After an unexpected 3-2 start, the Chicago Bulls have crashed back down to Earth. Hard.
They’ve lost four straight games against the Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Those last two losses were by 20 and 16 points, respectively, but the loss to Minnesota is even worse than the score indicates.
The Bulls led by five entering the fourth quarter and were outscored by 21 in the final period.
This most recent quartet of contests is what was expected of Chicago in 2024-25. A bad team, but a young, fun one that would run in transition and shoot a ton of threes while playing little defense and tanking their way to a top 2025 draft pick.
Head coach Billy Donovan seems to have finally relented and begun playing deeper rotations while getting young players like Matas Buzelis more involved. Another positive for the Bulls.
But as he’s mixed and matched certain groups, some five-man lineups have put up (much) better numbers than others or are at least more intriguing than others.
Here’s one lineup the Bulls should play more of and one that Donovan should trash entirely.
Note: All eligible lineups have played at least six minutes for Chicago through its first nine games.
This comes with a caveat that it requires two of Chicago’s most injury-prone players to be healthy, which they haven’t been.
It includes Zach LaVine, who’s missed the team’s last three games, and Lonzo Ball, who hasn’t played since Oct. 26. However, neither injury is severe, and both are expected back.
Because of that, this group has only played nine total minutes together, but it’s shown – in terms of numbers and pure tantalization – that it needs to see the floor more:
If the goal is to run as fast as they can and chuck as many threes as possible, this lineup may be the best one the Bulls can put on the floor.
Unsurprisingly, this group leads all Chicago lineups in offensive rating (210.0) by a large margin. Also unsurprisingly, it’s second-worst in defensive rating (142.1).
But the four-guard group leads the team in net rating (67.9) and rebound percentage (66.7) in large part because of Giddey’s, Ball’s and LaVine’s rebounding prowess as backcourt players.
This lineup is shooting 72.7 percent from the floor, 66.7 percent from three and is a plus-15.
Again, it qualifies for the small-sample-size alert, but there’s no reason to believe this group wouldn’t continue to score in bunches when it’s on the floor.
A Bulls lineup that needs to be eliminated ASAP
Honorable mention here goes to Chicago’s starting group, which basically sums up the team’s struggles. The starting five of Giddey, White, LaVine, Patrick Williams and Vucevic has played 82 minutes together and has a net rating of -16.8.
It has one of the worst offensive ratings of any Bulls lineup (93.2) and is second-worst in effective field goal percentage (46.7) and true shooting percentage (52.1).
That’s concerning considering the team is supposed to be at least staying afloat by scoring points and shooting threes and it’s most-used lineup can’t do it.
Barring any sort of trade, though, that group isn’t going anywhere, so the winner here goes to:
With Dosunmu subbed in due to LaVine’s and Ball’s injuries, the Bulls take a nose dive.
That group of five has played the second-most minutes of any of Donovan’s lineups – 37 across six games. It can’t stop anybody. It has a team-worst 162.3 defensive rating and a -45.7 net rating.
It’s the worst lineup in terms of assist-to-turnover ratio and second-worst in rebounding. That group allows teams to shoot 70.0 percent from the field and somehow a worse 71.4 percent from three.
Per 48 minutes, it’s allowing 164.2 points.
With LaVine and Ball sidelined, Donovan could use someone longer and more defensive-minded like Julian Phillips in place of Dosunmu. Dalen Terry or the 6-foot-10 Buzelis may be more helpful. Even dusting off Torrey Craig or Jevon Carter couldn’t hurt.
Regardless, this lineup is so porous defensively that there’s no reason it should be on the floor – let alone Donovan’s second-most-used five.
