CHICAGO — If a marketing campaign came out of Bulls media day, it would be “We’re Trying To Win.”
It’s more “The Kids Can Play” than “See Red” but it’s probably better than “Yes, Zach LaVine Still Works Here.”
What does it mean for the Bulls to openly declare, amid skepticism, that they’re trying to win?
For one, it says what we already figured out: the Bulls aren’t going to outwardly tank to keep their top-10 protected draft pick (owed to the Spurs if they fall below 10) or even put themselves in a better position to draft Cooper Flagg, the future one-and-done No. 1 pick out of Duke.
Not yet, anyway.
For another, it means the Bulls’ so-called youth movement won’t take precedence over competing in every game.
Not yet, anyway.
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And it also means training camp is just opening up, so they had to think of something positive to say.
“We’re here to win,” Bulls president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas said. “Developing our players is crucial, but we won’t sacrifice the integrity of the game just for the sake of development.”
As for his coach Billy D, remember the D stands for Donovan, not Development. Part of the reason he left Oklahoma City for Chicago is because he didn’t want to deal with a rebuilding situation. (He also got a big raise.) Donovan, too, brought up the “I” word.
“To me personally, there’s just an integrity to competition, right?” Donovan said. “Like when you sit there and say development, we’re just going development route and we’re just going to put a bunch of young guys out there and play 35 minutes and see what happens, sometimes that’s not the best learning experience.”
While DeMar DeRozan is in Sacramento and Alex Caruso is in Oklahoma City, Nikola Vučević and LaVine are still in Chicago on a mismatched roster with not enough defensive presence or shooting and too many guards who need the ball in their hands to be effective. This is an organization fresh off consecutive Play-In Tournament appearances and I don’t like the odds of three in a row.
The Bulls have Coby White, who looked like a young star (when LaVine was out most of the year with injuries), and they added a former lottery pick, point guard Josh Giddey, in the Caruso trade. Lonzo Ball, who many years ago was the heart of the new-look Bulls, is finally coming back after 2 1/2 seasons on the shelf. He can’t play back-to-backs and will be on a minutes limit, but he should step on the floor again for the first time since January 2022. The problem is the Bulls don’t need him now. They needed him two years ago.
Lonzo Ball confirms that he expects to be ready to play on opening day for the Chicago Bulls. pic.twitter.com/NwYG3NfIFj
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) September 30, 2024
Vučević is a deadline deal waiting to happen (if anyone wants him) but he said all the right things about helping to lead the young players and, you guessed it …
“We have guys that do want to win and are competitors and are not just going to go out there and just play to play,” Vučević said. “We’re going to try to win.”
Of course, trying to win and winning are two different things.
Try as they might, it’s difficult to see the Bulls winning as many games as Jerry Reinsdorf’s other team, the White Sox.
Normally, that’s next-to-impossible (though the 1995 White Sox won 68 games and the 1995-96 Bulls won 72), but this year, it wouldn’t actually be that hard as the Bulls only have to win 41 games to equal the Sox. That’s a mediocre record.
But in the past seven seasons, the Bulls, who operate in the NBA’s third-biggest market and have the sport’s largest arena while charging among the most for tickets, have only won 41 or more games one time. And in a few of those years, they were also trying to win.
If they finish .500 this year, consider it a major achievement.
Speaking of the White Sox, I do feel bad for the combo Sox/Bulls fans. They finally get done having to pay attention to the losingest team in modern baseball history and now here come the Bulls. There should be a two-week break between the seasons or something. A mental health break.
Though there’s no chance this team will challenge the 1972-73 76ers and their 9-73 record like the Sox did with the 1962 Mets, the Bulls are bound to make more Chicagoans angry because they have a bigger fan base than the Sox. Only a small portion of Chicago sports fans hate the White Sox. It feels like everyone complains about the Bulls.
You can see the pain of what’s to come on the frown lines on Donovan’s face. You can hear the future monologues about repeated defensive lapses in his voice. And it’s only media day.
“I mean, we’re going to have some defensive challenges, there’s no question,” he said. “I think we’re going to have to really be a team that’s collectively going to do it together.”
As Donovan noted, there’s no more Caruso to sic on opposing guards. The veterans, LaVine and Vučević, aren’t known for their defense, and that’s putting it nicely.
So, we’re hearing a lot of happy talk about improved pace and scoring with the addition of the fast-breaking, ball-flinging Giddey, but without Caruso and self-proclaimed best rebounder ever Andre Drummond, a formerly middle-of-the-pack defense could be quite bad.
“When you talk about the winning component, yeah, we can play as fast as we want, but if we don’t really defend well enough as a team, you can’t be good,” Donovan said.
At least LaVine is in a “good headspace,” according to him. On Monday, he had the vibe of an athlete who has spent way too much time on Twitter and reading self-help books. LaVine’s career hit its nadir last year when he played 25 games because of injuries and found out that he wasn’t a desirable asset on the trade market. This year, he said he’s excited to be back, but in front of the media, he just looked kind of pissed off. (In a polite way.)
“I think something that’s not talked about enough is when you have good energy, only give in to that,” LaVine said. “I don’t want to keep talking about the past or anything because there’s a lot of things I can speak on, but there’s no reason to.”
When you have a “max contract” on a losing team and everyone knows your team is trying to trade you but it can’t, well, you’d be searching for positivity too.
Before reporters asked Media Day questions, Zach LaVine gave this thoughtful opening statement that is very much worth listening to. pic.twitter.com/kDnSwWITyl
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) September 30, 2024
LaVine opened up his interview time with a long monologue calmly advising people not to listen to the “rumors” and “false narratives” out there about him.
“Whenever there’s something that needs to be said, it’ll come from Zach LaVine or my representation,” he said.
As if that’s how the NBA works! The league runs on a rumor mill and its the agents (like his) who make it go.
In truth, the Bulls will be trying to move LaVine when it’s appropriate to do so. The same goes for Vučević. The team Karnišovas constructed years ago didn’t work and now they’re trying to reboot on the fly. It won’t work, but that’s nothing new.
So if you’re worried about the Bulls’ future, I’m here to tell you to relax. There’s no point stressing yourself out about any Reinsdorf team. They’re rarely, if ever, going to spend the money or make the trades necessary to really compete for a championship. They don’t employ the kinds of creative front offices that make their own luck.
If you want my advice, go into the season expecting the worst.
But give the Bulls credit for this. They’re promising absolutely nothing.
“This season marks a fresh chapter,” Karnišovas said. “How will this group come together? What will it take to define our style of play? These are the questions that will unfold as we learn how to play and win together during camp and early games.”
Donovan noted he couldn’t even begin to predict how the guard-heavy lineups will work, especially since Giddey is coming off an ankle injury suffered at the Olympics. (He said he’ll be full-go for the season opener.)
“I don’t know what the season’s going to look like after 82 games or where we end up,” Donovan said. “But I think there’s an integrity to competing, there’s an integrity going out there every single day doing your very, very best.”
For sure. But wouldn’t it be nice to have something more than effort to sell before training camp even begins?
(Photo of Zach LaVine: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
