We are less than a month away from teams reporting to training camps around the NBA, and the official first sign that the new season is almost upon us is the annual release of the latest installment of the NBA 2K franchise, NBA 2K24.
While fans of the game will be concerned mostly with the gameplay changes and updated game modes, general NBA fans are always interested in seeing how the ratings folks at 2K grade out all of the players and teams in the league. Player ratings always spark debate, particularly among how they rank top stars and regarding players whose impact often isn’t fully felt in the box score — or, vice versa, those who put up big stats but might not always contribute to winning basketball. As far as team ratings, 2K has moved away from dramatic differences between top and bottom teams, as the lowest rated team in this year’s edition is an 86 OVR and they don’t even show team ratings in the game setup screen (you can find them in MySeason mode when picking through teams to start a franchise with).
The Chicago Bulls were minutes away from making the playoffs as the 8-seed last year, but fell short in their second Play-In game to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat. Entering the 2023-24 season, the Bulls return a roster that’s mostly the same as the one that went 40-42 a year ago, with some depth additions in the backcourt and on the wing, but the majority of the rotation will remain unchanged. That’s not a huge surprise given their financial situation, but there also isn’t a ton of excitement around a Bulls team that certainly seems to have a ceiling on them without Lonzo Ball — who will miss a second consecutive full season with his knee injury — although Bulls fans can play out the season on 2K with their star point guard. Even without Ball, there is ample talent on this roster, as evidenced by their 2K24 player ratings, but the question is whether this accumulation of talent can ever play the kind of complementary basketball needed to take a step forward.
Chicago Bulls: 91 OVR, 93 OFF, 88 DEF
Zach LaVine: 86
DeMar DeRozan: 86
Nikola Vucevic: 84
Lonzo Ball: 81
Alex Caruso: 78
Andre Drummond: 77
Patrick Williams: 77
Coby White: 76
Jevon Carter: 75
Torrey Craig: 75
Ayo Dosunmu: 74
Dalen Terry: 72
Terry Taylor: 71
Julian Phillips: 70
Carlik Jones: 67
Justin Lewis: 67
