The Lonzo-less Chicago Bulls Finally Have An Identity
A late season addition and a lineup change created your current Bulls, however you may feel about them.
So, do the Bulls finally have a Lonzo-less identity?
The Bulls have long been forced to deal with the reality of an immediate future without starting point guard Lonzo Ball. This was, finally, confirmed last Thursday, when reports came out that Ball and his representatives would be seeking out more medical opinions and perhaps opting for a third surgery to repair his damaged knee.
With Ball long sidelined, Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has experimented plenty while trying to figure out the best use of the starting PG spot that previously belonged to Ball.
Following Ayo Dosunmu’s stellar shooting-laced rookie year, he has failed to find his stroke from 3-point range in Year 2, making it difficult to start him next to veterans who simply need the other players on the floor to be ready to fire up an open shot after not seeing the ball for long stretches of time. This same issue plagues Patrick Williams, who also lost his spot in the starting lineup while Donovan searched for answers. But now, for better or worse, the Bulls seem to have a clear identity:
The Bulls will guard the hell out of you on defense and move the ball on offense…mostly because Patrick Beverley and Alex Caruso.
The Alex Caruso-Patrick Beverley duo has been about as great as you would expect. Chicago’s new starting lineup with Caruso and Beverley — in addition to the Big 3 of LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic — has a Defensive Rating of 98.1, which would be first in the league by a full 11.5 points per 100 possessions.
Offensively, their low-usage, ball-moving, catch-and-shoot tendencies play well off of the Bulls’ three high-usage stars. And although neither Beverley or Caruso are extremely accurate shooters, just the fact that they are willing to take the first good look they get or move the ball quickly adds value to the starting unit.
Defensively speaking, it’s pretty self-explanatory why this duo is working well. Beverley and Caruso are both physical guards who do not give their matchup any free space on the floor, making them work tremendously hard to get to their spots.
With Beverley and Carsuo making life hell for opposing guards, the rest of the Bulls unit is free to turn up their aggression in rim protection and when going for off-ball steals. In the month of March, DeRozan is averaging 1.8 steals per game and Vucevic is averaging a combined 1.8 combined steals + blocks per game. Even LaVine has stepped his game up on that end of the floor lately:
Yup, that’s right, Caruso and Beverley, through effort and technique, have encouraged the Bulls to step it up on the defensive end of the floor. Chicago’s defense was already keeping their season alive, but their newfound willingness to share the ball on offense — 27.2 assists per game over the last five games, 8th in the NBA — has made their offense one of the most efficient in the league. The Bulls season has not unfolded as planned, but their late-season surge gives them a chance to finish the year strong.
