Last season, the Chicago Bulls finished the regular season with a 40-42 record, and they narrowly got into the play-in tournament as the #10 seed in the Eastern Conference. That felt like a big win for Chicago, and this year, it's going to be tough to get back there. The Bulls finished last season in third place in the Central Division. With the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks ahead of them, it's going to be difficult to climb higher in that category as well.

The NBA regular season is right around the corner, and the Bulls will get their season started on October 25th against the Oklahoma City Thunder. This team has a lot of potential on the roster, but if they get into any injury trouble, it's going to be a problem. Last season, it felt like everything had to go right for the Bulls to have any chance to make the playoffs, and everything did, for the most part. Their key players stayed healthy, and it got them into the play-in tournament, which felt like a major win. If this team can stay healthy again this year, they can certainly make a run at a similar season, but going farther than last year seems like a tall task for the Bulls.

Key players on this Bulls team include Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan, Ayo Dosunmu, Andre Drummond, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Patrick Williams, and others. Those are the guys that the Bulls will need to step up the most. It should be another interesting season in Chicago, and here are some predictions for the upcoming season.

Ayo Dosunmu will have a breakout season

Ayo Dosunmu has spent two years in the NBA with the Bulls after being drafted from Illinois. He was one of the most electric players in the Big Ten during his time with the Fighting Illini, and it feels like he's ready to emerge as a star in Chicago. Dosunmu has been solid in his two years as he has averaged around 8.5-9.0 PPG and around 3.o APG in his time with the Bulls. Don't be surprised if Dosunmu takes some big strides this season. The talent is there, and now he has two years under his belt. He's ready.

The Bulls will finish in fourth place in the Central division

The Bulls finished in third in the Central last year, but it's not going to happen again this season. Chicago isn't ready to take the next step and gain ground on the Cavaliers or the Bucks, and it wouldn't be surprising to see the Detroit Pistons or the Indiana Pacers jump them. Fourth place feels like the spot for the Bulls, but it wouldn't be surprising if they took a bigger step back and finished in fifth in the division.

The Bulls will miss the play-in tournament

Making the play-in tournament was big last year even though it doesn't count as actually making the playoffs. However, it would be surprising to see Chicago make it back there this year. Because of the age of some of their key players, it's going to be hard for the Bulls to avoid the injury bug this year, and if they can't avoid it, things can spiral downhill quickly. It feels like the Bulls are going to take a step back this season.

Chicago will win 35 games

After winning 40 games last year, it would be great for the Bulls to take the next step and finish .500 or better this year, but that seems unlikely. The ceiling for this team seems like .500, but the odds of them being a little bit below that are more likely. Expect the Bulls to finish somewhere around the the 35 win mark.