Now that the free agency frenzy is over, it’s time to start looking forward to next season. Did Las Vegas get the Chicago Bulls’ season-win total right?
Caesars Sportsbook has officially released the 2019-20 season-win totals for each NBA team. The Chicago Bulls opened at 30.5 wins. Is that too low, too high or just right?
In the 2018-19 season, the Bulls won a measly 22 games – the fourth-lowest in the NBA and the lowest for Chicago since the 2001-02 season. It’s safe to say last season was one of the lowest points for Bulls fans in the history of the franchise.
The good news: The 2019-20 season will be different.
In addition to the same core group of dudes the Bulls had last season (Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine, Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., Chandler Hutchison), they’ve also added two quality vets in Thaddeus Young and Tomas Satoransky, two exciting draftees in Coby White and Daniel Gafford and a young stretch-five in Luke Kornet. Not to mention, they’ll get Denzel Valentine back in the lineup after missing the entirety of last season with injury issues.
So how should Bulls fans feel about the win total Caesars Sportsbook attached to Chicago? In a word: offended.
It’s impossible to know what kind of leap guys like Markkanen and Carter will make, but it’s safe to assume they’ll both be better than they were last year. Carter was effective while he was on the floor, but he struggled with foul trouble, limiting his playing time. That shouldn’t be as big of an issue in year two. Markkanen, on the other hand, started to look like a franchise guy last season. He flashed potential both as a quality playmaker and a dynamic scorer. He could easily find himself on the Eastern Conference All-Star team come February.
Satoransky and Young, the two new guys on the block, should both make an immediate impact. Sato is the kind of guy that can score when he needs to but doesn’t need shots to be successful. He’s a team-first guy, he can defend and he can be the floor general the Bulls need. Young is a defensive juggernaut, he has experience playing for winning teams and he’ll be a fabulous weapon off the bench.
The key guy for the Bulls in the 2019-20 season, though, is Zach LaVine.
LaVine had a career-year last season for Chicago. He averaged 23.7 points per game on an efficient 57.4 true shooting percentage. He showed he can score from all three levels of the floor at a relatively efficient rate, and he clearly wants to be the guy. His superhuman athleticism combined with his alpha-dog personality gives LaVine a legitimate shot at being a superstar in this league. His defense needs work, but a ton of NBA players need to work on their defense. I’m not concerned.
Zach is still only 24 years old. If he takes his game to another level this season, which is entirely possible, the Bulls will be a force to be reckoned with amongst other up-and-coming teams in the NBA.
If everything pans out for the Bulls, they’ll be competing for one of the final playoff spots in the East in 2020. As far as pure skill goes, they have one of the top eight teams in the East. There’s no doubt about that. Whether or not it all comes together at the right time, though, remains to be seen.
Even if things don’t go well for the Bulls this year, I can’t see them winning fewer than 32 games. That feels like the floor. The ceiling feels more like 42 wins. So a good over/under number for the Bulls would be 37, right? Or at least somewhere around there.
30.5 wins is an insultingly low mark for the new and improved Chicago Bulls. If I were a gambler, I’d be hammering the over.