Bulls Roll Out Chaotic New Starting Five Against Celtics
Underdog NBA tweeted: 'Lineup alert: Bulls will start Giddey, Powell, Buzelis, Wilson, Smith on Monday.'
The Chicago Bulls are officially throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. According to Underdog NBA, Chicago is rolling out a Monday starting five of Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis, Jalen Wilson, and Jalen Smith.
This is the kind of lineup you get when you simulate a season in a video game and let the computer manage your rotation while you go make a sandwich. It is a chaotic mix of youth, veterans, and guys just trying to prove they belong on an NBA floor.
You cannot exactly blame the coaching staff for hitting the panic button. The Bulls are coming off a 124-120 loss to the Washington Wizards and recently gave up 135 points in a blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors. When your defense is making rebuilding teams look like offensive juggernauts, it is time to shuffle the deck.
Giddey being in the starting group is a minor surprise itself, considering he has been battling ankle and hamstring issues over the last few weeks. Meanwhile, Buzelis gets a prime opportunity to build on a solid campaign where he is already putting up 15 points and over five boards a night. Throw in Wilson and Smith, and you have a frontcourt that is athletic but entirely unpredictable.
For anyone looking at the betting board for Monday's slate, this completely scrambles the math. Powell and Buzelis are going to see a massive spike in usage, making their points and rebounds props incredibly volatile. Sportsbooks are going to be scrambling to adjust to a rotation that has virtually no shared minutes on tape.
The ultimate punchline to this lineup experiment is the schedule. This newly minted squad has to walk into TD Garden on Monday night to face the Boston Celtics. If this group somehow pulls off an upset in Boston, they might need to hang a banner for this specific starting five.