Things May Get Worse for Bulls Before They Get Better

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

The search for surprises this year is a little tougher than usual.

Usually, the first couple weeks of the season are rife with eyebrow-raisers, as the standings often seem turned upside down until the 82-game season weeds out some of the flukes and the schedules even out. On more rare occasions, they stay turned upside down all season, as in the Nets’ miraculous run to the Finals in 2002.

But this year, we haven’t had nearly the same level of upheaval. Particularly in the West, things seem to be going almost exactly to form, as the Mavs, Rockets, Spurs, Suns, and Jazz are a combined 26–8 and no contender of note is at or below .500. Even the upstart Clippers, whom I wrote about Monday after they won their first four games, promptly dropped their last two in fairly convincing fashion to fall back to the pack.

In the East, the usual suspects are near the top as well. Detroit, Boston, and Orlando are cruising along with division leads, while Cleveland just won three of four on a West Coast swing. Those clubs figure to be a step ahead of the rest of the conference all season, and could easily form the quartet that makes up the conference semifinalists.

And then there are the Bulls.

Chicago apparently didn’t get the memo about things going to form in the early going, because nobody comes close to them in terms of early-season disappointments. Through Sunday’s game, Chicago was tied for the worst record in the East at 1–5.

Moreover, it’s an ugly 1–5. Chicago has already lost three times at home, including Saturday’s hideous 101–71 defeat at the hands of Toronto. Three of the five losses came to teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year and aren’t expected to this year — the Clippers, Bucks, and 76ers.

Chicago fans will bring up the fact that the team has had rough starts the past couple seasons, including a 3–8 start a year ago that ended with a 49-win season and a trip to the second round of the playoffs. But the win-loss record belies how different those two starts were. A year ago, Chicago won its opener by 42 points and had a positive point differential even as its win-loss record was well below .500 — a strong indicator that the Bulls were much better than their record indicated and were likely to turn things around.

This year, the indicators point in the opposite direction. Chicago has been outscored by 58 points in its first six games, despite playing four of them at home and going against relatively weak opposition. When you factor in schedule and point differential, they have arguably been the league’s worst team during the first two weeks of the season.

And it doesn’t get any better from here. Chicago embarks on a six-game road trip on Thursday that begins with Phoenix and includes the two L.A. teams, Denver, Toronto, and the Knicks. By the time they come home, they could easily be 2–10.

So what’s the problem here? The Bulls won 49 games and had the point differential of a 57-win team a year ago, and they brought back all the same players. Most of them are young, too, and should still be improving. With such positive indicators, one analyst who shall remain nameless predicted that they’d win the Eastern Conference (I won’t name names, except to say that his name rhymes with “Flollinger”).

It hasn’t worked out that way. One big problem many have pointed out is the lackluster play of center Ben Wallace, who has looked like a shadow of his former self in the early going while plagued by a sore left ankle. While he was never an offensive juggernaut, his rebounding and defensive performance has also been poor in the early going. Big Ben is pulling down only 7. 3 rebounds per 40 minutes, barely half of what he did a year ago, and he’s blocked only seven shots all season.

However, what’s going on with Wallace is really a secondary story. Wallace is primarily a defensive player, and Chicago’s biggest failing has been at the other end. Through six games, the Bulls were last in the NBA in Offensive Efficiency, my measure of a team’s points scored per 100 possessions. Without a great improvement in that number, it will be hard for them to contend regardless of what Wallace does at the other end.

This has been the confounding part, because Chicago’s trio of young perimeter stars has been the major problem. Kirk Hinrich is shooting 31.3% and averaging only 9.3 points per game; worse yet, he kept the same barber. Shooting ace Ben Gordon has been nearly as bad at 35.4%, including 31.4% on 3-pointers. And Luol Deng, who emerged as the team’s best player a year ago, has only managed modest averages of 14 points and 44.4% shooting.

One hypothesis is that these troubles have a psychological component. Rumors about a trade for Kobe Bryant have been relatively constant for the past couple months, and if such a deal came to pass, at least two of these three players would almost certainly be packing for L.A. Perhaps the thought of relocating out west has been a distraction.

Failed discussions on a contract extension for Gordon and Deng couldn’t have helped either. Each now enters next summer as a restricted free agent playing for a new contract, and it’s possible both have been pressing as a result.

Whatever the cause, it’s difficult to imagine all three of these players playing so far below their trend line all season. Each is in his early 20s and none has an injury of note, so it would be relatively unprecedented if Chicago’s perimeter trio all went in the tank at the same time.

But there’s still plenty of room for bad news here. Even if the Bulls’ slumping stars regain their footing, it’s still a bit of a disappointment — the hope was that they’d continue developing and exceed last year’s performance, not struggle to equal it. That’s even more imperative now that the 33-year-old Wallace appears to be in decline, and shortening the Bulls’ championship window as he does so.

However, perhaps the greatest ramifications of Chicago’s slow start could be felt back out West. Bulls GM John Paxson has a reputation for being careful and not diving into moves even when they seem helpful — such as last year’s decision to pass on a trade for Pau Gasol.

That’s easy to do when the team is winning and improving, but what now? If Chicago’s struggles continue, one wonders if he might pursue a move for Bryant a bit more fervently. If so, it would be a bitter irony for the perimeter trio: The early-season funk the Baby Bulls hit as a result of the trade rumors would have the unintended consequence of making the deal come to fruition.

jhollinger@nysun.com


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use