The Chicago Bulls might be fooling everyone. Is that such a bad thing? Through four games, the Bulls remain undefeated (seriously) and their No. 5 net rating is pretty exciting for fans who have gotten used to thoroughly unstimulating basketball recently.
There are reasons to believe some of this success is unsustainable, yes. For instance, the Bulls' opponents have shot 29.2%, 12.5%, 34.4%, and 25% from the 3-point line. Either the Bulls have the greatest perimeter defense of all time — and watching the games shows that's likely not the case — or they've gotten unusually lucky, and eventually teams will start hitting shots against them.
They've also played teams with a combined record of 7-13. With the Knicks (twice), the Cavs, the Spurs, and the surprisingly hot Sixers and Bucks all on the docket in the next two weeks, the Bulls' competition level will increase exponentially.
So, fine, the Bulls probably won't go 82-0, and their astronomical start will likely come back to Earth sooner rather than later.
But opposing fans who point at the Bulls' unsustainable success as some sort of gotcha are really just fooling themselves, because Bulls fans didn't expect this team to do anything substantial this year. So pyrite it may be; that's still better than no gold at all, which is what Bulls fans have come to expect from this franchise.
What is "real" from the Chicago Bulls' fast start?
I don't think Josh Giddey has suddenly turned into a 40-plus percent 3-point shooter. But some of the other trends developing feel a little more realistic; Why couldn't Matas Buzelis be a 16-ish point per game scorer? In his four games, he has three games of 16-plus points and one rough game where he scored three. Even when things come down to Earth, Buzelis was primed for a breakout.
And why can't Kevin Huerter (currently averaging 14.8 points per game) bounce back to the 2022-23 version of himself, who was a hugely important part of Sacramento ending its playoff drought? Huerter's sample size of games in Chicago keeps getting larger, and he continues to get buckets.
Really, when you look at the Bulls' individual stats, nothing feels outlandish in terms of sustainability, besides a few inflated shooting percentages.
When you think about it, this "unsustainable" start from the Bulls is actually an unsustainable start (in a bad way) from the Bulls' opponents. And why should a team apologize for its opponents playing poorly? They shouldn't!