Buying or Selling Bulls' Biggest Concerns Entering December
It's been a one-step-forward, one-step-back kind of start to the 2022-23 NBA season for the Chicago Bulls.
Just when you think you have them figured out, they'll pick up an out-of-nowhere signature win or suffer a head-scratching loss. To that end, they are already 5-1 against the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat and Brooklyn Nets and winless against the Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The defense is better than expected, but the offense is worse. Injuries have continued to plague this club, though the normal starters—not counting the still-hobbled Lonzo Ball—have combined to miss only five contests.
It's a tough team to gauge, but we're doing our best by buying or selling the biggest early concerns as season-long worries.
Zach LaVine Isn't the Same
1 of 3
Zach LaVine had knee surgery in May. He's clearly still feeling some of the effects in November.
His volume output hasn't changed much (20.9 points and 4.3 assists this season; 24.4 and 4.5 last season), but his shooting rates sure have. Entering Wednesday, he had the second-worst field-goal percentage of his career (40.4) and his lowest three-point percentage in five seasons (35.6).
The biggest drop is his two-point shooting, which has dipped to a career-worst 44.5 percent. That's where you most notice his bounce just isn't the same. He's not getting to the rim as often or finishing as consistently when he does. Last season, he scored 7.4 points per game and shot 50.8 percent on drives, per NBA.com. This season, he's down to 6.3 points on 41.3 percent shooting.
Verdict: Unfortunately buying. A full-strength LaVine is as entertaining as they come, but the numbers show he's lost some zip.
Patrick Williams Isn't Making the Leap
2 of 3
Life would be so much simpler in the Windy City if Patrick Williams lived up to his high-end outcomes.
He has the frame—and, every now and then, the game—of the big, two-way wing that could tie together this roster like a Lebowskian rug. He'll have flashes of defensive brilliance and brief, assertive stretches where he looks unstoppable on offense.
Pan back the camera, though, and there just isn't much change from the player who arrived in Chicago as the No. 4 pick of the 2020 draft. His numbers haven't moved in a meaningful manner, and you wonder if the faithful are running out of hope that they ever will.
Verdict: Soft sell. Williams hasn't offered a ton of reasons to be optimistic, but it's too early to bail on a 21-year-old who occasionally flashes really high-level stuff.
The Big Three Doesn't Fit
3 of 3
Once LaVine started flashing an All-Star ceiling, Chicago hurried to assemble a contender around him. Nikola Vučević and DeMar DeRozan weren't the cleanest-fitting co-stars on paper, but they were the best that the Bulls' budget could buy, so each was added at a not insignificant cost and the clock immediately started ticking on Chicago's win-now plan.
Well, last season's group lost steam and eventually was bounced out of the opening round. Expecting anything more from this club probably involves putting a high premium on the return of Lonzo Ball—which was supposed to happen ahead of last year's playoffs but still hasn't and remains unclear when it will—or expecting the talent of Chicago's Big Three to bring out better results.
Don't hold your breath on that second part. All three players are offensive specialists, and it's hard to find enough touches to maximize each one's impact. Tack on some defensive limitations with each one, and this trio just isn't really equipped to win at a super high level together. The three have logged 332 minutes together this season, and the Bulls have lost those minutes by 4.6 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. That's not ideal, and neither is the fact they posted a negative net rating across 1,206 minutes last season (minus-1.1).
Verdict: Mostly buying. This trio fared better last season, but it still wasn't great.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
