Just a 22-win season for the Chicago Bulls to this point during the novel coronavirus suspension doesn’t mean certain players aren’t worth celebrating.
In the current season, the Chicago Bulls do have a lot of holes in their roster it seems as they rounded out the 2019-20 campaign prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic-induced NBA hiatus with a record of 22-43 through their first 65 games. The Bulls didn’t really end the season prior to the indefinite suspension on a sustained high-note either.
At this point in time, the Bulls sit well over five games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Orlando Magic own a seven-game edge over the Bulls for the eighth and final spot in the East’s playoff picture. And the Brooklyn Nets sit in the seven seed, with nearly a double-digit game lead over the Bulls in the standings.
Unless the former North Carolina Tar Heels 6-foot-5 rookie point guard Coby White winds up developing into a star in the near future, the Bulls don’t have much star power on the current roster. All indications point to the likes of power forward Lauri Markkanen, small forward Otto Porter Jr., point guard Kris Dunn, etc. not panning out the way John Paxson and/or Gar Forman once envisioned.
OPJ is still better to have around, even on the large contract he has, than the forward combination of Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker.
Nonetheless, the Bulls do have a few underappreciated players that could be valuable to keep building around even under the new front office regime. Former Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas does have a long process ahead to figure out which players to keep and which other parts of the Bulls roster to retool.
Here’s a look into the three most underappreciated Bulls players from the 2019-20 team.