At the start of every NBA season, experts, and bloggers like me, gaze into crystal balls and predict the future. It can be as simple a prediction as this team is going to make the playoffs, or that player will be an All-Star, but it’s a great way for a talking head or writing finger to flex their basketball acumen. If I ever start growing an ego about my supposed basketball acumen, I would like you, dear reader, to address my attention to October 16th, 2019. This was the day I made 10 Bold Predictions about the 2019-20 Bulls season, not a single one of which came to pass. Basketball genius? Not I!
As harsh and self-deprecating as it can be to look back on my past mistakes, I feel I need to. It’s too easy to “have all the answers” in this day and age of social media, and there aren’t enough consequences for the spread of stupidity. No one should be allowed to get away with making brazen claims that never pan out. So I’m here for my portion of crow, and it’s a heaping one.
#10 – The Los Angeles Clippers will win the 2020 NBA Championship – NOPE! The super team of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell couldn’t even make it to the Western Conference Finals. They were bounced from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets in the 7th game of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The series loss was so bad that the Clippers fired future Hall Of Fame coach Doc Rivers and started retooling the roster.
#9 – Zach LaVine will win the 2020 All-Star Dunk Contest – LaVine didn’t even compete in the Dunk Contest.
#8 – Zach LaVine will be an All-Star – He wasn’t.
#7 – Zach LaVine will get serious MVP consideration – He didn’t.
#6 – Tomas Satoransky will lead the Bulls in Win Share – This was the one I should have gone with Zach LaVine on, who finished the season with a team best 4.0 Win Share. To his credit, Satoransky was 2nd with a 3.5 Win Share.
#5 – Daniel Gafford will break a basket with his vicious dunks – While Gafford did have some particularly vicious dunks this past season, he did not injure any baskets with them.
#4 – The Bulls will set a franchise record for 3 pointers attempted and made – They put up a brilliant effort, even in a Covid shortened season, but alas, the 2282 attempted and 793 made three pointers are not franchise records.
#3 – The Bulls will set a franchise record for assists in a season – With 1510 assists the 2019-20 Bulls did NOT set a franchise record.
#2 – 47 wins and the 6th seed in the East – The Bulls finished the season with 22 wins, not even half the number I predicted, and they failed to even make the NBA Bubble.
#1 – The Bulls will win a playoff series – It’s pretty hard to win a playoff series when you’re in contention for a top spot in the Draft Lottery.
And there you have it, I am a basketball idiot. Last seasons predictions were so pathetic I am putting myself on a prognostication timeout; There will be NO bold predictions from RokDeez for the 2020-21 NBA season. I need some time to think about what I’ve done and make an Act of Contrition.
Quick Updates:
Meanwhile, more Bulls players were made available for video conferences with the media this week. You can find all of those interviews on the Bulls YouTube channel, if you are so inclined. My favorite interview was Daniel Gafford, whose answer to the question “How has Covid affected you?” has made him my favorite Chicago Bull.
The first half of the Bulls regular season schedule came out on Friday. I haven’t looked at it very closely but the first couple weeks look tough. From the quick glance I took, there are a lot of games on the road against strong teams. The Bulls first preseason game will be this upcoming Friday, December 12th, against the Houston Rockets. Get hyped.
Since I put myself in the prediction doghouse, I’ve decided to put together some Kickstarter-esque goals for the Bulls to strive toward in this 2020-21 season. I’ll share those with you this Wednesday. Until then, thanks for reading and GO BULLS!
RokDeez Bulls Blog 
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