The Chicago Bulls were one of the big winners of the offseason. They just got a whole lot better after adding Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and DeMar DeRozan.
It just seems too good to be true. After years of heartbreak, Bulls fans now have infinite reasons to be excited. As we speak, these diehard basketball fanatics may be fantasizing about how the 2021-22 NBA season will pan out. With that said, it’s only proper to join their prediction with our own.
3. Coby White will be traded
After the Bulls landed both Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, fans were quick to gossip about Coby White’s future with the team. Much of it has to do with Caruso’s versatility. He can either be Ball’s backup guard or be the two-guard. And whatever role you assign Caruso, best believe he’ll do it at an elite level. White does not have this similar attribute. He’s a point guard by default. At this point in his young career, the only way he’ll succeed is if he has the ball in his hands.
As such, Bulls fans should expect a lot of rumors involving White. All sorts of trade scenarios will be proposed. Fans themselves will fantasize about the perfect trade package for White. For supporters of the young guard, they shouldn’t take it as a demotion of sorts. White is just caught up in an odd situation. Two incredible guards in Ball and Caruso just happened to be available in the free agency market. As an organization with a winning past, you cannot just pass on luring two players who will definitely make your team better.
White will have tons of teams interested in him. It’ll be a fresh start for the young guard. Whichever team he goes to, we can confidently say he’ll immediately make a great impact.
2. At least two All-Star nods
As a reminder, the Bulls now have three All-Stars in their team: Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and DeMar DeRozan. Among the three, we can say that LaVine has yet to hit his ceiling. This means that we could see a stronger and faster LaVine in the coming season. He’ll also remain the focal point of the offense. Coupled with his exciting play style, LaVine will likely garner millions of votes from all over the world.
In other words, he’ll be an All-Star for sure in the 2021-22 NBA season and probably in the years to come.
While DeRozan and Vucevic will definitely be key pillars of the Bulls, it’s difficult to tell at this point if they’ll become All-Stars or not.
As for Vucevic, we can say that he succeeded in Orlando because he was the primary option. Though he averaged a robust 21.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in 26 games with the Bulls last season, we’ll likely see a slight dip in his numbers with DeRozan in the fold.
Meanwhile for DeRozan, many say that he’s not in his All-Star form anymore. This is rather an odd statement given that the four-time All-Star’s averages have never gone below 20 points per game. Apart from that, he averaged a career-best 6.9 assists last season. But then again, there’s also the presence of Lonzo Ball who’ll be the primary playmaker for the team.
All of these elements make it seem that the aforementioned Bulls players are out to compete against one another. This is true. Perhaps in the spirit of some good old friendly competition, we can say that the one who gets an All-Star nod may come out as the winner. But from a team perspective, this bodes extremely well.
Here’s an early congratulations to the future Bulls All-Stars and to the entire team as well.
1. Playoff appearance
There’s a good chance that we might see the Bulls back in the postseason since the 2016-17 season. Things just started to go well for the team since they acquired LaVine from the Minnesota Timberwolves. They were also gifted with some young talent from the NBA Draft. There was a little bump with the Jim Boylen episode, but fortunately, the front office ironed out things right away.
Now, everything seems good for the Bulls. With a stacked roster, we can no longer consider them as a rebuilding team. At the same time, we need to temper our expectations given how talented the East is. The top six teams from last season will easily qualify for the playoffs. Don’t be surprised if the likes of the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks end up in the top three.
Given how competitive the East is, the Bulls may find themselves in the seventh or eighth spot. This means that they’ll battle it out in the play-in tourney and will definitely make it out.
