3 Tricks, 3 Treats from the Chicago Bulls so far this season

In the spirit of Halloween, I thought we could get a little festive with our insights regarding the first two weeks of the regular season. Currently holding a 3-4 record, there’s undoubtedly a lot of work left to be done for the Chicago Bulls. That being said, there have been several silver linings worth appreciating to an otherwise rough start that bode particularly well for this team’s chances to bounce back soon.

While the Bulls are undoubtedly on an upward trajectory, there are serious concerns and legitimate questions surrounding this team’s ability to genuinely compete for a championship. With a daunting schedule lying ahead, the questions are only going to get louder and louder from here. Let’s dive into things and separate the nightmarish narratives from the far more pleasant plotlines in the early days of the 2022-23 season.

Two weeks deep into the Chicago Bulls’ regular season, it’s becoming easier to differentiate the treats from the tricky tendencies.

Trick: Zach LaVine resting a skele-ton of games this year

Entering this season, one of Chicago’s top priorities was to establish a strong team chemistry amongst the starting lineup and help alleviate some of the pressure from DeMar DeRozan‘s shoulders. Due to the unexpected setbacks Zach LaVine has faced in regards to the status of his knee, however, achieving that goal has been all but impossible.

Resting every back-to-back is… not an ideal scenario for a Bulls team that wishes to limit the burden on their All-NBA talent. As the season progresses, the team needs to provide much more clarity as to when we can expect to see Zach on the court and cut down on the unnecessary conflicting statements to the media.

Treat: The mid-range wizard is back and better than ever

Just as Gandalf the Grey had to fall in battle to one day be reborn anew in a white cloak, DeRozan’s time spent in the grey threads of San Antonio may have been painful at the time, but he’s emerged all the better because of it.

No matter how many awards, achievements, and accolades DeRozan adds to his resume, there seems to always be an army of critics lined up to rain down a barrage of excuses, explanations, and asterisks as to why they don’t matter. Regardless, DeRozan is currently averaging the third most points of his career and posting the highest true shooting percentage, box plus/minus, and win shares per 48 minutes of his career. If he keeps this up, he’ll likely earn All-NBA honors for the fourth time in his career.

Trick: The Invisible Man, Dalen Terry

After a very promising stint in the Las Vegas Summer League and NBA Preseason, many Chicago Bulls fans were holding out hope that Dalen Terry could carve out a role in the rotation to start the season. While his positional flexibility is hard to deny, there’s still plenty of work to do for the rookie. Logging just 10 total minutes through the first seven games, Terry will have to continue fighting to earn anything more than garbage time action. At the very least, he doesn’t make himself invisible on the bench, as he is without a doubt the roster’s best hype man on the sidelines.

Treat: Drummonds & Dragon

While Stranger Things may be responsible for bringing the popular role-playing game to the television screens of a much broader audience, Andre Drummond and Goran Dragic have done an impeccable job popularizing their own spin on Dungeons & Dragons. While the signing of these two veterans was largely criticized as a cheap move to stay beneath the luxury tax threshold, the addition of Drummond and Dragic has resulted in a surprisingly excellent two-man game and potentially heralded the revival of Chicago’s infamous ‘Bench Mob’.

Trick: The Were (is he?) Wolf, Patrick Williams

No one had the Bulls’ fandom fooled over the summer quite like Patrick Williams, who had shown slivers of star potential once every full moon in his first two seasons with the Bulls. An offseason spent training alongside DeRozan was an early indicator that Pat would become the power forward of the future for the Chicago Bulls, but so far that has not come to fruition.

All too often, Williams contributes little more than cardio when on the court, watching the action from the corner. Whether or not Williams can take these struggles in stride may ultimately determine his fate with this team moving forward.

Treat: The junkyard dogs have been unleashed

Sliding into the starting lineup, Ayo Dosunmu has done an impeccable job of continuing to improve his game from where he left off last year. As a 22-year-old rookie, many doubted his ability to continue developing further, but thus far has looked every bit the part of a starting point guard in this league. Defensively, Alex Caruso and Javonte Green have been menaces on that end of the court. Green and Caruso have the first and second most total pass deflections in the entire NBA right now, with their totals currently standing at 32 and 28, respectively.

If this trio of players can maintain their physical brand of basketball for an entire season, the Chicago Bulls will continue to claw their way back into close games. Hopefully, their tenacity and passion for the game proves infectious and spreads to the rest of the roster.