The Bulls should be focused during the All-Star Break

The Bulls have an eight-day break extending through Feb. 21, and it’s vital that they take advantage of this time off to revamp the team.

It’s evident that this season so far has been a nightmare for the Bulls, to say the least. From Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn, Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine all suffering early-season injuries, to Fred Hoiberg’s firing, from Jim Boylen’s two-hour practices after a loss and five-man substitutions, to Wendell Carter Jr.’s season-ending injury, from Jabari Parker being benched, to Gar Forman and John Paxson’s terrible long-term impact on the culture of the Bulls along with dreadful media days, and the awful nine straight home losses (ties the franchise record) up until the trade deadline, this season so far has been absolutely horrendous for the Bulls, and the list could go on and on. The Bulls currently are 14–44 and are not on track to even coming close to the 27–55 record that they had last year.

However, there may still be a bit of light at the end of this very dark tunnel. Zach Lavine has been showing up and showing out this entire season averaging 23 points a game and has so far, lived up to the four-year $78 million contract the Bulls were hesitant to give him. Markannen has been remarkable over the last month averaging 21.1 points and 11.1 rebounds a game. The acquisition of Porter for Parker and Portis at the trade deadline has been a tremendous relief to the Bulls offense and defense as he has brought new energy and ease of flow to the Bulls’ gameplay style along with scoring a career-high 35 points against the Grizzlies. Also not to mention, before being injured, Carter has shown he can start and defend. Even though the Bulls have underplayed this season, they have found and developed long-term pieces that Bulls fans can look forward to for the future.

With everything that has transpired so far, looking into the offseason and next season, (because the Bulls don’t have very good odds in making the playoffs this year) the Bulls have potential to become a legit contender and probable playoff team finally in the East with the addition of one or two more assets and the Bulls are almost a shoe-in for another lottery pick.

The catch with this offseason is that the draft lottery is all based on chance and this year's draft doesn’t seem too deep. The Bulls front office has also developed a culture that repels elite free agents from even considering the Bulls. Since 2008, the Bulls have had much success in the draft and through trades rather than free agent acquisitions anyway, so they need to stick with what works for them.

This means the Bulls’ front office should start planning now. They will need to get very creative to figure out a plan to turn this freak show around. They should be prospecting and scouting heavily for the draft coming up this offseason (which they probably have been doing already).

Also, the Bulls have looked invigorated over the past two weeks. Although they are 2–4 over the past six games, every loss has seemed like a close battle. It is imperative that the Bulls keep this same energy going forward to develop and grow for next season. With Porter inserted into the lineup, they have been playing well and I feel like it would be great to focus on build chemistry as a team, gaining well need rest, and making sure everyone is acclimated.

I hope and expect the Bulls to come out with a vengeance after the All-Star break. They have a relatively mild six-game stretch and easily could go 4–2 and start to turn heads and build confidence to finish the season strong. Even though many would think tanking is the best option, player development trumps betting with uncertainty in the draft in my opinion.