The Chicago Bulls have missed the NBA playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. Albeit impatience is rightfully growing in the Windy City, the Bulls should keep the band together for one more season.

The 2020-21 NBA season marked year four of Chicago's rebuild, and the roster present should've been enough to yield a playoff appearance — especially in an expanded playoff field.

Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White and Patrick Williams make up Chicago's newfound core, as the Bulls swung a midseason blockbuster trade with the Orlando Magic for Vucevic. Ironically, they played worse from a win-loss standpoint after acquiring the big man. The Bulls were 19-24 prior to his arrival and 12-17 thereafter.

All four of the aforementioned players are highly skilled commodities. LaVine is an electric and highly productive scorer. Vucevic is a premier, all-around big man. White is a cunning playmaker who can score and facilitate. Williams can do a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor. Tomas Satoransky is a sneakily productive guard.

At the end of the day, the intended results of acquiring Vucevic were never going to come to fruition in the second half of the regular season. The impact in the standings won't be felt until next season when the Bulls and Vucevic have an offseason and training camp to get on the same page from a philosophical standpoint.

It's difficult to acquire a player who touches the ball at a high frequency and have that player make a profound impact on your team in the thick of the regular season (e.g. Carmelo Anthony with the New York Knicks, Deron Williams with the New Jersey Nets and Goran Dragic with the Miami Heat last decade).

The Bulls entered this season as one of six transparently rebuilding teams in the Eastern Conference (the Atlanta Hawks, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Detroit Pistons being the others). All of those teams had a young nucleus with compelling players yet to take a noticeable step forward as a collective whole. Three of them ended up making at least the play-in round while three others remained stagnant and/or took steps back. The Bulls were among the latter teams.

On one hand, they could look to swing another blockbuster trade this offseason to get a star next to LaVine and Vucevic. Maybe the Bulls could use White and Williams to headline a trade package for Bradley Beal or CJ McCollum? At the same time, this is a team that had a lot of firsts this season.

Head coach Billy Donovan just finished his first season running the show on the sidelines, Vucevic was thrown in the fire two months ago and Williams' rookie season has concluded. There's room for growth, and it's fair to expect this unit to be squarely in the playoff mix next season.

Donovan will get a better grasp of his roster; he was just hired in September.

Zach LaVine is one of the best scoring guards in the association and has become more unguardable with age. Coby White has savvy speed, can hit from distance and has gradually improved to date. Patrick Williams got his first licks at the NBA game. Once the Florida State product gets more comfortable with his frame, he can be a highly impactful and productive frontcourt player.

Nikola Vucevic is the Bulls' number-two scoring option. For perspective, the big man was previously the go-to player for the Magic. He operates in the post and is a player in the midrange game. Now, Vucevic can benefit from LaVine and to a degree White attracting attention offensively.

Make no mistake about it: the Chicago Bulls are up against the clock. There are sturdy powerhouses in the East and young teams on the rise making rapid progress. Meanwhile, LaVine is a year away from free agency, and there's too much talent in the building for the Bulls to be missing the playoffs by a wide margin on a yearly basis.

They have to win.

For better or worse, the Bulls are invested in this group. It's made up of part of the team's return for Jimmy Butler (LaVine), top-10 draft selections (White and Williams) and a player they surrendered a former top-10 pick (Wendell Carter Jr.) and multiple first-round selections for (Vucevic).

The Bulls don't have a first-rounder in this year's draft, and they could very well lose Lauri Markkanen to free agency if a team offers him a contract too rich for their liking (Markkanen is a restricted free agent this summer).

Next season should be make or break for the Bulls. Complement the should-be pillars on the roster with length and outside shooting, ride it out for next season, and see what happens. If they break through and make the playoffs, their patience will be rewarded. If they miss the spring festivities, then it will be time to take action.