Chicago Bulls: 3 players with a lot to prove in 2020-21 regular season

Among the Chicago Bulls growing young core, which players will have a lot to prove during the looming 2020-21 regular season slate?

The excitement brewing for the Chicago Bulls as they await the start of their 2020-21 regular season slate is noticeable. Ending the preseason slate on a high note with a 3-1 record, and a Dec. 18 road win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Bulls have momentum heading into the regular season.

Newly hired head coach Billy Donovan and the Bulls tip off their regular season schedule at home at the United Center on Dec. 23 against star point guard Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. That will be the first meaningful regular season game action at the United Center since mid-March.

The Bulls are hoping for a significant turnaround this season after all the changes made within the organization since the spring. They hired Arturas Karnisovas to take over as the lead voice in the front office, officially titled the executive vice president of basketball operations. And then Karnisovas hired Marc Eversley to take over as the next general manager.

Not everything will change over night with the likes of Karnisovas, Eversley, and Donovan at the helm. This process will take patience, but there should be more inspired confidence and hope in this rebuild in its fourth year than there was in the latter years under the direction of John Paxson and Gar Forman.

Last season, the Bulls finished up with a record of 22-43 under the direction of former head coach Jim Boylen, good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. There is valid reason to believe that this team is more playoff ready this season than they were in the last two.

But here’s a look into three Bulls players in this young core with the most to prove this season, if this team is to make an actual run to the postseason for the first time since 2017.