3 Bulls players who have massively outperformed preseason expectations

1. Nikola Vucevic

Although Ayo’s offseason growth has been tremendous, you have to figure that most Bulls fans were already holding out hope expecting that he’d continue making strides in his game. What nobody expected, however, is that Nikola Vucevic would return this season looking ten times better than the maligned big man we saw last year.

If you’ve been listening to Bulls broadcasts, you certainly heard Stacey King stress the importance of getting Vucevic involved in the paint a countless number of times last season. Much like Markkanen before him, the Bulls’ game plan had Vooch squandering his talents by camping at the 3-point line for the majority of games.

After how badly that experiment panned out, Vucevic has instead been allowed to patrol the painted area much more often this season, a decision that has found immediate huge success. By allowing him the opportunity to assert himself early and get into the flow of the game, Vucevic has looked far more involved and positively impactful on both ends of the court.

Vucevic has cut his mid-range shot attempts in half this season and replaced that production by taking more than third — 34.5%, to be exact — of his attempts from within 3-feet of the basket. This is a drastic improvement from last season, where he took only 22.3% of his shot attempts in front of the basket.

As a result, not only has he become a more dynamic offensive player, but Vucevic is also averaging a career-high 13 rebounds per game. His presence on the boards was particularly impactful against Boston, where reeled in an incredible 23 missed shots, 10 of which game on the offensive end.

These adjustments are exactly the type of decisions that will not only lead to more wins but also raises the ceiling for this team in a potential playoff run. If Vucevic can maintain his production, it’s difficult to predict just how high the Chicago Bulls may climb.