The time is now for Chicago Bulls new front office

On the night of March 11 the Chicago Bulls played their first game since the All-Star break. Call it what you want, rust, or a hang-over, but we are too far into the season for the same excuses, we looked nothing even close to a playoff team!

We may have just witnessed the worst game played this season by this undersized Bulls team. Another terrible loss at the United Center, the Bulls were playing from behind with no urgency from the tip ball.

Even with the return of forwards Lauri Markkanen and Otto Porter Jr., the Bulls showed little effort and appeared uninterested in taking advantage of a Philadelphia 76ers team without their two best players.Both  center Joel Embiid and guard Ben Simmons were missing for the Sixers, due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

This under performance by this young team was very hard to watch and should go down as a wake-up call. More importantly this lackluster performance indicates that even with Markkanen and OPJ back the Bulls cannot take nights off regardless of who is on the court.

They also have a lot of hard work ahead and having two key players back after a long period will be an adjustment. Learning how to play  together again, then  translating that onto the court will be huge going forward. Keeping this team healthy will be the  biggest keys down the stretch.

What the Chicago Bulls can do to turn this around

This game also exposes the dire need for the new front office duo of Vice President Arturas Karnisovas and General Manager Marc Eversley to get this team a center and get him fast. What are they waiting for?

We cannot make the playoffs without some added physicality and toughness.

Even without Embiid in this game the 76ers dominated the Bulls interior, scoring a season high 78 points in the paint. Wendell Carter Jr. was ineffective, he was in early foul trouble and was being bullied down low by second unit players.

Names I barely know like 76ers center Tony Bradley had his way on the offensive end going 7-for-7 from the field scoring a season high 14 points easily in place of Embiid. Dwight Howard was turning back the clock man handling undersized WCJ, grabbing 12 rebounds.

Again, zero answers for stopping the big men. The Bulls were pushed around from start to finish, WCJ was limited to just 15 minutes. A forgettable undisciplined dismal game for a Billy Donovan coached team.

Tobias Harris just picked the Bulls apart finishing with 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting. The most glaring eye-popping stat this game is the 78 paint points the Bulls gave up to this short-handed team.

Just an embarrassment and not what a playoff team looking to prove themselves to the rest of the league should be doing! They appeared to have taken steps backwards.

"Chicago Bulls Coach Donovan said it himself after the game “we didn’t deserve to win this game tonight.” Head coach also said that they did not do anything very well tonight against the 76ers team and the team “took some steps backwards.”"

This game was way worse than the 76 paint points that the Indiana Pacers dropped on us in another bad loss earlier in the season. If the Bulls want to be taken seriously, they must avoid these sub-par performances, but they also need a center WCJ is not enough, and we need a rim protector.

We gave up 13 offensive rebounds, turned the ball over 19 times for 24 of the 76er points. Zach LaVine was a no show, the return of OPJ was over hyped he finished with 3 points in 18 minutes. The only bright spot was Markkanen 7 for 7 from three with a team high 23 points.

What’s next for the Chicago Bulls

The Bulls are currently facing off against the streaking Miami Heat on March 12. again another short-handed team who will be without star big man Bam Adebayo and guard Avery Bradley.

The Bulls has an opportunity to win this game in the interior the Heat are without the services of their back up center Meyers Leonard on top of Adebayo. Slowing down any teams front court has not come easy to start this season for this Bulls team.

Jimmy Butler will come to play tonight Against his former team. He is exactly what this team is missing on the defensive side. Butler poses another challenge for them; the Heat may have a weakness playing with no center.

Can the Bulls expose that weakness, or will Butler pick this defense apart? In the meantime, let us hope the front office is making those calls to bring the Bulls the help they need at the center position.

Without a physical center down low, this young undersized team may end up on the outside looking in on their playoff hopes. I put my trust in the new front office and coach to fix our weakness and fix it fast.