3 things worth watching after Bulls announce preseason schedule

With more than two months to go until NBA preseason play begins, the wait for more basketball seems like it will never end. Fortunately we can know what to expect when the action tips off, as the Chicago Bulls took to Twitter to officially announce their preseason schedule.

This is an interesting slate of games and should be a quality warm-up for the Bulls as all four of these squads look to be playoff-caliber teams. Last year’s Bulls notoriously struggled to beat quality teams, so this should be a good test right out of the gate to see how Chicago stacks up when fully healthy.

The Bulls fared well last year, defeating Memphis, New Orleans, and Cleveland twice before rattling off wins in six of their first seven regular season contests. Maintaining that kind of early momentum will be crucial in dispelling the narrative of Chicago being a pretender, not a contender.

Here are the three things that will make tuning in worth your time during the Chicago Bulls’ preseason schedule.

Lonzo Ball’s recovery

The number one thing that should be on everyone’s mind entering the preseason is the status of Lonzo Ball‘s knee. Up to this point, the front office has been very cryptic and vague whenever asked for an update on the recovery process, leaving us in a state of limbo until we receive some concrete information. Lonzo’s availability may ultimately decide if this Bulls team can make a deep playoff run or not, so here’s to hoping we see him on the court sooner rather than later.

Rematch with Milwaukee

Although preseason results ultimately mean nothing in the end, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Chicago is set for a rematch with the Bucks in their final warm-up game for the regular season. Now that Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams have had plenty of time to heal up, we’ll get our first look at how the Bulls may have fared against the Bucks in the playoffs if everyone had been healthy. Obviously, Lonzo making his return in time for this game would just make a win here feel even sweeter.

The return of Zion Williamson (and more)

If all goes according to plan, Zion Williamson should make his much-anticipated return against the Bulls in their preseason debut on October 4. The Pelicans surprised many with their late season run to make the playoffs, and now they’re set to only get better as they re-introduce Zion back into the fold and grant the newly-acquired CJ McCollum time to settle in.

Williamson won’t be the only injured star we’ll see make a reappearance, as Denver’s Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. will also be returning in hopes of providing two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic the support he needs. All in all, it looks like the Chicago Bulls have a pretty stacked preseason schedule that hopefully pushes the team to prove it can hang with the best of the best.