The Chicago Bulls expected injuries to be part of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Young players had to step up as the Bulls managed point guard Lonzo Ball’s return after missing two years with a meniscus injury. What they didn’t expect were early-season injuries to two of their starters.
Starting forward Patrick Williams has been out of the lineup since Nov. 20, and starting guard Coby White picked up an ankle injury in a Nov. 29 loss to the Celtics. The new injuries forced 24-year-old Ayo Dosunmu and 21-year-old Julian Phillips into the starting lineup for the two games before White returned.
The Bulls won those two games by a combined 41 points. Young players who have been getting developmental minutes for the entire season are now contributing significantly.
Phillips averages 15 minutes per game on the season. Since replacing White in the starting lineup, that number has skyrocketed to 26.5 minutes. First-round pick Matas Buzelis has averaged 17 minutes per game since Williams’ injury and has scored double-digit points in two straight games.
Dosunmu has taken full advantage of the vacated shot attempts. Normally a 12.7-point-per-game scorer, Dosunmu had a 27-10-11 triple-double on Thursday night — the first of his career.
Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević were the only two Bulls players older than 25 who scored in Thursday night’s 139-124 win against the Spurs.
So, what do these stats mean? The young guys are stepping up. What does “the young guys are stepping up” mean? It may be time to get rid of the older guys.
How the Bulls can commit to youth
The trade deadline is the perfect time for Chicago to invest heavily in its youth movement. LaVine, Vučević, and Ball combine for over half of the team’s payroll this season. Getting younger would also provide some cap flexibility.
Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf hates rebuilding and has infamously vocalized his contentment with being a play-in team every year. Could recent play give Reinsdorf confidence that the Bulls can still be competitive while getting younger?
Bulls insider K.C. Johnson thinks so. Johnson reported that Chicago will be a major seller at February’s trade deadline.
“The Bulls are open for business,” Johnson said. “They are going to be open to any reasonable offer for any of their players.”
This may mean a team gives up assets for a promising young player like Dosunmu. A team that wants to win now may give up young players and draft picks for veterans such as LaVine or Vučević, who are playing at an All-Star level.
The 2025 NBA draft is another piece of the puzzle. It may seem early to look at the draft, but the Bulls traded a top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick to the Spurs in the deal to land DeMar DeRozan. Unless the Bulls finish among the bottom 10 teams in the league, they will be without their pick in the draft.
The current success of the Bulls’ youth and a top-10 pick might be enough to entice Reinsdorf to sign off on a trade. Either way, General Manager Artūras Karnišovas has hit on his first few draft picks. Bulls fans have something to be excited about after years of mediocrity.
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