I'd privately told a few people that I had retired from basketball writing. I felt as if I'd lost it a bit — I wasn't as dialed into the league as I'd used to be. But today, I sit here writing to you that I have indeed returned, not to cover the happenings of the league, but of the Chicago Bulls.
You may be wondering, Jack, haven't you written a derivative of this article before the start of the last two Bulls' seasons and had your false hopes crushed by the middle of November? Yes, dear reader, I have, but this time it's going to be different. For the past few seasons, I have bought into bad teams, thinking that maybe somehow, someway, they could scrape together enough wins for an eight-seed. I've been wrong, but that's because I've been ignorant. One look at the Bulls' starting lineup, and it's clear that this is an actual team again.
Lonzo Ball, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams, and Nikola Vucevic. Alex Caruso, Coby White, Javonte Green, Tony Bradley, and Derrick Jones Jr. are off the bench. Ayo Dosunmu and Marko Siminovic are rookies-in-waiting. I'm not going to declare this a championship-contending team, but there's little reason to doubt that they'll be competing for a playoff spot this season. The preseason doesn't mean much, but if I'm allowing myself to get a bit too excited, this team looks leaps-and-bounds better.
The first word that comes to mind to describe this new Bulls team is flow. There's an energy that radiates from this squad, and it's clear that they genuinely enjoy playing with each other so far. Chicago looks fantastic in transition, with the defensive abilities of Ball and Caruso allowing for more transition opportunities. This team will not be fun to run with in transition for opposing defenses based on lob opportunities alone. Just about everyone on this team can go up and catch a pass for a thunderous throwdown — the United Center is going to be rocking this season.
I'm not going to predict where the Bulls will fall in the regular season standings or even how I expect each player to perform. If there's anything I've learned about being a Bulls fan in the post-Derrick Rose era, it's to never — in any circumstance whatsoever — get your hopes up. But this team has something, and I haven't been this pumped for a season to kick-off since I lied to myself and said DWade was a great signing. Fine, I'll make one prediction: Zach LaVine is going to be unstoppable. The pressure for him to score 35-plus points for the Bulls to win is gone. DeRozan and Vucevic have been getting buckets since I was in middle school, and Ball's three-point shot looks soaking wet. The Olympics experience from this summer is also sure to rub off on LaVine. I'm expecting to see a much more aggressive defensive version of him this season. Last season showed that LaVine can be the guy for this team, and I can't wait to see what this season has in store.
I'll be back.
i may be colorblind but i think i'm seeing Red!