Predicting Bulls' Breakout Players for 2023-24 NBA Season
The Chicago Bulls believe they will field a competitive club during the 2023-24 NBA season.
Internal improvement is almost certainly required to make that happen.
They got 74-plus games each out of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević and still posted a sub-.500 record and were knocked out of the play-in tournament. They can't count on their stars to change their fate.
Perhaps the only way that can happen is by summoning a batch of breakouts from their supporting cast. The following three players have a chance to make a badly needed leap.
Jevon Carter
1 of 3
Carter doesn't fit the traditional profile of a breakout candidate, since he isn't particularly young (28) or inexperienced (304 games over five seasons). He is, however, potentially stepping into a larger role than he's ever had and could see the most floor time and touches of his career.
He is in the running for the starting point guard gig left unoccupied by the still-sidelined Lonzo Ball. Carter might also be the closest comparison to Ball, since Carter is a tenacious defender and low-maintenance offensive player who can feast on spot-up threes (career 39.7 percent).
The question is whether Carter can run an offense, which is something he's never before been asked to do. The 2.4 assists per game he tallied last season were the most of his career, so he's not exactly a mirror image of Ball.
If Carter can up his assists count, though, he could become the connector who brings this roster together the way Ball once did. If Carter can fill the void of a two-way playmaker, Chicago's road ahead would become much easier to navigate.
Coby White
2 of 3
In Chicago's preseason opener, White manned the starting point guard spot and promptly did everything he could to keep it. He netted a team-high 14 points in 23 minutes, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 2-of-5 from distance. He also paced the team in assists (six), tied for the lead in steals (two) and snagged the second-most rebounds (six).
"Hard work doesn't fail. So you're gonna see the progress," LaVine said of White. "I think he's just really confident right now. He's playing well. He's moving and acting like this is what I want to do. He's confident in that role. And we're supporting him."
White averaged the fewest minutes of his career last season (23.4), but it may have been his most impressive campaign to date. He showed considerable growth as a defender and a distributor, suggesting he could step out of his instant-offense role and become more of a true lead guard. He set personal-bests in several advanced categories, like win shares per 48 minutes (.087) and value over replacement player (0.5), per Basketball-Reference.com.
White, who won't turn 24 until February, could be one breakout season away from cementing himself as a franchise building block or even becoming the club's most important young player.
Patrick Williams
3 of 3
Is this wishful thinking or reflective of the opportunity ahead of Williams? A little of both, honestly.
Williams, the No. 4 pick in 2020, has neither approached his towering two-way ceiling nor even left any strong hints about doing so any time soon. However, player development doesn't always happen as quickly as fans want, so the fact Williams hasn't broken out yet doesn't at all mean he's incapable of making a big leap.
He must become more assertive and add more to his offensive bag. He is too talented to keep being stuck in the three-and-D role he has largely filled to this point.
If he makes some improvements, though, this is one of those situations where the sky is the limit in terms of how much better he can get. Nothing would mean more to Chicago's season than Williams becoming the star wing who can take this roster to the next level.
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