© Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
DeMar DeRozan is by far the Chicago Bulls’ player who contributes the most to winning games
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With Zach LaVine finding his way and Lonzo Ball still out, much of the pressure to carry the Chicago Bulls’ offense has fallen on DeMar DeRozan’s shoulders.
Per Basketball-Reference, DeRozan has 2.2 Win Shares; he’s the only Bulls player above 1.3. To put this number into perspective, Nikola Vucevic has 1.3 Win Shares and LaVine 0.6.
Win Shares is an advanced metric that measures how many wins a player adds (or costs) to their team’s season total. It includes game, season, and league-wide data.
DeRozan also carried the Bulls last season
Unsurprisingly, DeRozan led the Bulls with 8.8 Win Shares last season. He was three wins ahead of LaVine (5.8 Win Shares). Vucevic was third on the team last season, contributing 4.5 wins, followed by Javonte Green at 4.4 wins.
Vucevic is not known for his defense at the center position. Green will not score as many points as Vucevic, but he adds tremendous value based on his efforts on defense in fewer minutes. This season, Green ranks third on the Bulls with 0.9 Win Shares.
LaVine has to step up
DeRozan accounts for almost two-thirds of the Bulls’ wins this season. The Bulls need to turn around their season fast before teams like the Heat, Nets, and 76ers figure things out and start winning games regularly. Beating the Celtics on Monday was a nice first step, but some more help for DeRozan would make a big difference.
LaVine is the player who has to level up. He didn’t play to his potential against the Celtics, but his 22 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals on 8-of-20 shooting and 5-of-10 from three-point range are a step in the right direction, especially because nine of his points came in the fourth quarter.
DeRozan has been on a run for the ages since last season. Some help would be nice, and LaVine’s play is one of the keys to the Bulls’ success in the next few weeks.
