Lonzo Ball played his last game for the Chicago Bulls on Jan. 14, 2022.
In other words, 749 days ago.
In other other words, over two years ago. So are the Chicago Bulls really still using that as an excuse?
The Athletic’s Shams Charania joined Waddle & Silvy on ESPN 1000 this week to talk about the Bulls’ deadline plans. During their conversation, Charania was asked about the expectations inside the Chicago organization and whether or not things like attendance have helped them set the bar low. Here was the meat of Charania’s response:
“The attendance I’m sure helps,” Charania said. “For the Bulls, I think it’s been trying to figure out how to compete without Lonzo. The Lonzo Ball injury clearly set this group back. Until Coby White has emerged this year, they did not find a backcourt partner for Zach LaVine the last two years since Lonzo Ball has been out. And I think that’s been a major detriment to the organization …
Just the fact that you haven’t been able to plug in the right holes at the right time. There is no doubt they put a lot into Lonzo Ball. Signed to an $80+ million, you give him the keys to run the point, and that injury at least sets the rotations back for a couple years now.”
It sure sounds like Charania is suggesting that members inside the organization are fine with using Lonzo Ball’s injury as a justification for subpar results. Once again … THIS INJURY HAPPENED OVER TWO YEARS AGO! Nobody is saying this didn’t derail things. Ball was clearly a big part of the plan, and what happened to him is extremely unfortunate. At the same time, Ball wasn’t even considered one of the team’s three best players!
Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic were the three All-Stars this franchise mortgaged their future to build around. I’ve said since the beginning that the Bulls crumbling without their fourth-best player was a MAJOR red flag. If your roster can’t tolerate the absence of a role player – albeit a good one – that roster is VERY poorly constructed.
Not to mention, it’s not as if the Bulls didn’t know about Ball’s injury trouble. The Pelicans let him go for a reason, and Chicago took a risk by signing him. Of course, that isn’t to say anyone expected this brutal outcome, but the Bulls should have always been prepared to deal with potential bumps and bruises to Ball.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) The Bulls have had more than enough time to address this issue. Charania mentions that they haven’t been able to find plugs for the right holes, but can we even say they’ve tried? For the millionth time – they’ve made one trade since the start of 2022. They’ve sat out back-to-back trade deadlines. Tristan Thompson and Patrick Beverley have been their best mid-season acquisitions. Jevon Carter, Torrey Craig, Andre Drummond, and Goran Dragic represent their main free agency signings since the 2021 offseason.
The moment adversity hit with the Ball injury, they curled up into a ball and moaned. The All-Star reserves were announced on Thursday night, finalizing the 2024 NBA All-Star Game roster. There were several snubs worth arguing about, but one of them wasn’t Coby White. I think we all knew that White wasn’t destined for the honor this season. Nobody is denying that what he’s done this season is worth some recognition (he was a nominee for Eastern Conference Player of the Month), but White has two things working against him.
First of all, the East is pretty stacked in the guard department. Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, Trae Young Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Derrick White represent quite the player pool. Secondly, consistency is key when it comes to an All-Star appearance. White’s breakout has been all kinds of fun, but he now needs to show the league this is who he is for the foreseeable future. I think Maxey serves as a good example. His breakout season happened last year, and he only continued on that trajectory this season. Now, he’s an All-Star!
Oh, the fact the Bulls stink also presents White with another hurdle. Until that team is at least playing .500 basketball, someone like White isn’t going to get the acknowledgment he deserves. With that said, I do believe that White has shown us enough this season to imply that an All-Star nod could be in his future. He’s shown a newfound understanding of how to impact multiple areas of the box score, and he’s only 23 years old! There is still a lot of time for him to grow.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports posted another length trade intel piece … and we got a whole lot of nothing about the Chicago Bulls. Fischer mentioned Zach LaVine, but it was simply to say that the Bulls continue to look for suitors. Otherwise, no interesting or encouraging tidbits for us to enjoy.
That’s a lot of cheddar!
