Do The Bulls Have The Best Young Core In The NBA?

In case you missed it, the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics last night 126-116 led by 42 points from Zach LaVine and 35 points & 15 rebounds from Lauri Markkanen. Becoming the first Bulls teammates to reach 35+ in the same game since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in 1996.

After watching that game it really got me thinking about where those two players and the Bulls young core as a whole ranks throughout the league. The last month with Anthony Davis trade rumors swirling there was so much talk about the Celtics and Lakers young pieces and how strong they were. Are we sure our Chicago Bulls don't have the best young core? Let's play a little game here. I am going to list 6 players anonymously and you tell me who the best two are.

Player A: 16.4 PPG-6.3 RPG-1.9 APG on 46% FG-38% 3P-86% FT

Player B: 19.1 PPG-5.7 RPG-2.5 APG on 47% FG-32% 3P-77% FT

Player C: 23.3 PPG-4.5 RPG-4.4 APG on 46% FG-36% 3P-86% FT

Player D: 12.8 PPG-4.3 RPG-1.3 APG on 45% FG-33% 3P-68% FT

Player E: 17 PPG-5 RPG-3 APG on 49% FG-30% 3P-67% FT

Player F: 19.1 PPG-9 RPG-1.3 APG on 44% FG-38% 3P-87% FT

Ok so here are your answers now:

Player A- Jayson Tatum

Player B- Kyle Kuzma

Player C- Zach LaVine

Player D- Jaylen Brown

Player E: Brandon Ingram

Player F: Lauri Markkanen

Obviously this list excludes Lonzo Ball who may be the best prospect the Lakers have depending on how you look at him. It doesn't include some of the other Bulls young guys like Otto Porter Jr. and Wendell Carter Jr. And it doesn't include Terry Rozier or Robert Williams or any other young asset, player or pick, that the Celtics have. I took the top two young prospects from each team based on stats and how they have been producing this season. I understand stats aren't everything and there are a lot of intangible skills that players can have that you simply can't quantify. But taking a dive into the numbers produced some interesting results.

I have to say I still think Jayson Tatum is the best prospect on this list. We saw him go toe to toe as the Celtics best plyaer last year with LeBron in 7 games of the Eastern Conference Finals and that just has to count for something. Plus, if he was on the Bulls where he was the focal point my guess would be he would be putting up similar stats to LaVine and Markkanen, if not better. But you can't diminish what LaVine and Markkanen are doing just because they are in a situation that grants them as much freedom offensively as they have. They are still putting up the numbers and doing it rather efficiently.

LaVine is averaging 23.3 PPG and Markkanen 19.1 PPG, it is more than likely in a year from now they will both be north of 20 PPG and as of right now there are only six teams in the league who have at least two players averaging 20+ PPG, the Warriors (3), Thunder (2), Pelicans? (3), Sixers (2), Blazers (2), Spurs (2). Five of those six teams are likely to be in the playoffs and four of the six would likely be favorited to advance to at least the conference semis.

I think you can make an argument that any of these young cores are great. This was in no way intended to disregard the young talent on the Lakers and Celtics it was more of a plea to have the Chicago Bulls core start being in that conversation. People lie, numbers don't..