Most promising stat for each Bulls player since All-Star Break
As the Chicago Bulls inch toward the finale of their 2022-23 regular season, the pressure to perform in each and every single game is at an all-time high. How they play over these final 7 games will determine if they win a favorable position in the playoffs, limp into the play-in tournament, or just miss the postseason outright.
Fortunately, things seem to be falling in Chicago’s favor more often than not lately. The team has gotten back on track following the All-Star Break and is within striking distance of passing the Toronto Raptors and Atlanta Hawks in the standings. All of this couldn’t have come without the actual players on the roster stepping up in a big way, so I wanted to highlight just exactly where these improvements stem from.
For the sake of this, I’ll be sticking to the players who log at least 10 minutes per game to avoid any issues with small sample sizes — my apologies, Dalen Terry.
With the Chicago Bulls getting back to their winning ways as of late, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about this roster moving forward.
Centers
Nikola Vucevic: Plus/Minus
Outside of a couple of outlier 20-point losses to the Suns and Phoenix, Nikola Vucevic has been blowing opposing teams out of the water since the All-Star Break. Ignoring those two games which seemed over before they even began, the Chicago Bulls have outscored opponents by 107 points with Vooch on the court since the break. If Nikola can remain locked in alongside his pair of All-Star teammates, Chicago will be a team no one wants to face in the play-in tournament.
Andre Drummond: Rebounding Percentage
It should come as no surprise that Drummond is having another dominant season on the boards, this is what he does. What is surprising, however, is how he’s managed to continue improving on his signature skill. Drummond gathered 28.9% of all available rebounds before the All-Star Break, but has since improved that number to 31.7%.
To put that into perspective, nobody else on this team even has a rebounding percentage above 19%. Clint Capela actually has the league’s second-highest rebounding percentage at 23%, nowhere even in the same stratosphere as Drummond. He’s proven to be an incredibly valuable piece for the Bulls this year, and is one pace to have his most effective season on the glass yet.