Dear Bulls fans: Don’t worry, everything will be OK

Through 17 games the Chicago Bulls have a sub .500 record and sit at 11th in the Eastern Conference. With this rough start to the season, many Bulls fans and media members are calling for the Bulls to make a radical change, including considering trading one of their big stars Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan in return for high-potential assets to build towards the future.

The fans have reason to be concerned, with the Bulls ranking last in 3-point attempts and 3rd last in makes, which highlights the same issues the team had last year.

However, Chicago accomplished the unexpected with an inspired 121-107 victory over the Boston Celtics, who were sporting a 9-game winning streak entering the United Center on Monday. Was this game a sign of things to come, or was it simply fool’s gold?

With the Chicago Bulls having a rough start to this season, many fans have called for the team to blow it up, here is why that would be a premature move.

As of the time of writing, Zach LaVine has missed 4 games, Andre Drummond has missed 6 games, Coby White has missed 8 games, and let’s not forget, starting point guard Lonzo Ball has missed every game this season. All of these players are key rotation players and would all play significant minutes if the Bulls were healthy come playoff time.

Let’s take Lonzo Ball, a huge x-factor for this Bulls team as an example. When healthy last year, he helped lead the Bulls to a winning percentage of 63%, which would place them 4th in the current Eastern Conference, proving how vital he is to the success of this team. Additionally, with his much improved 3-point shot and with Ball being one of the best defenders in the NBA, it is unfair to judge the Bulls and whatever ceiling they might have for this season with the line-ups being so inconsistent and without their starting point guard.

With no timeline on when the Bulls’ young guard is set to return, the team needs to aim for consistency with their line-ups by doing their best to stay healthy and by building off of the inspired victory we saw in Boston. If they do so, the thoughts of trading either one of DeRozan or LaVine will be long gone.

Hopefully by the time Ball is ready to return, the Chicago Bulls will rise up the standings with their newfound consistency and Ball is able to help the team build off that success that had the United Center rocking last season in time for a successful postseason campaign.

Don’t stress Bulls fans, everything will be OK.