The Chicago Bulls blew a lead that seemed impossible for the second straight game on Friday night, this time to the Denver Nuggets. It followed the colossal collapse one game earlier against the San Antonio Spurs. Both games should have been sealed and closed out in typical NBA fashion, but this Bulls team refuses to put the nail in the coffin.
Each of the last two games can be looked at in two different ways, on one hand, the team played stellar basketball against good western conference opponents for significant stretches. On the other hand, they fell apart when it mattered most and showed all of their flaws in the brightest of lights.
That’s the reality this team faces. Despite a first half of the season in which Zach LaVine carried most of the weight, the Bulls got enough contributions to get by and win enough games to hover around the .500 mark.
We know how quickly after the break the starting five changed due to the poor performances they had coming out of the all-star weekend. Chicago capitalized on a few shorthanded and weaker opponents in the first few games with the new rotation and even flashed glimpses in these more recent games. The end result was most telling of all, though.
This team faces an uphill battle to even sneak into the playoffs, and if they were to do so, it would be a quick and decisive series against the elite teams in the eastern conference.
Who exactly will be around from the Chicago Bulls young core?
The biggest problem, even bigger than the results themselves, has been that the team can’t even count on a full group of their ‘young core’ down the stretch. The group didn’t work as starters together around an all-star in LaVine, and veteran options are significantly better to the point that it can’t be justified playing lineups of the young players down the stretch.
That’s the ultimate sign of concern in a young group. Flat out, the entire group doesn’t fit together. Bits and pieces work, sure, but what good is that for the long-term future of this team? Coby White is looking what he always looked like, a scorer. That isn’t a knock, it’s a knock on the expectations placed upon him. Lauri Markkanen refuses to rebound but is a great shooter, which loses some of its advantages if he won’t go inside and help on the glass.
Both players are questionable fits next to LaVine and Patrick Williams, to say the least. Further, Wendell Carter Jr. has been moved to the bench for a reason as well. all three of these young and talented players are being catered to because they don’t make each other better on the court. A young core of talented players is of little value if they can not make each other better. That’s the problem the Bulls face ahead of the March 25 trade deadline, a date on which the Bulls front office will be faced with a tough decision.