The Chicago Bulls looked promising in the first few weeks of the regular season with wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies.
Then what was supposed to be a rebuilding team fell back to Earth, losing fourth straight games with the last two defeats coming by more than 20 points.
There were signs of positivity in those losses, though, as Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan began to reach deeper into his bench and give more minutes to younger players.
That didn't lead to wins - Chicago faced both Western Conference finalists from last season, the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves on back-to-back nights - but it was a promising development.
Last night, that strategy paid off when the Bulls weren't facing two of the best teams in the NBA (which helps).
Bulls win over Hawks shows signs rebuild may be on right track
Zach LaVine's return didn't hurt, of course. Chicago's star guard returned from a three-game absence to score 18 points and add seven assists and Nikola Vucevic continued his stellar start to the year with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
But that wasn't the story of the Bulls win in Atlanta.
Six other players scored in double figures, led by Ayo Dosunmu's 19 points. LaVine's return sent Dosunmu back to his bench role, a huge plus for the Bulls.
Coby White had 18 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals. Josh Giddey had 13 points, six rebounds, seven assists and a pair of thefts. Patrick Williams had a solid all-around game, scoring 10 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out three assists to go along with two blocks and two steals.
Along with Dosunmu, Jalen Smith and Julian Phillips had 10 points apiece. Dalen Terry nearly got in on the action, finishing with nine.
But those numbers aren't the most important developments from last night. These are.
- Phillips: 21
- Giddey: 22
- Terry: 22
- Williams: 23
- Dosunmu: 24
- Smith: 24
- White: 24
Those are the ages of seven Bulls players who made significant contributions to last night's win.
A lot is made about Chicago's top-10 protected 2025 first-round pick owed to the San Antonio Spurs. Winning too many games and losing that selection would be catastrophic.
But it's also a positive development that a large chunk of the Bulls' current young core led the team to a victory on the road. As long as it doesn't happen too often.