With roster spots and starting positions aplenty still up for grabs, the Chicago Bulls figure to be among the more entertaining teams to follow as training camp plays out. The front office may have drilled the importance of continuity into our minds all summer, but that doesn’t mean the members of this roster won’t still have to earn their keep.
For every player that enjoys a major victory and earns a larger role in the rotation, another player is losing out. There can be no winners if there are no losers, that’s just the nature of the beast. For that reason, I’ve taken a crack at dissecting the most feasible outcomes of this year’s training camp, and have come to a clear conclusion on Chicago’s most likely winners and losers.
Remember, these are simply predictions. In a week’s time, it’s possible that I’m back here writing that the opposite is true. Still, I think we can scrape out enough information to make an educated guess as to just what exactly this year’s training camp may yield for the Chicago Bulls.
While some players stand to gain a more prominent role at training camp, a few others may find themselves falling out of favor with the Chicago Bulls.
Winner: Ayo Dosunmu
Training camp has only just begun but it’s already starting to look like the Ayo Dosunmu show in Chicago. After displaying the seven pounds in weight and muscle mass he’s added over the offseason, Dosunmu’s aggressive two-way game could help jettison the promising point guard straight into the starting lineup if he keeps this performance up entering the season.
Loser: Tony Bradley
When Chicago made the move to go out and sign veteran talent Andre Drummond, returning Bulls center Tony Bradley had to accept he’d be bumped down a notch in the rotation. However, after witnessing Marko Simonovic put on a clinic at the Las Vegas — which saw Marko take home All-Summer League Second Team — and Billy Donovan acknowledging the fact that Patrick Williams may get some run as a small ball center, the pressure on Bradley to have a good training camp and reclaim his role in the rotation is at an all-time high.
Winner: Kostas Antetokounmpo
Rarely does a training camp signing receive this much publicity, but the support behind Kostas Antetokounmpo’s case for Chicago’s final two-way roster spot has been palpable. Bringing Giannis’ little brother on board would be an immensely popular move with the fans. Now, all he needs to do is cobble together an impressive enough training camp to warrant all this attention in the first place.
Loser: Coby White
With all the focus on the point guard battle between Dosunmu, Dragic, and Caruso, it’s easy to forget that just one year Coby White was holding down the point for Chicago. The fact that he’s not even being considered for the job is very telling, and could mean his time with the Bulls is nearing an end. However, there’s still a decent chance he’s traded to a team that could offer a larger role for White than Chicago can. If that’s the case, Coby may actually consider himself a winner in the end.
Winner: Andre Drummond
One way or another, Andre Drummond is going to make this Bulls team realize how badly they’ve needed him all along. A bottom-three rebounding team by virtually every metric last season, Chicago has been in desperate need of a big man who can consistently crash the boards and prevent the Bulls from being forced into inadequate small-ball lineups. Drummond is the perfect man for the job here, and a strong training camp will only help to further cement his role in the rotation.
Loser: Lonzo Ball
While nobody in the Bulls organization appears to have any delusions about Lonzo Ball‘s importance to the way this roster has been constructed, it doesn’t change the fact Chicago will be forced to carry on without him. While the Bulls tinker with a variety of different lineups in the meantime, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this is a lose-lose situation for Lonzo. If Chicago can’t find an adequate replacement, they’ll be terrible this year. But if they do manage to find a worthy successor, Ball’s future prospects with the Chicago Bulls could be put into serious jeopardy.