After two decades of a rebuilding of the board, the coaching staff and the players, which seemed to have no end, the Chicago Bulls They seem to put the puzzle pieces in place. After four seasons with negative records and outside the playoffs, the Illinois roster shines as the leader of the Eastern Conference of the NBA (24-10) as the middle of the regular season approaches.
Before the game against the Orlando Magic, the BullsGuided by DeMar DeRozan’s clutch baskets, they had spun seven victories to take first place in the Eastern Conference. DeRozan is the NBA’s leader in scoring in the fourth quarter and in early December he was named the conference player of the week, a period in which he averaged 30.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and four assists. Since Jimmy Butler in April 2017, no other player in the Bulls he had achieved this distinction.
The acquisition of the bodyguard was one of the strategic moves of the Bulls prior to the start of this season, in which they finally capitalize with results the reform that began in 2017 with the exchange on draft night of Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the rights of Lauri Markkanen, considered the catalyst for the Bulls’ current rebuild.
The Orlando Magic traded All-Star Nikola Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu in March 2021 in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and two first-round picks in 2021 and 2023 to the Magic. And in August they acquired Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan, the board took advantage of the players who were undervalued by their franchises or who they did not need in their change of direction, and they brought out the best in each.
Lonzo Ball is the minute leader with high defensive input and IQ that connects the offensive apparatus. Caruso reinforced a weakness the Bulls had carried last season (attack point defense) and added athleticism and intangibles that go beyond points. DeRozan He had even been listed as one of the worst acquisitions of the offseason, however, he has covered the team’s weaknesses in turnovers, lack of free throws and has contributed to LaVine becoming a better player; the shooting guard has found his best version again and has proven to be surprisingly productive in the first half of the season.
But its restructuring does not happen only by the players. In 2020 they added Arturas Karnisovas, a former Lithuanian player who served as general manager of the Denver Nuggets, as executive vice president of basketball operations, whose initial three hires were general manager Marc Eversley, vice president of player personnel Pat Connelly and the assistant general manager JJ Polk, with the speech that rebuilding was over to start a shakeup.
The organization also added Billy Donovan as the team’s head coach, who had previously led the Oklahoma City Thunder to five consecutive postseason runs.
Since 1998, Bulls They have played 22 seasons and only reached the playoffs in 11, although that moment was slow in coming because in four consecutive years they were the last place in the NBA, from 1998 to 2002. They went from winning a three-time championship to being the worst team in the league by four seasons.
Between 2011 and 2012 they lived their best years without Michael Jordan, they were leaders in the East with 62 and 50 victories respectively, however in no season they could take the title. In 2011 they reached the Conference Final, but lost to the Miami Heat and since then they have not been that close.
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