The Chicago Bulls' best lineups last season featured Kevin Huerter at small forward, making it plainly evident he should be the starter at that spot in 2025-26.
Most -- not all -- national NBA writers are down on head coach Billy Donovan's squad. Unsurprisingly, most fans in the Windy City (much closer to all) don't expect much from their team this season. And that's not necessarily a flawed take.
The front office, led by executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, once again put together an underwhelming offseason. Bringing back Josh Giddey on a four-year, $100 million contract to solidify the point guard position was a bright spot, but the Bulls didn't do much else.
French teenager Noa Essengue and Australian big man Lachlan Olbrich enter the fold after Chicago nabbed them in the lottery and the second round of the 2025 draft, respectively. Neither is likely to contribute much this season.
The Bulls traded Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers to help shore up their defense on the wing, but that's not a deal that will move the needle much. The remainder of the roster movement came on the back end, where Karnisovas made a few minor decisions with his two-way spots.
This year's team is nearly identical to last year's version that finished 39-43 and went home with a Play-In Tournament loss to the Miami Heat. Again.
But there's reason to believe the Bulls will be better this year than last, one of which involves Huerter.
Bulls' best lineup last season featured a heavy dose of Kevin Huerter
The 27-year-old, also affectionately known as the Red Mamba, came to Chicago in the Zach LaVine trade shortly before last year's trade deadline, mired in the worst stretch of his career. Huerter was hitting just 30.2 percent of his triples through his first 43 games in Sacramento and averaging 7.9 points.
He transformed into an entirely different player in Chicago. In 26 games, 16 of them starts, his scoring average jumped more than five points to 13.2. He shot 37.6 percent from deep on 7.2 attempts a night versus the 4.8 threes per game he was getting up with the Kings. More importantly, the Bulls were a better team with Huerter in the lineup.
Donovan inserted him into the starting group for good on March 13, and Huerter played in 15 of the Bulls' final 17 games. From that point on, he averaged 14.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists and shot 49.2 percent from the field and 39.2 percent from three. He led the team in minutes during that stretch, and Chicago went 12-3 in the games he started. The two contests he missed were both Bulls losses.
That group, which featured Giddey, Coby White, Huerter, Matas Buzelis and Nikola Vucevic, led the league in pace and was third in offensive rating (124.0), effective field goal percentage and true shooting percentage over that span, better than the starting lineups of the Minnesota Timberwolves and championship runners-up Indiana Pacers.
Donovan got the best out of Huerter as a starter and, simultaneously, the most effective version of the Bulls. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.