Starting the season off 2-5, it’s no secret that the Chicago Bulls are underperforming. There have been moments of hope where the Bulls have looked like they will actually do something, but still end up failing.
The main issue, that anyone who knows basketball can see, is the lack of a point guard. Out of all Bulls players that have suited up for a game, only Ayo Dosunmu is listed as a point guard. Although Donsunmu isn’t terrible, he only plays 11 minutes per game. For the remaining 37 minutes, the Bulls don’t have an actual point guard playing the guard position, causing a major fault during their game.
Don’t get me wrong, Zach Lavine and DeMar DeRozan are incredibly talented players, but neither of them thrive when they do not get the option of shooting many shots each game. Lavine averages two assists a game, and DeRozan averages four. If the Bulls want success as a team, the two players that have the ball most need to be willing to sacrifice some points off their stat sheet, and give other players opportunities to score.
For example, on Saturday, Oct. 28, Lavine scored 51 points against the Pistons, but the Bulls still lost. Normally, when players score in the 40 to 50-point range, their team ends up winning. However, due to Lavine’s refusal to pass the ball, he ended with zero assists, which undoubtedly hurt his team.
In the 2021-22 season, the Bulls surprisingly had a successful season, going 46-36, as the sixth seed in the Eastern conference. The obvious reason for their success was the addition of Lonzo Ball, a great facilitator and team player. However, he hasn’t played a game since Jan. 14, 2022. Neither last season nor this season has Ball made a return, and uncoincidentally the Bulls have fallen apart.
Normally when a team knows that their most important player won’t be able to play for an unknown amount of time, it’s common sense that they find a replacement for them, or try to develop young players and hope they are the missing piece. The Bulls’ general manager, Marc Eversly, did absolutely nothing of significance this offseason. He extended Nikola Vucevic and Coby White’s contracts, along with signing Jevon Carter. However, none of these moves are going to help the Bulls win regular season games. No disrespect to Carter, but he isn’t talented enough to impact the season.
The Bulls have been deprived of a point guard since early 2022, and still haven’t done a single thing to change that. At this point, the only option is to rebuild. Ball doesn’t have a set-in-stone timetable to return to the game, the overall Bulls chemistry is bad and their players don’t play team basketball. I hate to say it, but the Bulls need to rebuild their team this offseason and hope that in a couple of years, they can find success.
