows here are three expectations I have for the upcoming Chicago Bulls season. My expectations are informed by what I’ve seen this team and certain players accomplish and what they’re capable of, combined with the hope that they stay healthy all year.
Expectation 1. Zach LaVine should go 50-40-90
The 50-40-90 club is a prestigious group in NBA history. It’s a group of players who, in a single season, have shot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, and 90 percent from the free-throw line.
Notable players in this group include Larry Bird, Steve Nash, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and most recently, Kyrie Irving.
Zach LaVine, fresh off inking a new 215 million dollar contract to stay with the Bulls and reportedly 100 percent healthy, must come into the season with higher expectations than seasons preceding.
Despite how rare this feat is, I believe Zach LaVine is one of the few talents in the NBA capable of achieving it. Here is how close he has been to this feat in his past two all-star seasons:
- 2020-21 (1st All-Star Season): 50.7 percent FG, 41.9 percent 3P, 84.9 percent FT
- 2021-22 (2nd All-Star Season): 47.6 percent FG, 38.9 percent 3P, 85.3 percent FT
- 2021-22 Pre-Injury on 1/14: 49.1 percent FG, 41.2 percent 3P, 87.2 percent FT
As we can see, for the past two seasons Zach LaVine has been flirting with 50-40-90 territory, and I believe this can be the season he finally breaks through, which would be quite the way to kick off his new max-contract status.
Additionally, even looking at his splits when he was healthy last season and considering how close he was to 50-40-90, doesn’t tell the whole story as he was dealing with a thumb injury for the first two months of the year.
In 2022-23, Zach LaVine should be back to 100 percent healthy and if he can stay that way, I fully expect him to attain 50-40-90 status or come extremely close once again.
Expectation Two: Patrick Williams takes a massive step forward
For the Chicago Bulls to take the next step, Patrick Williams must take a major step forward. In what I’m terming a “Luol Deng” year, Patrick Williams needs to average 15 and 7, on 35+ percent from 3-point-land while also taking on the task of guarding the opposing team’s best player. This last one is now of even more importance given Lonzo Ball’s uncertain health status.
If Patrick Williams is able to consistently play this role, not only would he be a fringe all-star, but would also benefit this team in a number of ways.
First off, his scoring contributions would alleviate immense pressure off the shoulders of not only Nikola Vucevic, but also Coby White. Between mid-December and mid-January of this past season, when the Chicago Bulls went on an 11-5 run, Coby White averaged 16 points per game on 44 percent shooting from 3.
However, after the all-star break when the Bulls collapsed to the finish line, his scoring went cold as he averaged just under 10 ppg and shot only 33 percent from 3. The emergence of Patrick Williams as a consistent scorer would not only take pressure to score off Coby White but would also open the floor up for both Coby and Ayo to perform more consistently in their roles.
The Chicago Bulls need multiple, viable scorers outside of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan if they want to compete in the Eastern playoffs this year, and Patrick Williams is the key to unlocking that depth if he can take a major step forward this season.
Expectation Three: Ayo Dosunmu is the Chicago Bulls’ starting point guard while Lonzo Ball gets healthy
Another crucial piece of the puzzle for the Chicago Bulls to find themselves in playoff contention is surviving the absence of Lonzo Ball. The one best suited to fill that role is none other than Ayo Dosunmu.
Ayo fell in the draft last year, further than anyone would have expected, but the Chicago Bulls were the beneficiaries as they drafted Ayo with the 38th overall pick in last year’s draft. However, he had a rookie season to remember, averaging 9 ppg on 52 percent shooting from the field and a shade under 38 percent from 3.
His performance garnered recognition, in the form of an appearance on the 2021-22 NBA All-Rookie second team. Yet, much like most rookies, he hit a wall in the back half of the season. While his scoring was a tick higher, he barely shot 30 percent from three.
However, now going into year two he looks noticeably bigger and both physically and mentally ready to handle an 82-game NBA slate and postseason run.
Being able to not only improve upon what he accomplished last year but sustain it over the course of the season will be of paramount importance to not only himself (Dosunmu is in a contract year) but to the Bulls’ prospects this season.
It is on Dosunmu to steady the ship while Lonzo nurses his injury, and if he’s able to deliver not only will the Bulls be among the true contenders in the Eastern playoff picture, but he will also have a big payday coming.
Ultimately, I think there are a variety of outcomes for this Chicago Bulls season. However, after following them all of last season, I believe these are reasonable expectations in order for the Bulls to not only repeat the success of last season but build upon it.