Chicago Bulls

[udfa]

Chicago will not make the playoffs, but they probably will gain around 10 wins that will ruin their draft position. That wouldn't be so bad if the wins came from the development of their young guys, but instead the wins are mostly going to come from Porter, Young and Sato.

They should trade all three of the above as early as possible.

[coldfish]

The Bulls were 7-8 last year when Otto played. To that team . . .
Out: Robin Lopez and a bunch of guys that won't be on an NBA roster
In: Wendell Carter, Coby White, Satoransky, Thad Young

The Bulls were an absolute train wreck last year between injuries, the coaching change, player moves, etc. I can't really argue with anyone trashing them. That said, Bulls fans aren't completely delusional in thinking they could be significantly better this year. That Otto stretch was encouraging and it still had a G-league bench.

[NZB2323]

I think it will be close, depending on how the Magic, Pistons, and Heat perform. I think we're better than the Pistons and Heat, at least on paper...

The Heat won 39 games last year and they just added Butler. The only year Butler missed the playoffs was when the Bulls won 42 games. We're not better than the Heat on paper.

Sure, but they lost a solid shooter in Richardson and Butler duplicates what made Winslow successful last year. So you're giving the keys to Butler offensively and moving Winslow back off-ball, where he struggles because he can't shoot. He can improve, but I wouldn't take that for granted.

Then you have to deal with the likelihood that Butler misses a quarter of the season in a tougher Eastern Conference.


And then you're counting on some questionable impact players (Waiters, Olynyk to a lesser extent) and relatively unproven guys (Adebayo, Herro) being key pieces, while hoping Dragic returns to form. I think they have a 49% shot of being better than the Bulls, but I need to see how the pieces fit first.

You say this like Butler has been on quality rosters every year of his career. Did washed up Joakim Noah, washed up Pau Gasol, washed up Derrick Rose, washed up Dwayne Wade, and a washed up Rajon Rondo make sense with Butler? What about a Minnesota team that hadn't made the playoffs since 2003? The 76ers had a lot of talent but did Butler really fit with Embiid and Simmons? They were the team that came the closest to beating the Warriors. The only year Butler missed the playoffs his team won 42 games.

Justise Winslow shot 6.4 threes a game and made 38% of them. He's also only 22 so I'm not sure why you're saying that he can't shoot. Our small forward shot shot 4.6 threes a game last year and made 41%.

Who are the impact players and key pieces the Bulls are counting on? They're all unproven. Last year Lavine improved, and it was the first year his BPM wasn't negative, but it was a 0.0 because what he provided on offense was negated by his terrible defense. Lauri showed little improvement from his rookie year. Otto Porter played well for us during a small sample size of games. Wendell Carter looked good for a 19 year old, but he'll only be 20 next year. Khris Dunn was worse for us than the year before. Coby White is a rookie. Thaddeus Young is a solid role player but we lost Robin Lopez.

[GeorgeMarcus]

I really like this Bulls squad. If the young guys continue to develop, they might sneak into an 8 seed.

[Isocleas2]

Bulls have about a 30% chance for the 8th seed. They're in the same group as Miami, Detroit, and Orlando (7th-10th) imo.

[Chi]

Zach is the most disrespected 24/5/5 - 47%/37%/83% Player of ALL TIME...


It's sad... But we had a terrible record, so I guess I get it... But man, it's sad real fans don't know...


Yet...

[Dan Z]

The Bulls were 7-8 last year when Otto played. To that team . . .
Out: Robin Lopez and a bunch of guys that won't be on an NBA roster
In: Wendell Carter, Coby White, Satoransky, Thad Young

The Bulls were an absolute train wreck last year between injuries, the coaching change, player moves, etc. I can't really argue with anyone trashing them. That said, Bulls fans aren't completely delusional in thinking they could be significantly better this year. That Otto stretch was encouraging and it still had a G-league bench.

Also in: Denzel Valentine, Luke Kornet and Daniel Gafford.

[meekrab]

If LaVine Porter and Markannen start 70 games together you have to think their natural improvement will have them in the playoffs. If they're plagued by injuries again then obviously nope.

[RakimAbdulJabar]

Whilst I’m not a fan of the new additions outside of Young, I think they have a good chance at the 8th seed...if healthy

[Midwest219]

nope, mediocre for the next 3 years easily.

[Rainwater]

There is a good chance they battle for the eight seed. That Coby white kid is pretty good.

[LofJ]

Zach is the most disrespected 24/5/5 - 47%/37%/83% Player of ALL TIME...


It's sad... But we had a terrible record, so I guess I get it... But man, it's sad real fans don't know...


Yet...

Those two statements are related. Lavine is starting to become good enough on offense to be worth building around, but he's still one of the worst defenders in the NBA.

[MGB8]

No playoffs likely, because East is pretty set at the top with tier 1 (Bucks, Sixers), tier 2 (Raptors, Celtics, maybe Nets), tier 3 (Indiana, maybe Magic) and tier 4 (Pistons, Heat, maybe Hawks).

At the same time, they are not a garbage bin team like the Cavs, Knicks, Wizards.

[baldur]

9th at best.

[MetalFingaz]

The Heat won 39 games last year and they just added Butler. The only year Butler missed the playoffs was when the Bulls won 42 games. We're not better than the Heat on paper.

Sure, but they lost a solid shooter in Richardson and Butler duplicates what made Winslow successful last year. So you're giving the keys to Butler offensively and moving Winslow back off-ball, where he struggles because he can't shoot. He can improve, but I wouldn't take that for granted.

Then you have to deal with the likelihood that Butler misses a quarter of the season in a tougher Eastern Conference.

And then you're counting on some questionable impact players (Waiters, Olynyk to a lesser extent) and relatively unproven guys (Adebayo, Herro) being key pieces, while hoping Dragic returns to form. I think they have a 49% shot of being better than the Bulls, but I need to see how the pieces fit first.

You say this like Butler has been on quality rosters every year of his career. Did washed up Joakim Noah, washed up Pau Gasol, washed up Derrick Rose, washed up Dwayne Wade, and a washed up Rajon Rondo make sense with Butler? What about a Minnesota team that hadn't made the playoffs since 2003? The 76ers had a lot of talent but did Butler really fit with Embiid and Simmons? They were the team that came the closest to beating the Warriors. The only year Butler missed the playoffs his team won 42 games.

Justise Winslow shot 6.4 threes a game and made 38% of them. He's also only 22 so I'm not sure why you're saying that he can't shoot. Our small forward shot shot 4.6 threes a game last year and made 41%.

My bad, I got his 3pt% wrong (37.5%), but I see only 3.9 3PA. The TS% is worrisome, either way. I'm still not sold on a Butler-led team where Winslow is the 2nd best player.

[Gooner]

I expect them to make the playoffs over Raptors.

[Hugi Mancura]

Most likely no. But they do have a change. Top 6 (top 5 last year and Brooklyn) are almost locks without injuries. After that I can see two teams from group of Miami, Orlando, Detroit, Hawks and Bulls to take the last 2. Hawks and Bulls are underdog's, but every year there are teams that over perform their expectations. Orlando and Sacramento did it last year, why not Bulls this year?

Last year Bulls had a problem with their bench. There additions didn't necessary improve their starting 5, but now they have better bench. Also last year they had lot of injuries, so suddenly they needed to start their bench, which sucked. Now due to their improved bench they can handle the injuries much better, if those happen.

[Tomazan]

No chance.

76
Bucks
Celtics
Pacers
Miami
Toronto
Nets
Hawks/Magic/Pistons

All these teams are better than the Bulls

[baldur]

Chicago will not make the playoffs, but they probably will gain around 10 wins that will ruin their draft position. That wouldn't be so bad if the wins came from the development of their young guys, but instead the wins are mostly going to come from Porter, Young and Sato.

They should trade all three of the above as early as possible.

did you notice that chicago lost 3 spots in the lottery draw even though they were a bottom 4 team with 20ish wins? flattened odds dont favour a lot anymore being a bottom team as they used to.

[Nuntius]

I think that they do have a puncher's chance to make the playoffs. They are definitely on a good trajectory.