There’s no way around it: the Chicago Bulls’ defense is bad, and there’s no realistic solution on the current roster to fix such a porous unit. Their reliance on 35-year-old Nikola Vucevic to anchor an already-shoddy defense is equally concerning. Without Vucevic in the middle—who isn’t a plus defender to begin with—Chicago surrendered an astonishing 78 points in the paint in a loss to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans.
Still, the Bulls’ lackluster interior defense stems just as much from their inadequate perimeter stoppers. Outside of Isaac Okoro, Chicago doesn’t have a reliable point-of-attack presence, which shows in how routinely they get torched by opposing wings.