Chicago Bulls: Ranking NBA’s best young cores today

For a season marred with imperfections and blemishes, when it’s all said and done the smoke clears, the Chicago Bulls are probably pretty satisfied with how their season ended. Despite suffering seemingly as many injuries as losses, the Bulls satisfied many goals any reasonable fan could have placed on the team’s shoulders at the onset of the season.

Zach LaVine exploded to show near all-star caliber talent with 23.7 points per game on an efficient 57.4 true shooting percentage, exceeding all expectations following his season-ending injury in 2018. Lauri Markkanen continued to improve despite being sidelined for much of the season, posting an impressive 19.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game after December.

Wendell Carter also made the most of his limited time on the court, displaying effective rim protector abilities and proving he was the best player available at the seventh overall selection in last year’s draft.

Outside of the Bulls ‘Big Three’, a small army of G League players came to Chicago and excelled in limited time. Most notably, Ryan Arcidiacono, Shaq Harrison, and Wayne Selden arrived to provide a healthy dose of competition to the incumbent youth in Kris Dunn, Chandler Hutchison and Denzel Valentine.

If you collect enough scratch-off lotto tickets, you’re bound to win eventually. That philosophy is exactly what the Chicago Bulls were banking on this season, as twenty different players under the age of 27 donned a Bulls jersey at some point in the season.

After the Bulls big move to land Otto Porter, Chicago cranked out seven wins in Porter’s first ten games with the team before eventually succumbing to injuries across the board. With the addition of a top-eight guaranteed pick this summer and a year of continuity without injuries, the Bulls could look like a brand new team as early as next season.