From "title contenders" to complete disaster. We discuss why the Chicago Bulls failed so miserably. Follow Nonstop Instagram: nonstop TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@nonstop Twitter: nonstop Imagery supplied by Getty Images
Poor Demar Derozan. From being tortured every year by Lebron To getting jetsoned for someone that led their team to the finals and give Toronto their first chip, and that player ended up dipping on the Raptors. Being stuck in the shadow realm (San Antonio from 2018-2021) and when he finally got in a contending situation it went up in smoke in a year. I just want Deebo to win a chip.
Honestly I think the biggest issue for the Bulls was the injury of Lonzo Ball. The backcourt of Lonzo and Caruso was one of, if not the, best defensive backcourt in the NBA. Pair that with the fact that, among the starters, almost none of them have real playmaking skills, certainly not comparable to Lonzo. Lonzo made sure everybody got their touches, and with a team of Demar and Levine, who naturally play a more isocentric style of offense, having to ability to make mismatches before they even get the ball, or to be a threat from three if the defense gives too much attention to your two primary scorers, things naturally just flowed so much better. Lonzo, much like CP3 in LA, was able to make the most of his otherwise underwhelming center, but following his sidelining from injury the entire team as a whole declined in EVERY aspect. Offense became stagnant, defense became lackluster and shooting regressed heavily. It also seemed like there were more lockeroom issues as a result, more reports of trading players or blowing the team up instead of rebounding to push back next year.
Lonzo's injury hurt the team the most. When Lonzo was playing, the Bulls went 22-13. Before the injury, the Bulls were 27-12, projected to go 57-25, which would have given them the number 1 seed in the Eastern conference.
@nash yvan It's not so much that they have a bad supporting cast, but without Ball, they didn't really have anybody who was a natural distributor like Ball. Beverly brought that back to an extent, but it wasn't enough. They had a ton of role-players and iso scorers, but who is getting them the ball?
Dont underestimate the loss of Lonzo Ball. Great record, switchable defenders. Lonzo was fuel that made the team good. Hopefully he'll be able to hoop again.
Lonzo won't suddenly stop being one of the most naturally talented players in the league because of the injuries, but he will see a great reduction in what he can actually accomplish individually on that court. If, by some miracle, he returns looking as good as he did for those first 35 games, the Bulls have a chance at being relevant, but the chances of being that guy after getting what is basically a knee replacement is next to impossible.
2018 draft pissed me all the way the f**k off as a Bulls fan. We passed on Mikal Bridges, MPJ, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a dude that's not on the team anymore All after trading Jimmy Butler Thanks GarPax
The Team rushed Lonzo ball, and the team has just been even worse since Lonzo Ball got injured… they could really use Defense, Shooting and a Playmaker, Lonzo brings all of that to the team.
Being someone who is from the Charlotte Metro area, I always do a little side eye when I hear people worrying about their team becoming one of the worst in the league.
As one of many Bulls fans, I don't know whatever basketball gods the team ticked off after 1998, or if someone put a hex on the franchise since then, but whatever it is, it's been nothing but one disaster/horror story after another, having struggled these last 25 years. Even when they try to get back to respectability and title contention, something always gets in the way and turns everything upside down, and we're back at square one. It hurts. We can never have nice things. I sure hope we can get better again someday. 😥 The fans deserve a heck of a lot better than what we're seeing/going through now. 😥
Whilst the plan failed, the part that hurts most is losing Lonzo. His cheap contract and young age meant we could've held onto him even after Demar and Vooch, and his there isn't one team who wouldn't want someone so selfless. Hope he can get back but recent reports aren't encouraging.
This team looked great, I remember in the beginning of 2021-22 season of how well they played and they look like they were gonna go in a deep playoff run, but injuries hurled them and Zo being out hunted as well and it crashed badly and they are in a bad spot.
The bulls are the definition of mid. It sucks, because before Lonzo’s injury, they may not have been among the best teams in the league, but they were very exciting to watch. I really hope Lonzo can get back on the court eventually, whether for the bulls or another team, because he has so much talent that he hasn’t been able to use.
All I know is that if Lonzo was never injured, this bull’s team would look, feel, and play different. Crazy how a good or great point guard or offensive orchestrator can affect the whole offense.
As a chicago fan when we picked up all those guys me and everybody else was hyped we were the number one seed for some time then after lonzo got injured everything went down hill if he was healthy and are main guys stayed healthy majority of the time we could’ve made it to atleast the second round with a slim chance of being in the finals i still got hope for this team ik we gonna bounce back
bro they WERE 1st seed half the season healthy they get no credit they sweeped miami this season series and bulls injured they shoulda won play in vs heat but check the ft’s
demar was benched in the 4th in an elimination game vs lebron. dwane casey was also fired right after. toronto ends up winning it all with a kawhi rental lol. demar is literally fred mcgriff 2
it is simply painful to see a team as exciting as this one without any top5 superstar being put together. i just hope for the best for each of them and that we can witness them for a whole season
Tbh, the GM really did a great job constructing the team compare to GarPax. They are number 1 before injuries infested their locker room. Anybody cant control that so I cant blame him.
Yeah, we're the definition of "mid", which is the worst place to be in the NBA. I just wish we could have seen a full year or two of the complete lineup with a healthy Lonzo Ball. He really provided the perimeter defense and 3 point shooting that we needed. We just lacked more rim protection and rebounding. I think the ceiling for that lineup could have been a conference finals appearance. Let's see what AKME do this off-season to retool this roster.
Definitely was rooting for them, but it truly goes to show you that Lonzo really made a difference. When he went down, it’s like that team fell down as well. He’s not the best player on the team, but he to me was the most important player on that team because he was your main facilitator. And when he went down, the Bulls went down. Miss watching him play. I wish Debo was in a better spot to win a ring🙏🏾
Debo plays for the most famous sports franchise on planet earth. He makes more money in endorsements & sponsorships than he would anywhere else. He is happy.
The biggest disaster was rushing Lonzo Ball into surgery when he already had a bone bruise. How does a small meniscus tear surgery turn into a career ending injury when the doctor had a timeline of a 6 weeks recovery unless the surgery was botched. Having the surgery on top of a bone bruise resulted in nerve damage. That is the biggest disaster to date and the big elephant in the room that no one is talking about. This is not a Brandon Roy situation. This is a bad surgery. Both Brandon Roy's knees deteriorate from bones rubbing together and it was diagnosed as such. For Lonzo, doctors said his knee was structurally sound. So how do you go from this to end of career?
This could go for any team in any draft. But when you're a lottery team, you go for the next franchiser. That's why this Chicago Bulls big 3 is cultureless. How can two players on the SAME team average 25? Hopefully they find a good Point Guard since losing their pick
At the start of the season the bulls were going hard, Lonzo was fitting right in with them, then after he got hurt its like they just fell off completely.
It's sad that Lonzo went out the way he did. They were a great team with his playmaking and defense and this is coming from a Suns fan. Hate to see a team suffer so much because a player gets a freak injury which sidelines him potentially forever.
Interesting! I’m just couple months intro watching nba so these vids about teams help a lot go find out what’s going on in the leaguers I’ve just watched about 76 and not Chicago. Gonna explore more
I honestly thought this Bulls team would be a great team. They had everything in place and had a good balance of talent and depth. But everything that went wrong did go wrong.
It all would have been different if Ball stayed healthy imo. Like the video said, I hope the Bulls recognize how much things improved with Beverley. In other words.... we need a solid PG or this offense really doesnt work.
It's still Hurts so much it's all Thanks to General Managers of the Chicago Bulls it Could have Drafted some Great Players however it Passed the Draft.
Poor Chicago Bulls, I feel they been rebuilding since the Last Dance, they’ve been snake bitten by expectations and injuries since the Last Dance, they have so many different front office staff and head coaching changes since the Last Dance, and it’s been almost 30 years since the Last Dance and I don’t think the Bulls are going to win anything until Jerry Reinsdorf dies, but his family will take over, or if they sell the team after his death, until then, the Chicago Bulls can only remember the dynasty days of the 1990s
as a bulls fan these trades are awsome i think we very much supassed expectations we wernt ever expected to be a championship contender, getting lonzo was the best thing that could happen very young up coming player then the vet allstar with demar no team rebuilds an entire team and wins in their frist season people need some perspective for how teams work, you NEED TEAM CHEMISTRY to win look at golden state warriors, this years Denver Nuggest look at the three peat lakers no one has ever won with out team chemestry which builds up over 3-4 years
at 9:49 you were talking about how even with lonzo playing we weren’t that good. we were the 1 seed in the east and were on pace to probably make the conference finals. you then said even when he was healthy all we could do was win a playoff game against the bucks. even though he wasn’t even playing.
bulls fan here... I really thought we had it. We were the number one seed in the east for a time in the 2021 season, then ball went down. Obviously we didnt understand how bad the injury was at the time so I thought we still had it, we fell off bad. Finshed with the 6 seed, I kinda knew we werent beating the bucks, but then going into the 2022-23 season I thought we were going to be the team that it finally happened
As a Bulls fan I can't expect much from them maybe in a few years from now they will get better. Reinsdorf is cheap and the Bulls need a new owner if only Lonzo Ball didn't get hurt the Bulls wouldn't have been so bad and might have made the playoffs
Enjoy much of your vid but disagree with it's ultimate conclusion. This version of the Bulls are not finished yet. No one expected the Bulls to be contenders. You don't bring in guys like 'Zo, AC, and Debo and expect that. The team just needed to get out of the gutter. And it did. The team needs to make a few moves for next season and take care of the Lonzo issue...but the Bulls were a better team last season...especially at the end...then the season before. They were perfectly capable of beating the Raptors and no shame losing to the Heat. You say "the Bulls ran out of talent" and lost. Well I guess the Bucks and Knicks did the same? We'll see about the Celtics. The Bulls can be a GOOD team over the next couple of seasons and beyond if theY play chess a little and have no chance of being "the worst team in the NBA." Also you're wrong about them having no first round picks the next three seasons. It's the next two seasons. But they may get 'em back depending on team circumstance and position. And beginning in 2026 they have five first round AND five second round picks in a row over the next five seasons. And as you say they could trade for more. So no...this Bulls team and organization is not a "disaster." In fact expectations have been exceeded if we go according to what most were saying right after bringing in 'Zo, Debo, and AC. The Bulls are in fact just getting started and will compete well soon enough.
the bulls will suprise everyone this season, i'm not saying they will be contenders but 5-6 seed for sure, torrey craig and jevon carter are the free agent additions the bulls needed, if the bulls make changes to the offence to address the lack of 3s attempted and maintain a top 5 defense, while finding a spot to plug these young guys into i honestly see them having a good season.
It sucks to me mostly bc I do believe they’ll be a better team if they had Lonzo ball it’s kinda hard cause u look at it now and he might not play another game again
Let's be logical about this. Over the last 8 to 9 seasons, everyone has been chasing the Warriors. I can't say this enough, if you want to win follow the Warriors blue prints, don't chase them with what you think is the winning combo because let's be honest, the Warriors cracked the code of this era of play. I mean this 2023 playoffs they almost got screwed by the refs against the Queens but the refs finished off the Warriors when they played the Lakers. Not every combo will unlock the lock but it gets you closer. 👍
as a die hard bulls fan all this happened thx to "GarPax" after D. Rose got hurt and they traded Butler things started going spiral downhill asap plus the bulls had a chance of beating the heat in the play in tournament they were up and drummond was doing his thing on defense until the coach changed the rotation!!!!!
3:07 this is a totally unfair point. He didn’t become most improved and an all star until season. He was stagnant after being traded to Cleveland. There’s no such thing as “2nd rate all star” and the benchmark for good trades never was “top 10 player in the league”. Those were very very good trades up to that point. They had a 15 win turnaround different in that single season. What more do you want them to do or him to do in his first major trading period?
Bro watching this hurts as a bulls fan. Till zo pat an AC got hurt we was 1st. It’s time to do a full rebuild like we should’ve dne trade zach to Portland for the 3rd an Debo to mavs for the 10th pick
Honestly, I don't see why NBA GMs keep going all-in and trading so much to win right now. When was the last time this actually worked? When the Celtics got Garnett and Allen? Honestly can't remember it working since then. Maybe Toronto, if you want to count the Kahwi trade, but I don't think that was really the same thing. The all-in trade strategy just seems to blow up almost every time it's tried.
I blame Donovan. A healthy Lonzo, Caruso and a new head coach would put them in the East's top 4 easily. Even without Lonzo in the backcourt, Pat Bev and Caruso should be enough to at least make the playoffs with a competent coaching staff
I think you were kind unfair with Zach in certain points of the video. After Vucevic come, he lose many games for COVID protocols. In 2021-22, he get injured at the same game as Lonzo and played half season with a bad knee. Started 22-23 coming off a surgery, that was why he started slowly and get better after.
Well, we all know the truth. Zach is not the guy to build a team around. He is maybe a good third-second option but how are supper rosters build Zach is supposedly Bulls' Lebron, Steph, Jayson, Giannis, Jimmy... you got the point. Just no GM in this supper hyped media times would dare to admit it without infuriating casual fan base.
Lonzo's injury hurt the team the most. When Lonzo was playing, the Bulls went 22-13. Before the injury, the Bulls were 27-12, projected to go 57-25, which would have given them the number 1 seed in the Eastern conference. That's why they should hold off on launching a tactical nuke at their roster. At least until the trade deadline, if the team isn't competing for a postseason appearance, then they should blow it up.
we should of won both games 1 and 2. first game, it was an over the back on the paw(patrick williams) even tho it was on giannis. then we won game 2. we could of won game 3 but we just sucked
They are bad, but certainly not worst. I mean, even if the Spurs pick Wemby, they are certainly not playoff bound. They are NBA B Team at most. And I am a Spurs fan. Every team now is in the “ring culture”. All wants to win now, no one has patience to develop talent and chemistry.
From when derozen, lavine and vucevic trio is considered championship material? I am suprised. I see them as what Charles Barkley called studio warriors - empty stats on weak or mediocre teams.
I mean.. yeah but now that this "Big 3" has played a few seasons together and if Lonzo Ball plays a full healthy season W/ Pat Williams having a breakout year.. signed Torrey Craig and a solid defender (Jevon Carter), Dalen Terry will get more time, and maybe Julian Phillips too, they do got some youth. Along with old Drummond and Caruso too, that's not terrible, and if they're like 7th or 8th in the East at mid season, wouldn't be surprised if they make a trade to go all in, cause yeah future is probably not so bright, so why not?
