For those hoping to see the Chicago Bulls keep their 2025 first-round pick, this week could be the first nail in the coffin. While they face an always-exhausting four games in six days, each of these games will come against teams that are currently .500 or worse. More specifically, three will come against teams who sit bottom three in their respective conferences.
Considering we’ve watched this team lose to the six-win Wizards and narrowly escape the eight-win Hornets, anything is possible. But they have a very real chance of going 4-0 this week and ending Sunday night with a 22-21 record.
Would that be impressive considering what we thought this team would like this season? Sure, and it would also reflect just how impactful players like Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic have been. However, it would still likely have them in the thick of the Play-In Tournament and change little to nothing about the overall trajectory of this organization.
The time is now to think ahead … but I’d be lying if I said I believe the Bulls will do that. A 4-0 week against a bunch of NBA bottom feeders is far more likely to convince this front office to stay the course than pursue change. We’ve seen them fall for it before.
- One of the many reasons I’d like to see this organization finally blow things up is so that Billy Donovan has no choice but to play Matas Buzelis. After a nice bump in playing time in the final weeks of 2024, Donovan has tightened the leash on the rookie yet again. The only game he’s played more than 15+ minutes of action in his last eight contests came in a 33-point blowout victory over the Washington Wizards. Sure, Donovan might point to his 41.7 percent shooting from the field over this span as a reason to keep him on the sideline. But he’s only playing 11.7 minutes per game! How do you expect him to get into a rhythm?
- Also, despite this minimal workload since Dec. 28, Buzelis is still averaging a block per game! He actually leads the team in blocks this season despite sitting 10th in total minutes played! Is that an indictment of how bad the rest of the Bulls are at protecting the rim? Absolutely, but that is just another reason why Buzelis should be playing even more! It’s not only that the Bulls should want him out there for developmental purposes, but Buzelis also does something that the team legitimately needs. The Bulls rank 23rd in defensive rating this season.
- We want to see more Buzelis slams, too! Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune shared a clip of the rookie throwing it down in practice on Monday. I love how freakin’ hard Buzelis tries to dunk everything. It doesn’t matter that he is scrimmaging in an empty gym, he is going to try to murder the rim.
- The Chicago Bulls will face the West’s worst team tonight. Sitting 8-32 on the season with a -9.4 net rating, the New Orleans Pelicans have been downright awful. They average only 107.4 points per game and hold a 50.4 effective field goal percentage, which ranks only ahead of the Charlotte Hornets. Defensively, they allow the second-most points in the paint per game and allow opponents to shoot upwards of 48.0 percent per game, which is second-highest in the league. This certainly bodes well for a Bulls team that has made offense their calling card and has one of the most electric scorers in the game right now, Zach LaVine.
- Having said that, we all know the Bulls have an annoying tendency to play down to their competition. The Pelicans have also played slightly better basketball as of late, beating the 76ers last week and losing to the Boston Celtics by only a single point. The return of Zion Williamson makes a significant difference, and the Bulls are not well-equipped to handle the athletic beast inside. Chicago still gives up the most points in the paint per game, and I suspect this could lead to Williamson having his best game yet.
- The Pelicans may not be a good team, but they have their fair share of talent. Whether it be CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, or Trey Murphy III, this team has the guards and wings to take advantage of this inconsistent Bulls defense. Particularly with Ayo Dosunmu still stuck on the sideline, I suspect one of the Pelicans guards to have a strong night.
- The former Bull has spoken!
- The Chicago Cubs have not yet had conversations with one of their best arms about an extension. Michael has some thoughts.
- Tab has had it with watching one of the Blackhawks’ key veterans stink it up.
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