Exclusive Bulls Confidential 2019–2020 Season Preview
If you aren’t a huge football fan, I know you might be wondering, when will the NBA be back? Well you don’t have to worry too much because the Bulls are about a month away from their first official preseason game, scheduled for Oct. 7 against the Bucks.
With the Bulls’ season approaching fast, lets set some early predictions and expectations so we wont be disappointed or astonished and a quick rundown of everything you need to know.
Stat Projections
Several additions were implemented to the Bulls’ locker room which will help them favorably. With Chris Fleming coming from the Nets and Roy Rogers coming from the Rockets as assistant coaches from fast-paced offenses and the addition of Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young, we should expect the Bulls to be a lot better offensively. Last year they were 27th in offense overall but this year we should expect more. This year realistic expectations show them to be somewhere between 17–20th if they can all play together.
The expectations are higher on Zach LaVine to increase his efficiency and by the way he has been in the gym this offseason; things look exciting and promising. This season, LaVine has potential to average 25 points a game compared to the 23.7 he averaged last year while, while this isn’t a huge increase he very well could be an efficient 50/40/90 (FG%/3P%/FT%) player in his future so efficiency should go up as well, he also will make an impact in other areas by averaging closer to 6 assist and 6 rebounds as he becomes more aggressive and focused.
Lauri Markkanen has gained massive strength during the offseason. Almost everyone believes that Lauri will be the face of the Bulls franchise very soon. So it is fitting that he will steadily improve to fill those shoes. Don’t be surprised if he comes back averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds. This will be a remarkable jump if he could average both a double-double and over 20 points A game this season.
Wendell Carter Jr. will comeback with a vengeance and a chip on his shoulder. On his Instagram account, he posted “after dealing with a couple setbacks and roadblocks … I am more than anxious to get back out on the court” “Going into my sophomore year as a professional athlete, I’m wiser, stronger, and a better basketball player … I’m ready to give this city my blood, sweat, and tears”. his stat line could look something like 13 points 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1.5 steals. It’s very unlikely we see a sophomore slump from him.
Otto Porter Jr. will have a career year. Analyst see him as a high upside. Averaging 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists won’t be hard for him if he is utilized correctly. He averaged 17.5 points a game in 15 games with the Bulls last season and scored his career high, 37 points, in his fourth game with the Bulls. He was recently ranked by Sports Illustrated 2020 Top 100 at number 57 which is higher than any Bulls player on the roster. When Otto Porter Jr. was inserted into the Bulls lineup after the trade deadline the team made a positive change and at age 26 he is still considered the silent leader of this young team. The Bulls went 7–8 when he was on the floor, which is a lot better than 15–52. Otto is a clear difference maker.
Thaddeus Young will average 11 points and 6 rebounds, as a 31-year-old veteran that came from a very skilled Indiana Pacers team. Expect him to bring his poise and leadership to this young Bulls roster as well. He may be in a regressed form since he couldn’t hold down his spot on the USA team this summer but he will be useful for the Bulls in many ways seeing that he plays both sides of the ball. Thad also was one of 12 finalists for the NBA’s Teammate of the Year award last year and hasn’t missed a game due to injury in two years.
Satoransky more than likely will maintain 10 points and 8 assists a game. Satoransky is currently averaging 15.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 7.4 assists a game in the FIBA World Cup and for his native country the Czech Republic. Of course we have to keep in mind that he will be facing tougher competition and will have better teammates in the NBA along with the smaller sample size of the World Cup games vs the NBA season. Nonetheless, he has proven his grit when he stepped up for the Wizards in place of John Wall last year and is showing signs of having a breakout year.
There was a lot of hype on Coby White after the draft. However you should probably be bearish on Coby. After a dismal Summer League shooting a 30% FG percentage and 10% from the three point line you should expect him to average 7 points, 3 assists and 3 turnovers a game while he still is adjusting and learning NBA style play. He did show signs that he can score and get up the court in a hurry averaging 16 points in 35 minutes of play during summer league as well. So he is more of a wild card, but it wouldn’t be wise to bet on him being the leader of the offense.
As a team, the Bulls probably will average around 114 points a game, which probably will put them as the 12th highest scoring team in the NBA. Defense is another story… Although they made intentional pickups in free agency to snag two-way players this might not be enough. The Bulls do not look significantly better defensively on paper. They might give up an average of 116 points a game which will more than likely land them somewhere near 25th in points allowed a game.
With the moves that were accomplished this offseason and the injuries that scarred the Bulls last season, the core hasn’t really had much playing time together in actual NBA games. It will be very interesting to see how Boylen distributes minutes and as a novice head coach with a fresh new contract it could be hard to manage.
Wins & Losses
The good news: The Bulls have a good chance at starting the season hot with a 5–0 record.
The Bulls start their regular season schedule facing the Hornets, the Grizzlies, the Raptors (without Kawhi), the Knicks and the Cavaliers. Outside of the raptors, these are teams that should be easy wins seeing that they teams working on rebuilding their organizations as well. These games won’t necessarily be easy to the Bulls but they are some of the easiest games on the schedule and they are ranked worse than the Bulls so we expect them come out on top.
The bad news: The Bulls probably won’t crack 40 wins..
The Bulls will need everything to go right in their favor this season in order to make the playoffs this year and simultaneously crack 40 wins. Let this sink in… That means no significant injuries from Zach, Lauri, Otto, and Satoransky, No locker room mix ups, coaching mishaps, and everyone produces as expected. There is very little wiggle room for this team because they have months where they have very difficult games scheduled and they can very easily fall in a funk if they lose too many games in a row. If one bad thing happens this season they can easily be a 50 loss team but in a more positive light they may be just shy of 40 wins.
Moreover, after that easy-breezy first five games, they have a treacherous November where they play 15 games where they could easily lose 12 of those since they are playing teams like the Warriors, Bucks, and Blazers. December up until the All-Star break seems like a very fair schedule but their season could already be ruined by the hectic games from November because of killed momentum.
Overall, the Bulls probably will scrape up 33 wins and 49 losses allowing them to keep some pride knowing that they improved their season by 11 games from the previous season and keeping their losses in the 40s. Even though the Bulls likely will still lose more games than they will win, the style of basketball they will play will be competitive and fast paced making it very entertaining compared to last year it was difficult to watch. Lack of depth at the small forward position could be their biggest threat.
At the end of the day, as anxious fans, our best bet is just waiting to see how they do when the season rolls around.
