The Bulls had a rather disappointing end to their 2022-23 regular season. After spending much of the season in the top half of the Eastern Conference standings, they fell to sixth after going 7-15 in their last 22 regular season games. This meant a first round playoff matchup with the Bucks, which they lost in five games.<\/p>\n
Lonzo Ball had gotten off to a great start to last season but a slight meniscus tear in January has still kept him from attempting any high-level basketball activity as of now.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll likely start the season on the injured list leaving a bulk of the ball handling duties with second year player Ayo Dosunmu.<\/p>\n
Terry Searches for Role<\/h3>\n
Point guard Dalen Terry was the team\u2019s only selection in last year\u2019s draft, and judging by his improvement over two years at Arizona, this pick could prove to be worthy for the Bulls.<\/p>\n
He jumped from 4.6 to 8.0 points per game, 1.5 to 3.9 assists per game and 3.2 to 4.8 rebounds per game during his two years as a Wildcat. The loss of Ball could mean some minutes right away for the rookie but there is a plethora of other role players on the Bulls including the mentioned Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, Coby White as well as newly-acquired Goran Dragic.<\/p>\n
Dosunmu was in a similar position to Terry last season and was able to carve out a role for himself with his solid guard play.<\/p>\n
The Bulls also have the option to play Terry at the small forward position with his 6\u20197 frame but he\u2019ll need to bulk up some only weighing 195 lbs as of today.<\/p>\n
Chicago Bulls’ Roster Additions<\/h3>\n
Besides dealing with Ball\u2019s injury it\u2019s been a relatively quiet offseason for the Bulls. They had one priority and that was to re-sign guard Zach LaVine, which they did.<\/p>\n
Other minor issues to take care of included signing a solid backup center to compliment Nikola Vucevic, which they did by inking Andre Drummond back on July 6th.<\/p>\n
They signed previously-mentioned guard Goran Dragic to help cushion the blow from Ball\u2019s injury, and also resigned high flyer Derrick Jones Jr. to a two year $6.5 million deal on July 6th as well.<\/p>\n
Chicago Bulls’ 2022-23 Season Outlook<\/h3>\n
The Bulls will be sure to keep their foot on the gas all the way through the end of the regular season this time around as they\u2019ve had more time to cope with the Ball injury and how they will replicate their early-season success from a year ago in which they started 26-10.<\/p>\n
DeMar DeRozan will once again be the go-to scorer after averaging a career-high 27.9 points per game last regular season. As long as the Bulls can stay afloat while Ball is still recovering from injury, they should be in the playoffs once again, but will need to keep it together down the stretch if they want to crack the top-5 in the Eastern Conference this season.<\/p>\n
Chicago Bulls’ Projected Starting Five<\/h3>\n
PG: Ayo Dosunmu (While Ball is Out)
\nSG: Zach LaVine
\nSF: DeMar DeRozan
\nPF: Patrick Williams
\nC: Nikola Vucevic
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NBA Central Division Preview<\/h3>\n
Jay Money, Rob Veno and Skee Profit share their thoughts on the 2022-23 Central Division, highlighted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls. Which teams are poise to go over their season win totals, and which ones are destined to underachieve? Join WagerTalk’s trio of NBA betting experts as we break down the Central Division.<\/p>\n
![\"Bulls](\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/vrd2s8sGSyk\/maxresdefault.jpg\")