Basketball is Back in Chicago

    I am a huge Chicago Bulls fan and I am happy to say that the Bull's future looks very promising. The past couple of years us fans have had to sit through awful seasons led by the terrible management of Gar Foreman and John Paxson. Finally, Reinsdorf realized the team was going nowhere and brought in Arturas Karnisovas (President of Basketball Operations) and Marc Eversley (General Manager) in 2020. They immediately shook up the team by trading for all-star center Nikola Vucevic. While this didn’t drastically change the team, this offseason they went all out bringing in point guard Lonzo Ball, shooting guard Alex Caruso, and four time all-star Demar Derozan. I believe that these key attributions will help the Bulls increase their playmaking ability, develop their younger talent, and re-energize the Bulls fanbase.

    One of the first signings the Bulls made in free agency this year was signing Lonzo Ball. Now his game as a point guard focuses on his playmaking abilities and defense. I think both of these skills will greatly help the Bulls as they lacked good perimeter defense last season and without a solid playmaker, the offense was forced to take many contested shots. Also while Demar Derozan isn’t known for his playmaking abilities, he actually averaged more assists than Lonzo last season. While his main skills include slashing, mid-range game, and defense, he actually developed some great playmaking during his time in San Antonio. With the bulls adding these key playmakers, many offensive weapons will be better utilized in Billy Donovan’s offense. 

    One of the weapons I hope develops in the new offense is second-year power forward, Patrick Williams. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Williams at first, he actually became a great role player for a not so great team. With the Bulls trading away the more pathetic power forward, Lauri Markannen, Patrick Williams will actually get to start with three all-stars in the lineup. I predict that with the opponents focusing their defense on locking up Lavine or Derozan, Williams will have many more opportunities to sink open shots. He will also be a great addition to the defense averaging almost five rebounds and about one steal per game last season. The bulls also drafted two great young players in Ayo Dosunmu and Marko Simonovic and I believe they will have great opportunities to come off the bench and freshen the lineup.

    Since the Bulls made all these key moves after years of not being a competitive team, I believe the fan base will be very excited for this season. In the past, the Bulls haven’t been competitive and would make meaningless signings to try and get fans in seats. With the new management actually focusing on the weaknesses of the team and bringing in proper talent, I believe the Bulls will be very competitive and actually have a good run in the playoffs. With the Bull’s last playoff run being a first-round exit four years ago, I’m sure fans, like myself, will be very excited to watch some good playoff basketball at the United Center. 

    Overall I’m very excited the team actually shook up the roster to fix their weaknesses and I hope to visit some games this season and watch some good, competitive basketball in Chicago.