NEWSLETTER
As free agency looms, the Chicago Bulls have found themselves in an all-too-familiar position.
The franchise is in desperate need of finding a starting point guard. While Lonzo Ball was inked to a four-year, $80 million deal ahead of the 2021-22 season, he is now on his way to going down in Bulls history for all the wrong reasons.
He appeared in just 35 games during his first year in Chicago before suffering a meniscus tear. What was supposed to be a minor surgery that would see him return in six-to-eight weeks turned into a potentially career-ending injury. He still has yet to return to the floor after playing his last game on Jan. 14, 2022. Even worse, he found out a couple of months back that third surgery would be in store. And it’s one that could force him to miss the entirety of the 2022-23 regular season.
In fact, one of the latest reports said that the Bulls might already believe the Ball’s career is over.
All things considered, it’s absolutely astonishing how long this franchise has gone without a stable option at lead guard. Things have been completely in flux since Derrick Rose suffered his first major knee injury, so much so that I just had to look back at exactly how bad it’s been.
Below is a list of games played for the expected starting point guard heading into each season since Rose tore his ACL during the 2011-12 campaign.
Heads up: For 2019-20, I couldn’t really decide who we expected to be the real starting point guard. It was basically a platoon between both White and Satoransky, which is why I just listed both.
– 2011-12 – Derrick Rose (39 games played)
– 2012-13 – Kirk Hinrich (60)
– 2013-14 – Derrick Rose (10)
– 2014-15 – Derrick Rose (51)
– 2015-16 – Derrick Rose (66)
– 2016-17 – Rajon Rondo (69)
– 2017-18 – Kris Dunn (52)
– 2018-19 – Kris Dunn (46)
– 2019-20 – Kris Dunn (51)
– 2020-21 – Coby White (69), Tomas Satoransky (58)
– 2021-22 – Lonzo Ball (35)
– 2022-23 – Ayo Dosunmu (80)
WOOF.
The last time the Bulls’ “preferred” starting point guard played over 70 games came this last season. And, technically, only 18 of Dosunmu’s 80 games came in the starting lineup. Head coach Billy Donovan went forward with a platoon of sorts until the organization signed Patrick Beverley mid-way through the year.
So, yeah, the last time we really saw a point guard hold down the fort was Rondo during the Three Alphas Era in 2016-17. But we also all know (1) how rocky that season was and (2) how he ultimately got injured when it mattered most in the postseason. After that, came the always-injured Kris Dunn and a Satoransky experiment that fell flat. I know … what a mess!
This only hurts more when we consider how important guard play has become in recent years. As the NBA has shifted in favor of elite perimeter players and shooters, the Bulls have failed repeatedly to find an answer at one of the most important positions in the game. And they don’t look any closer to finding that answer right now with minimal future flexibility.
