Chicago Bulls at Phoenix Suns: 3 takeaways, Butler struggles in comeback

The Chicago Bulls lost to the Phoenix Suns by 18 points on Friday night, adding to an ever-growing litany of embarrassing losses to teams at the bottom of the standings. There’s not much inspiration to be drawn from such a game, but let’s go through some of the biggest takeaways to see if we can at least learn something.

This seems to happen far too often for the Chicago Bulls.

With team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf in the stands, the Bulls lost in embarrassing fashion to the Phoenix Suns — a team that currently holds the second-worst record in the NBA — on Friday night.

Although the Bulls had a few small leads towards the beginning of the game, Phoenix was in control for the vast majority of the contest.

Dwyane Wade served as a bright spot in an otherwise bleak outing, putting up 18 points and showcasing some hops that might leave the 35-year-old feeling a little sore in the morning.

The bright spots, however, didn’t extend much further. In a very rare turn of events, the Bulls collected fewer rebounds than their opponent, which usually spells their demise since it’s one of the few areas in which they excel. Chicago pulled down 41 boards to the Suns’ 43.

The list of issues with the Bulls’ performance is lengthy, but it starts with their star player.

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Butler struggles in comeback

After missing three games with a heel contusion, the Bulls were desperate to get their best player back on the court, but what they got left something to be desired.

Jimmy Butler looked off from start to finish. His drives weren’t as explosive, he didn’t seem to be getting to his spots as easily, and his decision-making was questionable several times throughout. Whether it was a pass that wasn’t open or a forced shot that didn’t have a prayer, Butler simply wasn’t himself. It should be noted that he still scored 20 points, but that’s small potatoes for this guy, as we’ve seen.

The nadir of the evening came in the fourth quarter when Butler fell to the floor after he and Eric Bledsoe collided. Bledsoe fell on top of the same heel that had kept Butler out of the previous three games, and, naturally, Butler was slow to get back up.

It seemed as if Butler would be done for the night, and that was honestly kind of a relief. Chicago hadn’t looked engaged for most of the half, there was less than five minutes left of the game, and it just didn’t seem like they had a chance, even if they were only down 13. Not risking more missed games from Butler is clearly the smart move.

Jimmy had other plans.

After Denzel Valentine was already to check in for the star forward, Butler signaled to the bench that he would keep playing, even though he had yet to take a step without a limp at that point. It’s no secret that the power dynamics in Chicago aren’t normal, but Fred Hoiberg can’t let that happen. It’s not worth losing Butler for extended time so they can lose by six points instead of 18.

Sometimes, coaching a player hard means sitting them down when that’s the last thing they want.

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Younger and more athletic

The Bulls lost to a Phoenix Suns team that has lost 37 games so far this season, so it’s important that I clarify that the Suns are not a good team.

In fact, few teams in the NBA are worse. Having said that, there’s no denying that there’s a lot to be optimistic about in Phoenix.

Devin Booker is a star on the rise, despite the fact that he feels he can throw shade at Troy Daniels despite never playing in a playoff game in his life. Marquese Chriss is showing flashes of something on both ends while looking roughly 11 years old, and Eric Bledsoe is an absolute delight to watch.

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Throw in a smooth scorer like T.J. Warren and a hard-nosed defender like P.J. Tucker and you’ve got yourself a very watchable team. Even Alan Williams, who plays fewer than eight minutes a game, had some impressive defensive plays against the Bulls.

Booker is 20. Chriss is 19. Warren is 23. Williams in 24. Bledsoe and Tucker, the withered veterans of this group, are 27 and 31, respectively.

This team embodies the “younger and athletic” description laughably more than Chicago does, and for all the buzzwords and related garbage that Gar Forman spews out, this one is going to last a long time.

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The lineup carousel continues

This gem of a five-man unit came just before halftime, and it’s practically impossible to come up with some rational explanation behind it.

Defense? No, it’s undersized and Wade instead of Butler doesn’t make sense.

Shooting? Stop joking.

Playmaking? Maybe, but for what shooters?

I’m not trying to say that Fred shouldn’t experiment to try and find something that works. That’s part of the regular season grind. But there’s a line, and he’s crossed it and entered into the obnoxious. There’s no lessons to be learned from a lineup like this, other than wondering if it’s possible for a defense to ignore every single player on the perimeter at the same time.

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Young players like Denzel Valentine and Paul Zipser can’t be expected to develop with any sort of consistency if they’re pulled in and out of the rotation with seemingly no explanation. Furthermore, the lineups Fred throws out don’t seem to correspond with what Phoenix is doing on the other end.

The Suns are a different team when Eric Bledsoe sits and Brandon Knight replaces him. The pace slows down tremendously, so the Bulls would have been smart to play fast in response, something Rajon Rondo has repeatedly said he wants to do.

Instead, Hoiberg kept Dwyane Wade in the game for most of time that Bledsoe sat, and it becomes infinitely more difficult to play at a fast pace when someone as ball-dominant as Wade or Butler is running things.

It’s been 54 games. The Bulls are running out of time to figure out who they are.