The Chicago Bulls will start training camp next week after a confusing offseason that left plenty of questions.
Aside from the will they/won’t they with Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls have a number of questions that will start to be answered next week. For now, they appear ready to go with the roster they have and I have questions.
#1: What is this team?
Usually, you can look at a team’s roster and payroll and get a decent idea of where they stand. They are a contender with a max superstar or two, a middle-of-the-pack playoff team or a tanker looking for lottery odds.
With the Bulls it is not so easy.
They lack a true superstar at the top of their roster but instead have a bunch of good-not-great players who are confusing fits or complete unknowns.
You could talk me into the idea of the Bulls being decent enough to compete for a playoff spot (more on that later) or being one of the four worst teams in the NBA depending on how things break.
As it stands, they are likely somewhere between those two things, exactly where you don’t want to be. The Bulls will eventually have to choose an identity, and we may get a first glance at what that looks like in training camp and preseason games.
#2: Whose team is this?
The Bulls will presumably start the season with three ball-dominant guards in the starting lineup. For all of the LaVine trade talk, he is still here, and if he is healthy, he’s the Bulls’ best player on offense.
Is he going to be able to take a back seat to Josh Giddey and Coby White? If all three of these guys play unselfishly, the Bulls could have a dynamic offense that will be difficult to defend (the defense is another matter).
But for Giddey to have space to create, LaVine and White may have to play more off the ball, so the dynamic between those three is something to watch early.