Chicago Bulls: 3 players ready to detonate early this season

Chicago Bulls ready to explode early in the season: Lonzo Ball

The big new backcourt addition for the Bulls during the offseason involved the sign-and-trade deal that went down with the New Orleans Pelicans to land restricted free agent and point guard Lonzo Ball. The Bulls gave up a decent amount to get Lonzo from the Pelicans, but it should be worth it in the end.

The main question now involves whether the gamble that executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley will pay off to sign the likes of Lonzo, star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan, Caruso, etc. But the early signs are that most of these signings should pan out in a big way.

Lonzo brings an excellent defensive, playmaking, and outside scoring presence to the table for the Bulls. This will be a real game-changer for the Bulls in terms of the impact that Lonzo will have on the team playing at a faster pace and being more efficient in transition.

There was never a season in four tries for Lonzo to date where he’s posted an assist-to-turnover ratio worse than 2-to-1. He’s very efficient and has excellent court vision. Lonzo might not be the highest usage player in the end. But he will certainly be one of the catalysts that should really help the Bulls right the ship to make the postseason during the 2021-22 campaign.

Basketball-Reference projects Lonzo to average around 15 points per game, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and one block, this season. And he’s projected to shoot 42 percent from the field, 38 percent from beyond the arc, and 70 percent from the free-throw line.