Highlights:
- Zach LaVine insisted he had never played on a team as talented as the Chicago Bulls
- Bulls will now focus on the 2021-22 NBA season
Zach LaVine insisted that he has never played on a team which was as talented as the Chicago Bulls were this season making their performance all the more disappointing in the current season.
Instead of gearing up for a potential playoff appearance, the Bulls are, yet again, on the outside looking in.
On Monday, LaVine said, “I’m not upset or spiteful about things that happened,” and added, “I just know that we have to work on things and get better at them. We are a good team, and this season made us better.”
In the Eastern Conference at 31-41, the Bulls finisher 11th, which is 2 games behind Charlotte for the final play-in spot and out of the postseason for the fourth straight year. Chicago bulls think they are on the right track after their first year with Arturas Karnisovas leading the basketball operation and Billy Donovan coaching them.
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However, Bulls are also frustrated.
Executive Vice President of Chicago Bull’s Basketball Operations, Karnisovas, said, “I’m optimistic because I know that each player is disappointed with the season, and I want them to go into the offseason feeling that way and remember what it feels like,” and added, “And, again, to figure out the ways that it doesn’t happen again.”
On the roster, Chicago Bull have some big hole to fill, either it is a play-making point guard or help on the wing. They, soon, could be in the market for a big man, depending on whether they can retain their important players Lauri Markkanen, Young and Daniel Theis.
They ranked 27th in the NBA in turnovers per game and last when it comes to the free-throw attempts. Clearly, there is a lot of work to do by the Bulls.
Having said this, there were some positives to take from this season.
In his 7 seaons, LaVine made it to the All-Star for the first time. The Bulls, also, landed a top-tier post presence at the trade deadline when they acquired Nikola Vucevic from Orlando.
Patrick Williams, too, showed promise as a rookie. And the second-year pro, Coby White, managed to improve down the stretch, however, it remains to be seen if his future is at the point or not.
The trade for Bucevic, especially in the short term, failed to pay off for the Bulls the way they had hoped for.
Bulls thought that they were setting themselves up for the playoffs push in the current season as they acquired him, while, in reality, they went 12-17 the rest of the way.
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Karnisovas said, “We are happy to add Vuc in this equation”.
Vucevic – who still has two years left on his contract – averaged 21.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in the 26 games he played for the Chicago Bulls. However, the Bulls struggled to develop the chemistry they needed.
Also, there was little practice time owing to the condensed schedule brought upon the game by the global pandemic. It also did not help that LaVine missed 11 games late in the season because of COVID-19.
In those 11 matches where LaVine was missing, Chicago went 4-7.
Bulls’ first-round pick for this year’s season would go to Orlando as part of the Vucevic trade if it’s not in the top four.
Karnisovas called Markkanen “an essential part of our team” and hopes to have him back next season.