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The Chicago Bulls are the talk of the league. After many analysts ridiculed their summer additions of DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball, the squad has proved them wrong. After the first part of the season, the Bulls are 23-10, sharing the number one spot with the Brooklyn Nets. The whole team has been tearing it up since the season started. Due to this, the Bulls roster has been catching the attention of fans around the world. This is especially important, as the fans have the opportunity to vote for their NBA All-Star starters since Christmas Day when the voting opened. With this in mind, here are two Bulls players that need to be All-Stars this February.
Bulls All-Star players
DeMar DeRozan
It was a tough choice of who to put first, but the Bulls guard DeMar DeRozan seems like the obvious choice. The former Raptors and Spurs guard was signed to a massive three-year, $82 million deal by the Bulls in the summer. As said in the beginning, the Bulls were ridiculed for this move, as DeRozan did not play to his standard in his three years in San Antonio. However, it was clear that the Bulls had a plan and it seems to have worked out.
After the three-year stint in Texas averaging around 21 points, DeMar DeRozan lit the Bulls up with incredible numbers. He is averaging 26.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, shooting 49.7% from the field. This field goal percentage is especially relevant, as DeRozan does not drive a ton, but mostly gets his points through mid-range shots. Labeled as inefficient, the mid-range shot was almost universally kicked out of the league, but with Kevin Durant building up an MVP case in Brooklyn and DeRozan getting a Bulls team to the top of the East with this style of play, it is definitely making a comeback.
DeMar DeRozan has the strongest narrative coming into this All-Star Weekend. He has been labeled as a foregone conclusion, as he is seemingly exiting his prime with an inefficient game. However, the comeback and all of the success of the Bulls have made DeRozan one of the biggest stories in the league. He will definitely make the All-Star team, it is only a question of whether he will be a starter or on the bench.
With the worldwide popularity of the Bulls combined with the storyline of his comeback, DeRozan should definitely be the starter. The guard field in the East is such, that his biggest opponent will be either Trae Young or his teammate, Zach LaVine. It is possible that Bradley Beal also gets a ton of votes, but with the Wizards stumbling in the latest couple of weeks, that is not very likely. DeRozan's story is a great NBA tale of never giving up on your principles, and it is great to see him and his Bulls having a successful season.
Zach LaVine
Speaking of the backcourt competition, one of DeRozan's biggest competitors for the starter spot will be Zach LaVine. LaVine has been great for the Bulls ever since he arrived in the summer of 2017. Over a four-season stretch, before this one, LaVine has made one All-Star appearance and helped turn around the franchise and set it up for a successful season such as the one currently happening. The Windy City has stuck by LaVine through his issues with former coach Jim Boylen and made the right choice, as when Billy Donovan came in, LaVine turned into an even better player.
This season, numbers-wise, has been worse for Zach LaVine than the previous, All-Star, one. Still, he is averaging 26.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists, shooting 49.9% from the field, and 41.0% from three-point land. If his free throw shooting was a tad bit better than the 84% he is shooting right now, the Bulls guard could have gone for the 50-40-90 club, a feat achieved by no player in a Bulls uniform, not even the great Michael Jordan. There is still time, of course, for LaVine to chase and get this record.
The narrative for LaVine is not as strong as for DeRozan, as he was here and helped the Bulls prepare for seismic changes done this summer. Still, his play will not be ignored, as it is now only a question of whether the Bulls will have two starters, or one starter and one guard on the bench. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan will both be spending the All-Star Weekend in Cleveland, and they will be the first pair of Bulls teammates to do it since Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol did it in 2015-16.
It is not outside the realm of possibility that the Bulls have three players in the All-Star game. Due to the success of their backcourt, many have forgotten the contributions done by Nikola Vucevic. The Montenegrin center is having another great season, perfectly complimenting the two stars in the guard positions. However, with the frontcourt positions more heavily contested in the Eastern Conference than the backcourt, it is more likely that Vucevic will be watching his Bulls teammates play, rather than featuring in his third All-Star game.
