■ Bulls are further ahead in their rebuild, but the Hawks are stocked with young talent.

Bulls further ahead in rebuild, but the Hawks have youth

When the Bulls and Hawks took the court Saturday night at the United Center, neither look liked the team they envisioned before the season.

Trae Young didn’t travel to Chicago after rolling his right ankle Friday against the Bucks, the second time this season an ankle injury has sidelined the second-year point guard. For the Bulls, Kris Dunn started in place of Otto Porter Jr. (broken left foot) for the 14th time this season.

At least the Hawks had John Collins back for the third game since returning from a 25-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, and Bulls big man Lauri Markkanen played despite an illness.

The Bulls and Hawks, both youthful teams at different stages in their rebuilds, have been forced to temper expectations. The Bulls hoped to be a playoff contender but are 13-20 after their 116-81 victory Saturday. The Hawks simply wanted to show improvement but are 6-27, three games worse than at the same point in 2018-19.

Here’s how the teams compare.

1. The Bulls are young, but in some ways the Hawks are younger.

Bulls: The Bulls are further along with key pieces such as Zach LaVine, Markkanen and Dunn having at least three years of experience, but they also rely heavily on second-year big Wendell Carter Jr. and rookie Coby White.

And they’ve show in fits and starts that they’re still learning on the job.

Coach Jim Boylen said he and executive vice president John Paxson focus on individual player evaluations in their talks.

“What I try to do is take a thought or idea or a notion that I have and work on it in practice,” Boylen said. “I just don’t say we’re going to get better on this and then not go work on it. We usually show it in the film room and then we go out and try to work on it.”

Hawks: With all due respect to Boylen, who often makes note of the Bulls being the third-youngest team in the league, the Hawks’ average age is boosted by 42-year-old Vince Carter and 31-year-olds Evan Turner and Chandler Parsons.

All of their core — Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Bruno Fernando — were all acquired within the last two seasons.

Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce has been through this sort of “process.”

“I’ve been through seven topfive picks straight in the draft between here and Philly. … The more picks you acquire, the more assets you acquire, the younger you’re going to get.”

And with youth, he said, “it’s going to take a while. You go into the season understanding what the situation is.”

2. In terms of starting lineups, neither team can keep it together.

Bulls: They hitched a lot of their hopes onto Porter when they acquired the wing in a trade last season, but he has played in only nine games, and his injury figures to keep him out at least into January. Chandler Hutchison filled in for a while but has been battling injuries all season too.

The Bulls, however, have been better equipped to compensate for their losses. Dunn has helped raised the defensive intensity of the starters and brings other attributes that aren’t necessarily the strong suit of the sharpshooting Porter.

Hawks: Injuries and Collins’ suspension have thwarted their hopes of seeing and evaluating Young, Collins and Kevin Huerter together.

“I joked to (vice president of basketball operations) Rod Higgins, one of our pro scouts (and a) former player, on the plane last night. I said, ‘What is that now? Four and a half games that John and Trae have played together?’” Pierce said.

That doesn’t give coaches much in terms of a sample size.

“As you’re trying to build and grow some chemistry among the group, it’s hard when you’re missing a body,” Pierce said.

3. Both teams are sorting out roles for key players.

Bulls: Dunn has stepped in at small forward and has worked on improving his 3-point shot. Boylen asked White to play more point guard when Dunn was promoted to the first team, hence some of White’s shooting struggles for stretches as he tried to adjust.

The team also has been trying to form chemistry with new point guard Tomas Satoransky. Hawks: They used to back youngsters such as Huerter with veterans such as Kevin Bazemore, but many of those vets play for other teams now. Huerter has had to take on other roles, such as playing point guard in the second quarter to help spell Young, who’s no longer backed by Jeremy Lin. Huerter summed up the situation perfectly be reflecting on his circumstances.

“Lot of new faces in here,” he said. “I was a new face here last year. … I just trying to do what I can, obviously helping these guys but still learning to do things myself. It’s definitely a little bit different, forced a couple of us to grow up a little bit quicker. We’re trying to do a lot of things on the fly.”