The Chicago Bulls enter the 2022-23 NBA season already down a key starter, as Lonzo Ball’s recovery from a torn meniscus has not gone as planned. As a result, he will miss at least the first few months of the season, which definitely changes the value of several players in this lineup from a fantasy perspective. Regardless, there are a lot of players on this team who can make a major fantasy impact this season, so let’s dive in and see what value can be had from this roster.
Chicago Bulls Fantasy Basketball Preview
Depth Chart
Point Guard (PG)
Shooting Guard (SG)
The other guard spot is a little more straightforward for Chicago. Zach LaVine has turned into an elite NBA scorer, and there is no reason why that shouldn’t continue this year. At age 27, LaVine is entering the prime of his career, and he should once again produce top 50 numbers. He can be drafted with confidence in the third or fourth rounds of fantasy drafts, especially with a bit more control of the offense with Ball not returning for a while, if at all.
Small Forward (SF)
Power Forward (PF)
One of the most fascinating developments of the preseason has been the shocking move made by Billy Donovan to insert Javonte Green into the starting five earlier in the week over the presumed started Patrick Williams. Williams, the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, and still just 21 years old, was expected to make a big leap entering year three that would take this Bulls team to the next level. That may very well still be possible, but the situation is much cloudier than it was originally. With Williams back in the starting five last night, this seems like a situation that will see both players splitting minutes, and they should both have plenty of court time to make a fantasy impact, even if their ceilings are capped a bit for now. Williams should remain the more appealing option from a fantasy perspective, but both players can be nice late round values given how Donovan seems ready to use them.
Center (C)
Nikola Vucevic has averaged a double-double in eight of the past ten seasons, and he should once again be a consistent force down low for the Bulls. His scoring output once again will not be as high as it was in Orlando, simply because it doesn’t need to be for the team to have success, but overall the production will be there as always. In similar fashion to DeRozan, he is a consistent veteran with as high of a fantasy floor as any player in the game, so there should be no concerns with drafting him.
Key Bench Players
As discussed above, whoever is not starting each night between Patrick Williams and Javonte Green will still carry solid fantasy value, as they should still see plenty of minutes to provide value. Williams should still be the better option overall, but Green has displayed fantastic chemistry with the rest of the first unit, so it will be interesting to see how this situation plays out over the first few weeks of the season.
Andre Drummond, while not the most valuable piece for an actual NBA team, has always had the ability to rack up stats in a hurry. He should be able to once again carry some value in deeper fantasy leagues playing behind Vucevic, and he will occasionally have a monster performance if Vuc ever sits out with an injury or simply to catch a day of rest.
Alex Caruso can also maintain some deep league value due to his ability to knock down threes and excel in the steals department. He will be inconsistent, but may still be worth rostering due to his impact in those categories alone.
Sleepers
Busts
None. This offense showed last year that it is capable of supporting everyone, and this season should be no different.
For more great analysis check out our full 2022-23 Fantasy Basketball Draft Kit!