Daily Bulls

One of the main goals for the Bulls in the upcoming season is to keep Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball 100% healthy throughout the next season, especially during the 2023 Postseason. Ball and Caruso are two of the best defenders on the Bulls squad. But that comes at a cost. Both combined to miss 88 games, and those injuries came at the wrong time, with the Bulls facing stricter competition in January. Here are some reasons why fewer minutes from Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball will help next season.

Less Minutes=less risk of Injury

About a decade ago, the Bulls starters played above 40 minutes every night. Whose idea was it to play their starters almost every minute during the game? Tom Thibodeau. At first, the strategy worked, which led to the top record in the NBA and first seed in the 2012 Postseason. But Chicago lost their leader and star Derrick Rose during game one in the first round with a torn ACL. Rose got hurt with about a minute left in the game, with the Bulls up 99-87. Three games later, Chicago lost Joakim Noah with an ankle injury. Luol Deng played with torn ligaments in his left wrist. The Thibodeau strategy never worked and led to the downfall of the Bulls.

The Thibodeau strategy was one reason teams started sitting their starters for some games and playing them less than 40 or even 30 minutes every game until the postseason began. One of the first teams to notice was the San Antonio Spurs, and those nights of rest and fewer minutes for the starters helped the Spurs win the 2014 Championship. Many other contenders followed, including the most recent Champions of the Golden State Warriors. You don’t know always need to be the first seed to win the title. In the last 20 years, just six number One overall seeds have gone on to win it all.

Chicago will give Caruso and Ball fewer minutes, especially when Ball returns from his injury. Last season, Alex Caruso played ten games with less than 25 minutes. When Caruso was healthy and playing, he averaged 27.5 minutes in games the Bulls won and 28.6 minutes in those games they lost. Last season, Lonzo Ball also played only six games with less than 32 minutes.

Full Roster

Once the Bulls season ended in Milwaukee during the postseason. Over the summer, Chicago was expected to make significant changes to the roster, but instead, the front office decided to sign veterans of Andre Drummond and Goran Dragic. They brought back star Zach Lavine and forward Derrick Jones jr. Instead of trading away their first-round pick and Coby White, Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley drafted guard Dalen Terry.

With the new additions, Chicago has a full roster with 15 players and can go with a small ball lineup or big man lineup. The Bulls roster includes seven guards, four forwards, and four centers. Every player on the Bulls except for Marko Simonovic and rookie Dalen Terry has started at least five games in their NBA career. Dalen Terry, a high-energy player like Caruso, will take some minutes away from Caruso to give him more rest. With the signing of Goran Dragic, Dragic will play and maybe start until Lonzo Ball is fully recovered. When Ball comes back in the starting lineup, Dragic will still take some minutes away from Ball so Ball can rest and not play above 35+ minutes per game. No one from this Bulls roster should play above 40 minutes unless your name is DeMar DeRozan or Zach Lavine.

Check out this Article on the 2 Bulls players to watch in the 2022 EuroBasket

Back-to-Back Games

The Bulls are tied for the most back-to-back games with 15. Only four other teams will have 15 back-to-back games. Going off my last reason with the Bulls’ full roster, the Bulls shouldn’t play Caruso and Ball in those 15 back-to-back games. The Bulls coaching staff must manage Ball and Caruso’s minutes for these 15 back-to-back games. Last season, the Bulls were wise to sit out Lavine while he was playing through a left knee injury. Caruso and Ball will hate to sit out during the regular season, but both of them and Bulls fans would rather have them play in the postseason and be healthy instead of watching the postseason from the bench.

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