The Chicago Bulls: What Went Wrong

The Chicago Bulls made one of the biggest splashes at the NBA Trade deadline earlier this season in acquiring All Star big man Nikola Vucevic from the Orlando Magic. The move was heralded far and wide that a change had come to the Bulls organization and that they were here to compete. The move gave the Bulls 2 All Stars and what many thought were enough ancillary pieces to get into the expanded 10 team playoff field. Funny thing happened on the way to that playoff berth however as the Bulls new roster did not meet expectations.

The biggest issue has been the lack of Zach LaVine. LaVine entered the NBA’s Covid protocols a few weeks ago and has missed a substantial number of games. Any team would struggle without their number 1 scoring option. Another detriment has been lack of practice time. You may think these are pro athletes why do they need practice? Well in order to learn a new system for some players and to assimilate them into your current group it is a trial and error process that ample practice time can help with. Without that practice time, due to Covid protocols and such you are forced into learning on the fly which can lead to mistakes in games and losses. 

The final issue was that some of the personnel just didn’t fit and some players never took the next step. Lauri Markkanen thus far has not lived up to the potential that he showed as a rookie. Nikola Vucevic has a similar game and is much more refined at this point in his career than Markkanen is. Coby White has also struggled to find consistency in his game. 

While not making it to at least one of the play in games this season hurts the season is not a total loss. The Bulls finally have a front office and a coach that seem to be in sync when it comes to where they want to take the team. You have to learn to walk before you run and learn to win before you fully succeed. This season was step one, we shall see where step two takes the Bulls.