The Chicago Bulls have started their 2023-24 campaign with a 2-3 record, but their struggles go a bit deeper than that. Despite being just under .500 in the early stages of the year, the Bulls’ point differential reveals they are much worse than their record indicates. Through five games, the Bulls are a -37, which is the fourth-worst mark in the NBA.
Chicago has struggled on both ends of the floor, and despite their role players shooting well from distance, three-point shooting has still been a real problem, as their core players have shot poorly. In their most recent loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, the Bulls shot 11-of-33 from deep, but five of the makes were Zach LaVine, who shot 5-of-9.
However, after the loss to Dallas, DeMar DeRozan spun the Bulls’ early struggles into a positive.
“Everybody wants to make shots for sure right now. Everybody wants the best, but it’s going to come,’’ DeRozan said via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I would rather start off this way than start off hot, and you realize that at some point you’ve got to cool down. [The shots] haven’t fallen, but when they do fall, your confidence is going to be higher because you fought through the rough patch.’’
DeRozan’s season has been off to a rocky start as well. Not only is he shooting just 43.7% from the field, but reports have indicated that he and the Bulls aren’t close in regard to contract extension talks.
