I was wrong. You were wrong. Vegas was wrong. Everyone was wrong about the Chicago Bulls.
A team sportsbooks projected to finish with 33.5 wins is already 14.93% of the way there after the first week and a half of the season. The Bulls started a season 5-0 for the first time since 1996-97. Chicago was No. 1 in the Eastern Conference for the first time since the 2021-22 season
It is finally time to recognize the Bulls as a good team. Last year, they won 15 out of their last 20 games, and skeptics pointed to their weak schedule. Now, they have beaten the Pistons, Magic, Hawks, and Knicks, who were all expected to be playoff teams before the season.
The way Chicago is winning is sustainable, no matter the opponent. The Bulls are beating teams based on their depth and defense.
Balanced Bulls
The best word to describe the Bulls this year is balanced. Chicago has had at least six players in double figures every game this season, and sits third in the NBA in bench points per game.
Chicago’s bench scoring has caught the attention of ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who has tweeted the Bulls’ bench points after each game. In their one loss, the Bulls were without Ayo Dosunmu, and the Knicks’ bench outscored the Bulls’ 46 to 33.
What is more shocking is that almost every player who gets minutes is at least close to scoring 10 points. Against the Hawks, eight out of ten players scored 10+ points, and against the Kings, six players scored 10+ points, but three players finished with nine points.
Chicago is leading the NBA in assists per game. The Bulls’ offensive philosophy is team basketball, but there have been individuals who have been early-season heroes as well.
Tre Jones has excelled in his starting role with Coby White injured. Josh Giddey‘s improved play has carried over from last season and is one of two players averaging 20/8/8 – the other being Nikola Jokic.
Matas Buzelis has doubled his points per game from last year. Dosunmu has dominated fourth quarters. Even Patrick Williams looks good. Every game, there is a new player or performance to talk about.
The Bulls’ depth stems from the Zach LaVine trade last year. Chicago added Jones and Kevin Huerter, two players averaging over double figures, plus Zach Collins, who hasn’t played yet due to injury, while also securing a first-round pick. In a trade that involved huge names like LaVine and De’Aaron Fox, the Bulls have been early winners by securing value in depth.
Defense Wins Games
Defense is why the Bulls are different this season. It is the one thing Chicago has drastically changed since last season, and it is the one constant among young teams that rise to playoff status. Before the loss to the Knicks, the Bulls had the sixth-best defensive rating in the league; they were below average last season.
Head Coach Billy Donovan has preached physicality the entire offseason. The players have bought in, almost seeming brainwashed the way they bring up being physical in every interview.
Teams with high pace usually give up more points, just because of the amount of possessions each team has, but the Bulls allow below the league average in points per game, despite being in the top ten in possessions per game. Physicality has brought defense to a fast-paced team, and at 5-1, the players now know it works.
Some of that defense was always bound to regress. Before the first loss, Bulls opponents were shooting 30% from 3-point range. In the loss, the Knicks shot 47.6% from deep.
The Bulls are also one of the league’s weakest teams at defending the paint, though that should improve when Collins returns from injury.
There’s a clear difference between the Bulls’ wins and losses. When they win the bench scoring battle and limit three-pointers, they win the game. Chicago will need to focus on those two keys during its next stretch of games against the 76ers, Bucks, Cavaliers, Spurs and Pistons.
Hope For The Future?
Most people thought the Bulls would either be a Play-In team again or be worse than they were last year; instead they have been one of the best teams in a wide-open Eastern Conference.
Chicago is achieving these feats without arguably their best offensive player in White and their best paint defender in Collins. Chicago is becoming the East version of the Rockets from last season: a wealth of young, contributing players, and could be only a player or two away from contender status.
Donovan is an early Coach of the Year candidate just based on performance vs expectations of this team, and Arturas Karnisovas’ method of building teams with depth instead of big names could excel in the second-apron era.
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