Can the Chicago Bulls defend at a moderately high level?
Adding Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, and Derrick Jones Jr. were all big moves made by the Chicago Bulls this offseason, especially since they had two All-Stars on their roster in Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.
This Bulls team finally looks like they can snap a four-year playoff drought, but there are questions surrounding how they will play.
Offensively, the Bulls will be just fine, especially when Coby White returns from his shoulder surgery, but defensively, this team is definitely a major liability. Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic are not really known for being factors on defense and DeMar DeRozan really is not that strong of a defender either.
Other than Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and Patrick Williams, who is currently out with an ankle sprain, the Bulls do not really have any documented ball-stoppers that they can rely on to be factors defensively.
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Head coach Billy Donovan had his team ranked 11th in net defensive rating last season, which is really strong given the lack of overall talent on that team, but the Bulls definitely regressed on paper defensively by getting rid of Thaddeus Young, Lauri Markkanen, Tomas Satoransky, and Garrett Temple.
Who knows maybe the Bulls will pull a fast one on everybody again and they will be a Top-15 defensive team in the league, but based on first glance, this team seems like they are very vulnerable to score on inside the paint. How the Bulls looks defensively the first week or so of the regular season will be a key storyline to watch.
