New Regime Giving Bulls Fans Hope

 

January 27, 2021

New executive vice-president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisivas and his general manager Marc Eversley, have the Bulls trending in the right direction. It will take time for the Bulls to be competitive with interdivision rivals like the Bucks, Net 76ers and Celtics. Based on his track record, I believe Karnisovas will make moves to narrow the gap between the Bulls and upper echelon teams. By year three or four they could be competing for championships.  

Karnisovas immediately endeared himself to fans by ridding the team of cancer, Coach Jim Boylen.  He was replaced by the much more modern Billy Donnovan. He has won elsewhere and is a player’s coach. He is well respected and has his team better prepared. He is doing a really good job with the hand he was dealt.

The Bulls starters are all 25 or younger. Therefore, you can expect growing pains. Karnisovas first round pick, fourth overall was 19 year old Patrick Williams. He is already their best defensive player. As he becomes more adjusted he should up his scoring average and may become a future star. Zach LaVine is a prolific scorer. He has improved defensively and sometime facilitates the offense.  However, he has the ball too often and is a major contributor to the Bulls leading the league in turnovers. Center Wendell Carter improves every year, then gets shut down by injuries. He has missed the last three games and is out the next four more weeks. I see no upside to an injury prone player.  Forward Lauri Markkanen has not improved from his rookie season. The problem may be when his shot is off, he loses confidence. There were some thought that first round pick Coby White could develop into a point guard. That is not who he is a player. He makes too many bad decisions and is defensive liability. Sometimes he shoots well and may be more suited to coming off the bench to provide offense. Cater, Markkanen and White should all be trade bait this off season   Savvy veterans Otto Porter, Thadeus Young and free agent signee Garrett Temple give the Bulls one of benches in the league. There is a large possibility they will be traded to a contender before the deadline.

The Bulls will have some exciting wins and more often agonizing loses as the season progresses. They may win enough games to qualify for the watered down playoffs.  While this may prove be exciting I it might not be the best thing. The Bulls need to be in a position to wheel and to deal to obtain the point guard they desperately need.