The Bulls are a team in full rebuild mode, and have some recent draft picks that opened up in the starting five this season. We have a crowded front court, and the Bulls will likely move some minutes around at times this season. When healthy, Kris Dunn is the starting point guard, and will be alongside Zach LaVine. This is not a bad backcourt duo for the Bulls. They don’t have a ton of great depth behind them, so expect a fair amount of minutes to swing their way. Justin Holiday can play all over, but with the injuries and no small forward option, Holiday continues to line up at the three. With Lauri Markkanen returning from injury, he will regain his spot at power forward. Newly drafted Wendell Carter Jr will start at center. The rotations might be a bit heavy, but the Bulls will be wise to give the youth minutes.
The Bulls have committed themselves to a rebuild, and also sent a lot of money Zach LaVine’s way. He worked his way back from injury late in the year, pushing Justin Holiday out of the picture. Holiday can play the three as well, but with David Nwaba and Denzel Valentine being more official small forwards it will be hard for him to get into the high 20’s more minutes. Holiday will backup LaVine, but LaVine should be more steady for minutes with his health being back to 100%. LaVine is going to log a lot of the usage in Chicago with no real offensive threat in the backcourt. Kris Dunn will join him, and is a bit of a late bloomer in terms of production.
He got out of Minnesota and into some minutes. It would be dumb of Chicago to not play him 30+ minutes a night given the depth they have behind him. Cameron Payne is that depth, and it is hard to see him as a fantasy option given his just overall skills. If Dunn misses any sort of time this season, he will enter starter’s minutes. As mentioned earlier, Nwaba and Valentine both battled for this role, and every now and then Paul Zipser would get minutes. Chicago is not set on any of the three for the future, but Nwaba and Valentine are easily the most talented of the group and will float around 25 minutes a piece. Nwaba is a high energy guy who can contribute across the board, while Valentine has more of an offensive skillset. The Bulls drafted Lauri Markkanen last year, who is a big power forward who has the ability to shoot. Drawing comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki, Chicago has found a building block for the future. Bobby Portis continues to back him up, and after the Nikola Mirotic trade he established quality bench minutes. Robin Lopez and newly drafted Wendell Carter Jr. will likely split time at center.
