2019-20 Finish: 63-19

 

Season Highlight:

Where to start with Chicago? Oh yeah, right at the top. They sat on the top of the East the entire season and 63 wins is huge! Anthony Davis is a the king of kings, despite Lebron still running around the Bulls rode him all the way. That’s not to say they aren’t talented otherwise though. DRuss, Eric Gordon, LouWill, Julius Randle and 2k guys like JaVale McGee, they are simply an elite outfit and this was all with John Wall waving a towel (studded in $100 bills) from the side lines, waiting for the coming season where he can don the red and add to the legacy.

 

Season Lowlight:

It’s really hard to pick a low light for such a dominant team, but the obvious one was getting swept in the Finals. To have been so dominant, all year, star studded, primed, only to not even win a single game. Had they lost (to the actually superior) Portland Trailblazers in 6 or 7, maybe this doesn’t even make the low light category other than the fact they lost, because they did justice to themselves. A sweep though makes it all feel lost.

 

Best Trade:

Bulls send: Kyle Kuzma, Reggie Jackson, Dragan Bender, Theo Pinson, 2020 1^st (Pick 29), 2022 1^st and 2024 2^nd
Bulls get: D’Angelo Russell

This is probably the deal that set them up to be the…well…2^nd best. Sure, Kuzma is a 2k guy but he was well coverable on this team and they didn’t really give up much of anything else to gain the big upgrade at the point.

 

Worst Trade:

You know what…I can’t really peg a trade they did as bad…Go look…

Bulls send:
Bulls get:

 

Other Notable Trades:

Bulls send: 2x 2^nd round picks
Bulls get: Ky Bowman

Simple and effective. Bowman looked rock solid.

 

Bulls send: 2x 2^nd round picks
Bulls get: KZ Okpala

And again. Okpala seems to have a future.

 

Bulls send: Udonis Haslem
Bulls get: Jahlil Okafor

Seems like a no-brainer…maybe more to it? Maybe a part of the Russell trade.

 

Bulls send: Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell
Bulls get: Bradley Beal and Cody Zeller

With Wall back, this makes 120% sense and was the type of move they were pushing all round the league. Beal just a better fit with Wall than Russell.

 

Bulls send: Chris Boucher, KZ Okpala and Malik Monk (and 2024 1^st?)
Bulls get: Cedi Osman and Nemanja Bjelica (and Nic Claxton?)

Upgrade upgrade…upgrade

 

Free Agency:

The Bulls have the prize of free agency, but he’s not going anywhere. Anthony Davis will have a 50 head start, likely, and the roster/record to back it up.

Anthony Davis – UFA, but desires to be resigned most likely.

Jahlil Okafor – UFA, might be gone.

Ky Bowman – RFA, so he’ll be back if wanted.

Jordan McRae – UFA, no deal yet either so might be the last we see of McRae in Chicago.

Henry Ellenson – UFA, likely wasn’t required anyway.

 

Star:

Anthony Davis

Davis, who else? The man averaged 30 points, nearly 14 rebounds, over 4 assists, 2.7 steals, 2.1 blocks and had shooting splits of 64/37/94 with only a tad over 2 turnovers a game. He suited up for 74 games too this year and the Bulls went where ever Davis carried them. It wasn’t for lack of trying in the Finals either, where he averaged 38 points.

 

Goat:

Who can you label as a fail on this roster? Everyone seemed to do about what was needed and did it all together. Maybe it comes down to, in the end, their team defence not quite being up to scratch down the stretch in the Finals. Sure, there’s Davis, but who else was considered to be a defensive type of guy there?

 

Draft Grades:

No Picks

 

The Future:

The Bulls went out and got Beal, and have John Wall returning. Yep, they get BETTER. That’s the immediate future. Past that? They actually have a few nice younger pieces meshed in with the others and they’re going to be a likely favourite for the title next year. Can you imagine the line up below, with the addition of Hassan Whiteside at the C? The threat is real.

C: JaVale McGee / Cody Zeller / Nicolas Claxton
PF: Anthony Davis / Nemanja Bjelica
SF: Cedi Osman / Eric Gordon / Miye Oni
SG: Bradley Beal / Louis Williams
PG: John Wall / Ky Bowman