Chicago Bulls: 3 adjustments Donovan must make to end losing streak

Adjustments Billy Donovan must make for the Chicago Bulls: Find a spark off the bench

Once the Bulls lost second-year forward Patrick Williams for the rest of the regular season due to a wrist injury he suffered last month, it put a dent in the forward depth that the Bulls have off the bench.

The Bulls do have some capable offensive weapons from their backcourt unit among the reserves. Rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu, third-year point guard Coby White, Caruso, etc., can be scorers that Donovan and the Bulls utilize in various different situations off the bench. But the frontcourt is still devoid of some real scoring threats.

Really the only forward that comes to mind in terms of spark plugs offensively off the bench is Derrick Jones Jr. And he’s mostly played his minutes at the five since star center Nikola Vucevic was first brought back into the rotation in the loss to the Rockets on Nov. 24. But moving Jones back to playing more of his minutes at the three or the four can help.

All in all, I would be an advocate of digging deeper on the bench when the Bulls are losing to a team like the Rockets that has so much chaotic youth and athleticism in their rotation. The Bulls needed efficient scoring and rebounding in this game, and in the loss to the Pacers on Nov. 22.

I’m not saying that the Bulls should put out all of their reserves. But if it takes giving more minutes to Jones at the three or the four, Dosunmu, or even second-year point guard Devon Dotson, at a key point in the game to get the bench going, do what you have to do.

The Bulls’ bench was outscored 59-26 by the Rockets earlier this week. Donovan needs to find an answer when the bench is falling flat as it did in the loss to the Rockets.

The first option here would be to roll with the hot hand in terms of offensive production off the bench, which was Dosunmu in that game. But Dosunmu only played around 17 minutes off the bench which wasn’t enough.