A new season for the Chicago Bulls has brought many of the same and a few new problems that the first five games of 2020-21 have made apparent.
While it’s often foolhardy to even begin filling out an NBA team’s death certificate before they’ve even played 10 games in a season (or anoint them championship contenders), the Chicago Bulls’ start to the 2020-21 campaign has somewhat evaporated much of the optimism surrounding the offseason changes in the front office and with the coaching staff.
They’re 2-4 to start the season, but don’t let that record give you the idea that this team has exhibited any semblance of competitive fervor. As things stand right now, only three other teams have a worse net rating than the Bulls, and only two rank lower in Basketball-Reference’s Simple Rating System (SRS), a single-number metric that factors in a team’s record, point differential, and strength of schedule.
If Chicago didn’t have two games against the Washington Wizards, who knows how much worse the discourse around them would be.
Of course, it hasn’t been all bad; there are still reasons for some hope with this team. That doesn’t mean we should expect them to mold into a solid playoff team, but it also shows that this year isn’t a lost cause, especially with so much basketball left to play. So, let’s look at some of the good and bad that we’ve seen from the Bulls so far.