Chicago Bulls ranked 20th in Bleacher Report's Power Rankings heading to the All-Star break

The Bulls are right around the middle at the All-Star break.

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The Chicago Bulls are a mediocre team that doesn’t have much room to move up the standings. They hold a 26-29 record at the All-Star break, good for ninth in the Eastern Conference standings, and 4.5 games behind the last automatic ticket to the NBA Playoffs, held by the sixth-place Indiana Pacers.

That said, Bleacher Report’s Power Rankings have the Bulls ranked 20th heading into the All-Star break. This is not a promising position, as it puts them near the bottom third of all NBA teams.

Ray of hope

While the Bulls, as currently constructed, may never budge from where it’s been the past two seasons, several young players offer the franchise hope. One of them is third-year guard Ayo Dosunmu, who has stepped up in the absences of Zach LaVine—who’s out for the season after undergoing foot surgery—and Patrick Williams, who still doesn’t have a timeline for a return to action due to a foot injury.

“He had a bit of a letdown in Wednesday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, scoring 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, but Ayo Dosunmu had averaged 15.9 points, 3.4 assists, and 2.2 threes while shooting 52.5 percent from deep over his previous 14 games. And while he's probably not what you'd call a "prospect," he is still just 24 years old. There's still some time between now and his prime to develop,” Andy Bailey wrote.

Ayo Dosunmu is the only reason I live pic.twitter.com/drmq8FTLgw

— Armchair Illinois (@ArmchairIllini) February 11, 2024

Young Bulls keeping this fledgling team afloat

While the play of veterans DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, and Nikola Vucevic has been vital in helping the Bulls rise from a dreadful 5-14 start, it’s the performances of Dosunmu and the breakout season of Coby White—who’s averaging 19.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game—that gives the team hope for the future.

“For a team and front office that seems hellbent on remaining mediocre, little stretches like this—or Coby White's season-long breakout—are the occasional rays of hope for those Chicago Bulls fans who may have given up on the organization (at least in its current form) ever officially rebuilding,” Bailey continued.

Coby took the defense dancing 🕺@NBCSChicago | @CobyWhite pic.twitter.com/MKhXACNNeo

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) February 15, 2024

Billy Donovan on 2024 All-Star bids of DeMar DeRozan and Coby White: "More than worthy of consideration for it by everybody"