Who’s the point guard? Will DeMar DeRozan get extended? 4 questions the Chicago Bulls need to answer in the 2023-24 season.
The Chicago Bulls head to training camp in a week, which means the NBA season is just around the corner for a roster that has remained relatively untouched in the offseason.
Ahead of media day and the team’s trip to Nashville for preseason camp, here are four questions the Bulls need to answer in the 2023-24 season.
1. Who is the point guard?
First things first, the Bulls need to figure out who’s running the offense.
This has been the prevailing question since Lonzo Ball’s injury in January 2022. The Bulls have rotated through a series of less-than-ideal options: Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, Coby White. Each of these players has been treated as a stopgap, but that can’t be the status quo for a third consecutive season.
White grew as a playmaker last year, but the Bulls never entrusted him with the starting role, which often fell to Caruso. But Caruso’s minutes have always been restricted by the effort required for his defensive rigor and his proclivity toward injuries, which kept him from consistently starting. And despite momentarily shining as a point guard replacement in his rookie season, Dosunmu fell out of the starting rotation fairly early in the 2022-23 season.
The Bulls could pick one of these three players to take over permanently this season. They could also look to newly acquired guard Jevon Carter, who previously provided consistency in a secondary rotation role for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Although it’s always ideal to define roles by opening day, the Bulls have plenty of time to work out the point guard position — even if that means making another midseason change — but answering this question is a key step in building the identity of the Bulls offense.
2. Will the Bulls give DeMar DeRozan an extension?
DeMar DeRozan enters the last season of his three-year, $82 million contract this fall, which will force the Bulls to determine whether they want to commit to a long-term future with the star forward. DeRozan is eligible for a four-year extension which could tally approximately $179 million, a pricey commitment for the Bulls to consider.
DeRozan has been named an All-Star in both of his seasons in Chicago. His numbers speak for themselves, averaging 26.2 points, five assists and 4.9 rebounds per game over the past two seasons. And it’s clear what the Bulls get off the court from DeRozan as well — a well-respected professional who welcomes young players into his home for offseason training sessions and uses his wealth of experience to center the locker room culture.
The Bulls have remained committed to DeRozan even when the team as a whole underperformed in the last two seasons, but a four-year extension is the type of decision that will shape the future of the franchise as a whole. This decision isn’t just the most important for this season — it could be one of the most important calls the front office makes for the short-term future of the Bulls.
3. Is Zach LaVine ready for the next step?
If it feels like we’ve been asking this question for years — well, we have.
In the second year of his maximum contract, Zach LaVine will be the star and the key to the Bulls success this season. But will he be able to propel the Bulls back into playoff contention?
There are good players and great players. LaVine is clearly a top scorer and playmaker and his form at the end of last season showed flashes of who he can become as he transitions into a league veteran. But last season also ended on a disappointing note for LaVine, who scored only 15 points and faded out of sight in the final minutes of a play-in loss to the Miami Heat.
That’s just one game. And this year, LaVine gets another crack at it — once again as the centerpiece star, this time with a slightly improved backup on the roster. How he responds to those moments will determine where he falls in the “good or great” categorization.
4. If things don’t work, will the front office make a change?
Over the past two seasons, it’s been difficult to determine how the Bulls front office defines success.
In 2021-22, it was clear that a playoff berth at least somewhat softened the blow of an otherwise frustrating season. But last season was a clear regression, with the Bulls mired in play-in contention — rather than real playoff competition — for most of the season.
Despite this clear dissatisfaction, the Bulls have barely touched their roster over the past two seasons. They made a handful of midlevel acquisitions this offseason, most notably Carter and Torrey Craig. But the front office has not been quick to pull the plug and reset the roster, even when things aren’t working.
Will this be the season that something changes? If the Bulls aren’t successful ahead of the trade deadline in February, it’s hard to see how the front office could rationalize inaction for a second straight year.
But first, there are four months of basketball to play before the front office faces that decision — starting with the first preseason game on Oct. 8.
