Paul Sullivan: Chicago Bulls begin their 2021-22 journey with a 94-88 win over the Detroit Pistons — and with many questions waiting to be answered

After all of the hype about the Chicago Bulls roster overhaul, the new era finally began Wednesday night with the season opener against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena.

But was this really the beginning of a new era for the Bulls or just a continuation of the evolution that began with last spring’s acquisition of Orlando Magic star Nikola Vučević by executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas?

Before the Bulls’ 94-88 win over the Pistons, coach Billy Donovan didn’t care to put any labels on this 2021-22 journey.

“I don’t know, this is my second year here,” Donovan said. “I mean, our team has totally changed, and Artūras and (general manager) Marc (Eversley) have been pretty open about the fact they wanted to look at ways, after evaluating last year, (that) we could get better. Starting with Vooch last year at the trade deadline and then free agency, there were moves we made to try to make the team better.

“I don’t know if I would classify it as a new era or a new age. For me it’s just a new season, and your personnel has changed.”

Whatever you call it, the changes have been welcomed by Bulls fans, who have waited patiently for something to cling to after years of paying exorbitant ticket prices to watch an inferior product.

The only constant outside of the losing has been the upwardly mobile path of Bulls star Zach LaVine, who finally has some help in his quest to make his first postseason appearance.

Though Vučević, DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball are expected to put up significant numbers themselves, rest assured this is still LaVine’s team and will be unless he decides to leave as a free agent next summer.

“He’s been here the longest for sure, so it is his team,” Vučević said before Wednesday’s game. “He’s our go-to guy and so we know what we expect from him, but we’re all here to help him and we all have our qualities and we can all help this team grow and be a very good team.

“Each of us individually, we don’t look at it that way as much, but he has been here the longest and we know he’s definitely earned that title by that and also by his play.”

This will be a work in progress, in spite of the added experience on the roster. After showing off their new up-tempo offense in the preseason, the Bulls got off to a sluggish start in the opener, shooting 28% (7-for-25) in the first quarter and trailing 20-14 with only four fast-break points. They began to jell in the second after Alex Caruso replaced Ball, who waited until 8½ minutes were left in the half to hit his first shot as a Bull.

LaVine began to heat up in the second, and the Bulls kept things close with their defense to go to the locker room down 44-40.

He’s only 26, but it seems as though LaVine has been around much longer. He’s coming off a career-best season, averaging 27.4 points, earning his first All-Star berth and winning a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics. His brand is also on the rise with a co-starring role in a new Mountain Dew commercial with Zion Williamson.

Still, LaVine knows he has to improve on defense and cut down turnovers. Until he proves otherwise, there always will be those who doubt he can be the centerpiece of a championship-caliber team.

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned about LaVine, it’s that he doesn’t care what others believe.

“I really don’t go off what other people say,” he said Monday. “I go off what my own expectations are and my own goals. I don’t want to have any regrets, and I want to go out there and be the best Zach LaVine I can be. That’s why I come in the gym late, why I get up early and get my shots up and try to help my team.

“I want to win this year and be able to have the correct pieces to go out there and do that. I don’t put any expectations on myself. I just want to be me and I want this team to be very successful and I’ll do whatever I can for that.”

With all the new talent, the Bulls at the very least should compete for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, which is still top-loaded. Anything less would be a disappointment.

But Donovan said Wednesday there were areas of concern after the 4-0 preseason.

“Are we doing things that are sustainable?” he asked rhetorically. “This is going to be a long journey for us. The expectation for me going into this game is, OK, the things we have really tried to focus on, how well can we get out and run (and) the emphasis we’ve put on things defensively.

“Because everyone knows we’re undersized. Can we rebound at the level that is necessary? Can we generate offense? Some of our offensive numbers have just been OK. Part of it is we haven’t got to the free-throw line very much. There’s a lot we have to improve upon, but the things are in front of us.”

The journey is just beginning, and those questions will be answered before too long.

The only thing we learned Wednesday is the Bulls will be interesting to watch — and nothing is guaranteed.