Time is a luxury the Bulls no longer have.
With just 23 regular-season games left and entering this post-All-Star-Break stretch two games back of a play-in spot, there’s no real identity and even less momentum thanks to a six-game losing streak.
Yet, the plan is to stay on the path of an attempted playoff push.
A smart plan? Not really when the percentages say that the franchise has a better chance of landing a top four lottery pick than actually making the Eastern Conference playoffs, but math went out the window back in September when executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas set the bar on making the second round of the postseason.
With the Bulls adding veteran point guard Patrick Beverley this week, well, there’s no walking it back now.
“At this point in the season, where we’re trying to get back to where we need [to be], we need a spark. We needed anything we could,’’ two-time All-Star Zach LaVine said. “Pat is somebody who can fill a lot of different roles, so we’re just happy to have him.’’
But LaVine also knew that adding Beverley doesn’t mean the organization can automatically start printing playoff tickets.
“We’ll see,’’ LaVine said when asked about the idea of this being a quick fix. “I mean coming to a new team in the middle of the season is never easy. I don’t care how veteran you are, but Pat is such a high-IQ player, he just goes out there and plays hard, so he’s going to make an impact regardless.’’
What the Bulls also have on their side when they host the Nets Friday is health.
DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Derrick Jones Jr., and Goran Dragic were all participants in both practice days, and even Javonte Green (right knee surgery) has started running and was a few weeks away from returning to full practice mode, according to coach Billy Donovan.
But now it’s Donovan’s job to figure out how all of this will mesh, and which players he can rely on to both start and finish games. Admittedly, the rotations seen against Brooklyn might be completely different than the ones the coach uses two days later against Washington.
This is about figuring it out on the go.
“We’ve just got to see where our team is from a health standpoint and who is going to be able to play,’’ Donovan said. “No, you don’t [have a lot of time]. Again, this [Beverley move] came about as soon as you could possibly do it, right? It wasn’t he had been sitting at home for two months. A lot of this trade deadline stuff and the buyout market happened relatively soon, so it’s hard to sit there and say do you wish this happened several weeks or months ago.’’
What the Bulls do have some immediate say in is how quickly they can climb out of their current hole.
Besides facing the Nets and Wizards right out of the gate, they then go on a two-city road trip to take on Toronto and Detroit.
Four games against the East that are must-wins.
Four chances for the Bulls to clean things up on both ends of the floor, starting with holding leads and closing teams out.
As far as Beverley was concerned, the biggest issue he saw with this roster from afar.
“Just gotta learn how to finish,’’ Beverley said. “You got problems like that, those are good problems. You can adjust those. It doesn’t take a lot of cooks in the kitchen to fix those type of problems.’’
