Projected starting lineup and rotation for the Bulls NBA preseason game against the Cavaliers

It's finally here – the Chicago Bulls will play a real basketball game in October ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season, starting the preseason with a test against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The score won't matter (it never does in the preseason), but the team's lineups and rotations will.

How many minutes do Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and other veterans have to shake off some rust?

How often will newcomer Josh Giddey play and how much time will he spend with key teammates like LaVine and Coby White?

What will a healthy and newly paid Patrick Williams look like? Is rookie Matas Buzelis ready to take on new competition?

And perhaps most interestingly, will Lonzo Ball appear on an NBA floor for the first time since January 2022?

Here's how things could look for head coach Billy Donovan as Chicago begins the 2024-25 NBA season.

The most important question is whether Donovan decides to field a starting lineup similar to the one he will start the first game of the regular season with.

If that's the case, it looks something like this:

Giddey is reported as day-to-day with an ankle injury but is expected to play.

If he can't go or Chicago decides to hold him back out of caution, Ayo Dosunmu could start in his place, or the Bulls could go with White and LaVine in the backfield and a big lineup with Buzelis and Williams in the frontcourt.

It's questionable whether Ball will play against the Cavs, but there's no reason to push him to play in the team's first preseason game unless it's for minimal minutes. If Giddey doesn't play, he might start and play a few minutes or come on at some point in the fourth quarter.

Buzelis will likely play significant minutes when he gets his first taste of NBA action. Given Williams' injury history, the rookie could play the power forward role for most of the evening.

Likewise, Jalen Smith should take over Vucevic's position at center, as the veteran big man shouldn't need much preseason preparation to be ready for opening night. If the 33-year-old has to play fewer minutes in the regular season, that makes all the more sense.

Dosunmu will be on the field for an extended period of time whether he's in the starting lineup or not, but Donovan's rotation in the backcourt will be interesting to see.

Does the more defensive-minded Dosunmu play alongside the more offensive-minded White? Does he pair with Giddey and essentially play as a 3-and-D guard? That also depends on how many minutes Donovan dedicates to LaVine.

It would be interesting to see a small lineup of Giddey, White, LaVine, Williams and Buzelis as a group that could do some real damage in transition if Buzelis starts to show some of the promise he showed as a high school prospect. before disappointing last year in the G League.

The Bulls have a variety of playing options at their disposal, especially considering this is the opening round of preseason and experimenting with a mix of young, out-of-field players is easy.