Playoffs or bust?
Is that the sturm and drang, the uncertainty and the unforeseen injustices the Bulls now are smack against to define this first era for the Bulls and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas and his staff? And whether it can or should continue?
Move up or move on?
This Bulls team led by what the Bulls hoped would be a bit bigger of a three of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević is heading into its third season with that group together with one playoff game win to show for it. There have been exhilarating highs like the league best record during the first part of the 2021-22 season. And then the cascading lows ending in falling short of the playoffs last season and star point guard Lonzo Ball being declared out for this season. Though, hopefully, not the rest of his Bulls career.
So is this season now their crossroads, the junction of their hopes and fears where they seek ingenuity while avoiding indignation? Vučević playing this summer with his national team told a reporter, “We know we (Bulls) can do better, and we have to do better. We know it’s kind of our last chance as this core of guys to do something.”
Then, on Monday, when the Bulls gathered for the annual preseason Media Day interviews and an exodus to Nashville, Tennessee for a week of practices, LaVine admitted, “For how it’s supposed to be, it hasn’t been shown as a unit. So we have to do a better job of that.
“It’s been three years of it,” LaVine agreed. "It’s time to put pen to paper and see some results. Have a new vibe going into the season and get things going... it’s pretty much step on the gas and go.”
To the playoffs? To a bustup?
The signs point in many directions.
The Bulls this summer signed Vučević, who will be 33 later this month, to a three-year contract extension. Karnišovas, on Monday, said contract extension talks with DeRozan, who is in the final season of his Bulls contract after turning 34 in August, “are ongoing. The one thing I’m going to say is we love DeMar. The last two years have been unbelievable for us. Two-time All-Star, second team all-NBA. He loves Chicago. Chicago loves him back. I’m very excited for DeMar.”
So as Eastern Conference teams like the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics seemingly lubricated their playoff machines with fanciful acquisitions like Damian Lillard in Milwaukee and Jrue Holiday in Boston, the Bulls mostly stayed the course.
DeRozan insists he can’t be happier.
“I love it, I love it,” DeRozan said Monday when asked about the league’s star turns. “The competition level should want to bring the best out of you and want you to compete against that. That’s how I look at it. That’s one thing I express to the guys: When you see that, you gotta get more hungry understanding you want to go against those big teams like that and compete. You want to be ready, you want to try and put all the effort you need to be ready for those moments because that should bring the best out of you every single night. I’m looking forward to it, it’s exciting, it’s fun. I love it from a competitive standpoint and from a fan standpoint.”
Karnišovas, too, believes it’s the proper direction.
Though the more difficult questions and decisions will come if the destination is not reached.
“I think for this group we want to get in the playoffs,” Karnišovas told reporters Monday. “Example last year that once you get in the playoffs, there’s an opportunity for a lot of teams (like eighth seeded Miami going to the Finals). It goes into matchups (and) if you’re healthy. There’s a lot of factors once you get in the playoffs. That would be my view for this team. Right now, the comments about us, a lot of people are not expecting us to be anywhere (in serious contention). I compare it to two years ago. The expectations are pretty much the same (and the Bulls were in first place until the injuries to Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso). I have faith in this group and Billy (Donovan) that we are going to be a good team. Going into this training camp, I’m looking forward to seeing it on the floor.”
That begins in Nashville Tuesday where the Bulls are heading for a rare preseason. It’s the farthest from Chicago the team ever has had training camp. Karnišovas sees it as a further way to elbow ahead of some competitors by, in a sense, piling onto the roster continuity. The more players know one another and are comfortable, it supposedly follows they can work more in sync.
“That continuity goes far,” endorsed DeRozan. “Sometimes you've got to fail as a group to understand what it takes to win as a group. Sometimes you gotta hit the wall hard with a group to understand we are all going to help one another back up. And for me, even going out to Nashville and just locking in (Tuesday), getting away from being in the city, where it's just us, really gaining that camaraderie, the chemistry, the understanding of what it takes, what we need to do by knowing how much we failed last year and the things that put us in a place that, you know, we have to play for a play-in game. We’ve got to go into training camp with that on our heart and we can leave out of there with much more continuity than we had before. That's the one thing that always put me in a position to have success with a team was that continuity.”
That would be getting on the same page instead of time to turn the page.
“I’m optimistic about this group, I believe in this group, I believe in Billy improving certain things,” Karnišovas added. “We had goals last year focused on improving our record against good teams and improving our defense. We accomplished that. We were pretty good against the top teams and we were top five in defense. The things we didn’t like was how many games we lost close, and we finished 24th in offense. We took a step back on offense and it was actually the details. We scored more points than the year prior, but we were still 24th because everybody else made adjustments. It’s about adjusting from the past year and getting some improvement.
“So this year we’re looking to play faster,” said Karnišovas. “We’re going to try and move the ball better, change our shooting profile (with more threes). Then last but not least, we’re looking to improve our team cohesion. I think the group that we have, we’re going pretty confident into training camp. I’m looking forward to seeing them on the floor and what they did this summer. I saw those guys work extremely hard the whole summer. Zach, DeMar, Vooch, those guys, we know exactly what they bring. I’m looking forward to seeing our young guys improve and take a step forward.’’
And maybe this time it’s their story.
“Everybody's 0-0 (now),” DeRozan pointed out. “Every single year these last couple of years... you know, nobody would've picked the Heat to make it to the Finals. It's always some type of story that's written that nobody had expected. That's the beauty of the game that anything can happen.
“Because,” DeRozan reminded, "the third time is a charm.”
We’ll see if it’s the lucky one.
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