Getty Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan talk during a game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Make no mistake — the Chicago Bulls‘ 2021-22 campaign was one for the franchise annals; a landmark moment on their road back to respectability after a lengthy stay in the NBA‘s cellar.
By advancing to the playoffs as a No. 6 seed, the team broke a five-year playoff drought. Meanwhile, its 46 wins were the most compiled by a Bulls squad since the 2014-15 season when Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose and even Kirk Hinrich (in his second stint) were still in the fold.
Regardless, it’s difficult to look back on the year and not wonder what might have been. For all the progress the Bulls made, a number of major injuries — some of which were in the starting five — precluded the team from maintaining its early spot near the top of the East standings.
With any luck, that won’t be a problem in 2022-23. Even if the starters do manage to avoid injury, though, one hoops pundit sees some potential issues with the group.
Bulls Defense Affects Ranking Among Starting Groups
Bleacher Report‘s Grant Hughes tipped off the week with a feature ranking every starting unit in the aAsociation; an exercise that one would expect to show Chicago in a favorable light.
After all, this is a team that’s trotting out a sneaky MVP candidate in DeMar DeRozan, one of the best two-guards in the game in Zach LaVine, a former All-Star big in Nikola Vucevic, a high lottery pick in Patrick Williams and, arguably, a top-10 floor general in Lonzo Ball.
In the B/R list, however, the Bulls actually entered the fray way back at No. 18.
Wrote Hughes:
This unit, which has just two above-standard defenders in Ball and Williams, somehow produced a defensive rating of 87.5 that ranked in the 100th percentile and an offensive rating of 98.5 that ranked in the second.
The NBA can be unpredictable, but here’s a certainty: Those trends will reverse, and the Bulls’ starters should score in bunches while surrendering nearly as many buckets on the other end.
Other Concerns
Defense isn’t the only issue Hughes has with the Bulls’ first five, either. Age and health/durability are also major concerns and, after last season, it’s not difficult to understand why.
“Throw in increasingly ominous reports surrounding Ball’s knee and the likelihood that DeRozan slips after a career year at age 32, and there’s a serious downside for this group,” Hughes added.
As relayed by the Chicago Tribune, Ball’s progression toward a return from a meniscus tear hasn’t been moving as swiftly as VP Arturas Karnisovas and his brain trust would like to be seeing.
“He’s progressing. That’s as much as I can say,” Karnisovas said during a recent summer league broadcast on NBA TV. “He’s getting better — probably not at the speed that we would like, but he is getting better. Hopefully, he’s going to be ready for training camp, [but] that’s just our hopes.”
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Analyst Identifies Key Bulls Weakness: ‘There’s a Serious Downside’