Stock Watch: The Chicago Bulls Risers and Fallers

The Chicago Bulls have gotten off to a slow start after getting kudos all offseason. Which players are holding up their end of the bargain?

The Chicago Bulls have gotten off to a slow start after getting kudos all offseason. Which players are holding up their end of the bargain?

An offseason of relative praise has turned into a lot of questions and anger from the Chicago Bulls fan base. They have watched their team lose the opener to what many think is the worst team in the NBA, the Charlotte Hornets who set a franchise three-point record. Chicago also gave the New York Knicks their first win after blowing a pair of eight-point leads late.

They rallied back to overcome the Memphis Grizzlies but a third-quarter defensive collapse led them to fall to the defending-champion Toronto Raptors.

Slow starts and discombobulated finishes offensively have been a major drag on their potential, but they have also been terrible guarding the perimeter, they are 26th in opponent three-point percentage.

At 1-4  with the latest loss coming at the hands of the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers, let’s take a moment to take quick stock of the roster. While the team as a whole has fallen well short of what they showed during the preseason, some players have still been pulling their weight for the most part and not just logging minutes.

But other players are dragging the team down with their play. Or maybe it is the situation they are put in. Either way, the impact is the same: negative.

If Jim Boylen were subject to this he would be in the ‘Fallers’ category. His rotations and late-game management are a huge issue. There have been multiple instances where he has stood idly by as the offense has stagnated. The team has gotten off to the same start that it did last year under Fred Hoiberg.

We begin, though, with the Bulls two best players.