Will Defense Be Enough?
However, the defense could wind up being a big problem for this team over the course of the 2021-22 season. Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, and Patrick Williams are all solid defenders in their own right, but the vast majority of this team has struggled at times during the course of their career defensively. Chicago did rank 11th in the league in net defensive rating last season, but Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, and DeMar DeRozan have all been streaky defenders over the years.
“You saw me out there in Tokyo playing defense,” LaVine told the NBC Sports Chicago crew during Media Day earlier this week. “I was picking up 94 (feet). I was sliding, lunging, diving on the floor.”
Playing in the Summer Olympics was definitely something that has helped Zach LaVine not only as the scorer he is, but to improve defensively. All his focus over the years has been on being the elite-level scorer Chicago has needed him to be because they really have not had other high-level talents around him.
After the offseason, they just had though and all the pieces the Bulls’ front-office added to this roster, LaVine will have a lot of pressure taken off his back, which could actually make him a better defender.
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: 4 Key Storylines To Monitor Entering NBA Training Camps
Someone is going to behave to be the anchor for this team defensively and given his athleticism, Zach LaVine needs to be this guy for the Bulls.
“The Olympic experience was incredible, just from a standpoint of being around a bunch of guys that are at the highest level on and off the court, with the coaches included, and then playing a role with a team that it was all about winning,” LaVine said. “We were all at the top of our game and we all couldn’t be the No. 1 option. And we had to find a role and help the team win.”
Compared to college ball, there is not as much of an emphasis put on defending in the NBA and teams are not playing a full-court press for 48-minutes a night, but when you look at some of the most successful teams over the years, they have all been some of the better offensive and defensive teams in the league.
