Chicago Bulls: Why this team can push for the playoffs next season?
By Adi Bhatta
Zach LaVine’s absence shows his importance to the Chicago Bulls
As a result of LaVine’s missing time, two things occurred. Firstly, the obvious loss of quality meant that the Bulls were simply outmatched in a lot of these games (namely against teams around them in the East such as the Knicks, Heat, and Hawks).
On top of this, it means that the Bulls were more reliant on Vucevic to carry the offense, something that did not quite work considering he was still figuring his way into the teams’ offense.
Finally, the loss of Lavine meant that there was more pressure on the likes of Coby White and Lauri Markkanen to make plays for this team. The negative effects of this are no more apparent than on Markkanen.
His scoring dropped by almost eight points post-All-Star break (19.1 versus 11.5 per game), while his field goal percentage dipped by five percent (51.4 versus 46.1). And because LaVine is not there to compensate for Markkanen’s struggles, it compounds the issues, even more, making it harder and harder for the Bulls to win.
Considering the inconsistencies across the whole roster, and it begins to make sense as to why the wheels started to fall off towards the end for the Bulls. Looking towards next season, if the Bulls can keep healthy throughout, then the wins should begin to rack up as the chemistry increases.