Nichols’ Nickel: Grading every Bulls starter

We are just nine games through the Bulls season, and the team is 1-8. Sadly, this was a bit predictable — the young team is facing their toughest opponents to begin the season. 

Through nine games, however, there’s enough of a sample size to really begin looking at the individual performers on the Bulls and assessing their play. 

Ultimately, this is a developmental year for the Bulls, so tracking each guy’s development — but especially the young guys — is the chief objective for Chicago’s front office this season.

One final caveat before we begin — it is only nine games into the year. Things can and will change, oftentimes a lot. So whether a guy is playing incredible or incredibly bad, it can shift very quickly. 

Now without further ado, let’s get to it. 

Every week in the Nichols’ Nickel, I take you through five weekly insights on the Chicago Bulls and their season. 

Point Guard Josh Giddey: D-

It’s a bit unfair to start with Giddey because, my goodness, this season has been a total catastrophe. Many people, including Giddey himself, thought his opportunity to play with better talent would see him turn into a more confident player, but the opposite has been true so far. 

Following a season where Giddey averaged 17 points, 9.1 assists and 8.3 rebounds per game, he’s seen all of his averages lowered through nine games — he’s currently averaging 10.3 points, 8.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. 

Most concerning of all is Giddey’s 3-point shooting. Giddey’s knock coming into the draft in 2021 was his outside shooting, but he’d quietly turned himself into a solid 3-point shooter, averaging nearly two threes a game last year. 

Disappointingly, Giddey has regressed, shooting nearly 8 percent worse from three compared to last season. 

Overall, Giddey’s been about as big of a disappointment as there could be for the Bulls. This season presented an opportunity for him to prove why he belongs in Chicago’s young core, and so far, he’s failing tremendously. 

Shooting Guard Norman Powell: B

Powell’s been pretty much exactly what Chicago needed him to be thus far, putting up numbers just a tick down from last year when he was on the Miami Heat. 

Most importantly, young forwards Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson are both better with Powell on the court than without him.

Powell, 33, is unique compared to the rest of the starters in that everyone knows he isn’t going to be here the next time Chicago wins. He’s the only guy you can really grade based solely on what he’s doing now. That said, he’s being pretty darn consistent for Chicago. 

Outside shooting has been unimpressive from Powell thus far. He’s shooting 31% from three, which is a fairly disappointing start and holds him back from a higher grade. 

Small Forward Matas Buzelis: D+

While Buzelis hasn’t imploded quite like Chicago’s only other returning starter, Giddey, Buzelis has been fairly disappointing. 

Buzelis is grading out worse in every statistical category compared to last year, which is enough of a concern as is. The numbers, however, don’t show how little confidence Buzelis is playing with. 

Imagine there’s a golden retriever who receives lots of love from his owners, gets taken on walks everyday and gets tons of treats. Then one day, the family suddenly adopts another golden retriever — only this one is cuter, friendlier and all-around better than the first one. The family gives the second more attention, and the first one doesn’t know how to react. 

That’s the Buzelis and Wilson situation.  

The first golden retriever is Buzelis. He had all the love from Chicago as their bright, shiny young piece last year. And then suddenly, they brought in Wilson, who plays the same position and style of play as Buzelis, but is straight up better and more fun.  

Can both golden retrievers coexist? Absolutely. But Buzelis needs to find a way to fit in with the better golden retriever, or else he may be looking for a new home. 

Power Forward Caleb Wilson: A-

Wilson has shown the Bulls everything they want to see from him so far. His defensive instincts have more than translated to the NBA, his shots had some nights where it hasn’t looked broken and he’s gone toe-to-toe with elite NBA forwards without looking out of place.

It hasn’t always been pretty — it never is for a 20-year-old in the NBA — but all the pieces are there. 

Consistency is the key for Wilson. At his best, he’s already one of the top forwards in the league, but it’s putting flashes together into consistent stretches of play. 

The biggest reason for the high grade is the defensive ability of Wilson thus far. He’s averaging nearly three stocks — or steals plus blocks — a game. His ability on that end makes up for so many of the Bulls’ faults, and it feels like he’s just scratching the surface of his potential. 

Center Jalen Smith: B

Center Nicolas Claxton was acquired to be the team’s starting center, but has yet to appear in any games due to injury, so for now, we’ll evaluate Smith, who’s put together a very nice opening campaign.

Offensively, he’s been solid, though he’s only shooting 29% from three, but his willingness to shoot them helps Chicago’s spacing. 

Defensively, Smith is a liability. He’s not much of a rim protector and is a below average rebounder, but Wilson helps in both of those categories to take some of the pressure off Smith. 

At 26 years old, Smith could be a part of Chicago’s future, but if he keeps this play, he could easily be shipped away ahead of the trade deadline for a team in need of a quality backup big. 

Chicago heads into a difficult week of play next week before their schedule eases up. They host the San Antonio Spurs Nov. 11 and then the Atlanta Hawks Nov. 13. Next are a pair of road contests against the Minnesota Timberwolves Nov. 14 and the Cleveland Cavaliers Nov. 16. Hopefully over those four games Chicago can find their second win of the season.