How Many Current Bulls Would You Put in the Top-100? New Space Jam, Rose Rumors, and Other Bulls Bullets

I forgot how much I missed offseason content. I know there may not be a whole lot to look through right now, but rankings and rumors are slowly starting to trickle out. It’s a great time to let the imagination run free.

Speaking of which …

•   Curious how many Bulls players land within in the league’s top-125? Huh, that’s a weirdly specific number, but The Athletic has got you covered! Over the next week or so the site will release who they believe to be the league’s top 125 players heading into the 2020-21 season. Instead of actually ranking each player, the names will appear in five tiers – the fifth of which (80-125) was released today. For more information on exactly how they picked the players in each tier, make sure to give the introductory article a read. A single Bulls player couldn’t be found in the first 45 names, which may not bode well for the team’s representation moving forward. While I think we can assume Zach LaVine will be somewhere in a higher tier, I’m not sure who else we can bank on making the list. They removed recent injury trouble from the equation for certain players, so I guess Otto Porter should fall within the next tier. But what about Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr.? Will both still make the cut? I’m not so sure.

•   Again, I should note that The Athletic made sure to say these aren’t “rankings” but rather a player grouping of sorts. This did have me thinking, though, about what a top-100 player ranking for next season might look like. Lauri Markkanen was considered somewhere within the 60-80 range on several top-100 lists before last season … but then the season actually happened. With career-lows practically across the board, would people still consider Markkanen a top-100 player? Unfortunately, he’s probably off the list. However, I think it’d be very easy for him to get back on it. As we’ve said numerous times before, he should be a double-double machine, and a new coaching staff/role should do him a lot of good. The chance of next season being a Domantas Sabonis-type breakout campaign for Markkanen is very much in play, in my opinion. I just refuse to give up on The Finnisher just yet.

•   Meanwhile, if Markkanen moved out of the Top-100, can Carter Jr. move in? Another season with injury trouble probably keeps him on the honorable mentions list, but I think there is an argument that can be made. When he was on the court and healthy, Carter Jr. looked like one of the Bulls best players. He’s also proven to be one of the league’s better young rim-protectors. Top-100 rankings before a season are normally heavy on potential too, and Carter Jr. has the more immediate potential out of anyone on the roster. The guy should benefit even more than Markkanen from Donovan’s presence, and after a Rising Stars nod this past season, Carter Jr. is at least now on the radar for NBA analysts around the league.

•   Ugh. Several of the Bulls players possess intriguing potential, and that continues to be one of the more frustrating parts about this team. It’s just hard to give up on any of the talent after knowing how dysfunctional things have been behind the scenes the past couple of years. I mean, it’s clear the team doesn’t have a superstar in the making, but that doesn’t mean a star or two isn’t sitting on the depth chart. Hopefully, an entirely new coaching staff and culture can finally give us the closure we’ve been looking for with some of these players.

•   The man was an MVP candidate then, and he’d be an MVP candidate now.

•   Speaking of which, rumors are swirling about Rose and the Lakers. Two Chicago kids teaming up in LA feels … not great.

•   The premise of Space Jam: A New Legacy dropped on Twitter yesterday, and I’m struggling a bit to see how the basketball comes into play. Regardless, it looks like LeBron James will have to battle “super-versions” of NBA and WNBA stars to escape a weird and wacky world. I know this isn’t going to happen, but I hope Jordan shows up at the end and dunks on James to win the game for the opposing team. James will then be stuck dodging anvils and hidden dynamite for all of eternity. MWWAHAHAHAHA!

•   Something to keep an eye on …

written by

Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.

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