3 Winners and 3 Losers from Chicago Bulls 2022 preseason

Given that the team posted a 3-1 record in the preseason with no player logging more than 24 minutes per game, the Chicago Bulls just treated fans to a very entertaining prelude to their 2022-23 season. This was hopefully just a taste of what’s to come, as all four of Chicago’s preseason games came against proven playoff squads.

While the entirety of the roster played fairly well across the board, there were certainly a few standouts, both for good reasons and bad. Now that the Bulls’ first regular season game against the Miami Heat is just over 24 hours away, the rotation is likely now solidified and the window to shake any offseason rust off has now slammed shut.

These were the six Bulls players I believe will be most affected by the results of Chicago’s preseason games.

This year’s preseason allowed a few Chicago Bulls players to rise to the occasion while others squandered the opportunity.

Winner: Ayo Dosunmu

While everyone expected a tight race for the starting point guard job, Ayo Dosunmu came in and made winning it look like a trivially easy task. He is clearly the best point guard roster on this roster while  Lonzo Ball is indefinitely removed from the action and should once again play a big role for the Bulls after an impressive preseason from the 22-year-old.

Although his starting job may be secure, that doesn’t mean Chicago’s gauntlet of guards won’t carry on competing for minutes here. Every game, every minute on the floor, and every possession matters so much when Ayo, Coby White, and Goran Dragic are all unsure of where next year’s paycheck will be coming from.

I have little doubt the Bulls will do whatever it takes to retain Ayo in the end, but that certainly doesn’t make the pressure of the situation feel any less grim.

Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White are a pair of promising guards for the Chicago Bulls, but each is on a very different career trajectory.

Loser: Coby White

Coby White didn’t exactly play poorly in the preseason, but he now looks firmly locked into the role of a microwave scorer off the bench. After being selected seventh overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, this is likely not the career trajectory he had imagined for himself. White has had several opportunities to make the starting point guard position his own but has never truly capitalized on the opportunity given him.

It’s an unfortunate truth but Coby’s natural feel as a playmaker just isn’t where it needs to be as a playmaker. Now, Coby appears set to follow in the footsteps of players like Jordan Clarkson and Malik Monk. There’s no shame in being a score-first guard off the bench, but there’s not all that much pride in it either.