The Bulls have slowly been changing things around after a poor start to the 2023/24 NBA season, as they’ve been playing promising basketball of late. Even though they remain 11th in the Eastern Conference standings (13-17), Chicago have won eight out of their last eleven games and star guard Alex Caruso truly believes they will make it to this year’s playoffs.
One of their biggest wins of the campaign came on Monday night when they defeated the Philadelphia 76ers, one of the league’s best squads. With gritty defense, the Illinois franchise was able to prevent Joel Embiid from scoring the game-tying bucket, but the reigning MVP still dropped 40 points that night.
Caruso was asked this week if the Bulls were truly capable of qualifying to the postseasons or if they were destined to fail like the last tournament. The 29-year-old is convinced they have enough talent. “Yeah, for sure. I think we have enough talent clearly,” he claimed.
Alex Caruso on his belief that the Bulls are playoff contenders: “We can play with anybody when we play our best. It’s just about doing it.” pic.twitter.com/kmzzQ8GoIh
— Julia Poe (@byjuliapoe) December 19, 2023
“I mean, we just won at Philly. We won at Miami, went 2-1 on this road trip. We were up two buckets with three minutes to go in Miami in the second game. That team was in the Finals last year, and this is a team that’s trying to win the Finals this year—two of the best teams,” the guard added.
After beating the In-Season Tournament champions this week, he’s convinced Chicago can play any team in the NBA. “We can play with anybody when we play at our best. It’s just about doing it,” Caruso insisted.
If both Coby White and Nikola Vucevic keep pushing offensively, while Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu take care of the defensive side of the floor, they might have a chance.
“We’re finally locking in on the things we’ve talked about all year that we want to do, and we’re competing at a high level,” said the Bulls point guard. “As crazy as it sounds, we could be 9-0 because we had a couple late games that we lost that we could’ve won.”
Sources confirm that ‘all signs’ lead to Zach LaVine being traded to the Lakers, even though his representatives deny it
Zach LaVine‘s name has been bouncing around in Los Angeles ever since he hit the trade block. Many teams have been linked to the Chicago star, but the purple and gold have the upper hand. Not only would it be a perfect fit, but there is a direct link through their representatives at Klutch Sports.
“LaVine and his representation obviously want (the Lakers) because of the Klutch Sports connection,” reported Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Zach is represented by Lucas Newton of Klutch, just as the agency is working with four other Lakers players, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
However, LeBron’s agent Rich Paul insisted that these are only rumors and they haven’t taken any decision over where LaVine could eventually end up.
“It’s not one team,” he told the press. “I don’t have a specific destination for Zach. I want what’s best for Zach and his family. When you have a guy playing the game, you want him to be able to play the game happy, whether that’s in Chicago or somewhere else.”
