The Chicago Bulls’ season has ended with a play-in tournament berth for the third year in a row. In their previous two appearances, the Bulls missed the playoffs. So, it may feel like this year is no different than the previous ones. 

But this time around, things may be different.

After preaching continuity with their roster in previous seasons, the Bulls finally deviated from that plan by trading Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan before the start of the 2024-25 season. 

Caruso was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for 22-year-old shooting guard Josh Giddey, and DeRozan was traded to the Sacramento Kings. The Bulls needed a change, having not made the playoffs since the 2021-22 NBA season.

While it did feel reminiscent of the former roster when Lonzo Ball returned to the court this season — after missing more than two years with knee injuries — the Bulls were not done making changes. 

On Feb. 2, the Bulls traded Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal in which they acquired Kevin Huerter and Zach Collins — both of whom have played good minutes and have been solid scorers with the Bulls — along with Tre Jones and the full rights to their own 2025 first-round pick. 

Yet with LaVine gone, the group centered around him, DeRozan, Caruso, Ball and Nikola Vucevic was no more — except for the 34-year-old Vucevic, who remains with the team. This group, which led the Bulls to as high as first in the Eastern Conference in the 2021-22 season, missed their window. 

But this Bulls team, despite losing its two leading scorers in DeRozan and LaVine, still found a way to thrive on the offensive side of the ball. 

Coby White has been one key to this. Now that he is no longer a secondary scoring option behind LaVine, his scoring has improved in the second half of the season, building on his career high in points per game last season. 

According to StatMuse, in the 35 games White played with LaVine this regular season, he averaged 17.9 points per game. In the 39 games without LaVine, he has averaged 22.6 points per game, excelling at knocking down three-pointers and attacking the basket. 

Giddey has also been an important addition to this roster. When he is on the floor, he is a valuable scorer, passer and rebounder. 

Like White, Giddey is talented at attacking the basket and knocking down three-pointers. He is also averaging 7.2 assists per game this season — which is 13th best in the league — and 8.1 rebounds per game. 

The Bulls are also seeing great play from rookie Matas Buzelis. In their March 22 game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Buzelis scored a career-high 31 points and shot 5-for-10 from the three-point line.

And three-point shooting has been the spark to the entire team’s offense. The Bulls have made the third-most three-pointers in the NBA this season. 

In their two wins against the Lakers in March, the Bulls knocked down 19 three-pointers in each game; that means the Bulls scored 57 points in each game off of three-pointers alone.  

This success from behind the three-point line has led them to 12th in the league in three-point percentage, knocking down 36.7% of them. Taking into account that the team has a plethora of talented young guys who can develop their game further, this is a good sign. 

Also, it should be noted that in these wins against the Lakers — and even their win against the Denver Nuggets — their biggest weakness was eliminated: paint defense. 

The Lakers, by trading Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic, significantly weakened their ability to score in the paint, with their percentage of points in the paint dropping over five percent since Davis’ last game with the team on Jan. 28. 

As for the Nuggets, they were playing without Nikola Jokic. And because of that, the Bulls’ inability to protect the paint was not as detrimental. 

Throughout the season, the Bulls have given up 54 paint points per game, which is the worst in the league. To put that into perspective, teams like the Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets, who have been eliminated from playoff contention, are better at protecting the paint than the Bulls are. 

And while this is one of the issues the Bulls will need to address, the fact that this team made it to the play-in despite losing players like DeRozan and LaVine is something to be proud of. 

Giddey and the 25-year-old White have been playing excellent basketball, looking like promising future leaders for this team. Buzelis has been having a great year and can be even better next year.

Vucevic has been a consistent scorer as well, and Huerter, who has been in the starting lineup recently, is averaging over 14 points per game this month. 

Maybe this group can make a statement in the play-in to advance into the NBA playoffs. If they do make the playoffs, they would face the Cleveland Cavaliers, the top team in the Eastern Conference. To do so, they need to beat the Miami Heat and the loser between the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks. 

The Bulls will likely be without Ball (wrist) for the entire play-in tournament, and the team is very hopeful that Giddey (wrist) will be available for their game against the Heat on Wednesday. 

Regardless of whether they make it to the playoffs or not, this season has shown promise for what the future of this team can be, especially considering they have a first-round pick in the upcoming draft. 

Related stories:

• Peyton’s Power Hour: Chicago Bulls
• Crown-less Blue Demons spring into offseason
• Chicago Sports Network: A perfect storm of failure

Stay informed with The DePaulia’s top stories, delivered to your inbox every Monday.