The Chicago Bulls have had an amazing start to the season as they are 6-1 and looking to be a top contender in the Eastern Conference.
The East is wide open this year due to many top players being out for the season, like Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics and Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers.
For the past 3 years, the Bulls have lost in the Play-In Tournament to the Miami Heat. Many fans were questioning why they extended head coach Billy Donovan.
Donovan has been the coach of the team since the 2021 NBA season. Since then, he has only made the playoffs once and has been an annual play-in team.
Now the Bulls are firing on all cylinders as they started the season 5-0 and have yet to lose at home.
One of these home victories was a win where the Bulls came back down 24 points to win the game off a game winning 3 pointer from veteran center Nikola Vucevic.
Bulls point guard Josh Giddey told CHSN, “It was one of the best wins I’ve been a part of.”
Giddey was the one who got the assist to Vucevic for the win to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, who were 5-1 at the time.
Many have said how the Bulls will fall off and be back to a play-in team. However, this year feels different with the ascension of players like Giddey, Ayo Dosunmu, and 2025 all-rookie team member Matas Buzelis.
Giddey was traded to the Bulls from the Oklahoma City Thunder after a rough final season for the team. According to Stat Muse, as a Bull last year after the All-Star break, he averaged 21.2 points per game, along with 10.7 rebounds per game and 9.3 assists per game.
This year, in a small sample size, Giddey has continued to play well, increasing his ppg and cementing himself as one of the best point guards in the East.
The Bulls have been winning due to their elite offense to start the year. They are third in 3pt% and assists per game due to playing with some of the fastest pace in the NBA this season. The ball movement Donovan has initiated into his game plan has resulted in more wins than usual.
While the Bulls aren’t an elite defensive team, they have taken a step up on the defensive side of the ball. Players like Dosunmu and Buzelis have continued to show great effort on the defensive side of the ball and are looking to help their team be even better on defense. They are 7th in opponent 3pt% and 12th in opponent ppg. Their defensive rating has also climbed as they were 18th last year, but now 12th this year, per Stat Muse.
Now the Bulls have only played 7 games so far this year, as of November 7, but they are doing all this without their star shooting guard Coby White.
When White returns, he will provide elite and efficient scoring from all three levels of the floor and can help cement the Bulls as a true contender.