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Editor\u2019s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic\u00a0here<\/a>. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Two nights earlier, clinging to a single-digit fourth-quarter lead in Orlando, Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey waltzed to the scorer\u2019s table.<\/p>\n It took 17 seconds before Giddey reverted to the bench of his own volition. He nudged coach Billy Donovan on his way back, a vote for a surging Ayo Dosunmu to keep playing. Giddey, moved by the momentum Chicago\u2019s reserves conjured, decided he wasn\u2019t needed. That he \u2014 a $100 million guard in a league of egos and agendas \u2014 was not bigger than the program.<\/p>\n That rippling choice could be felt on Monday.<\/p>\n The throughline in this 3-0 start to the season \u2014 wins over Detroit, Orlando and now Atlanta, which marks Chicago\u2019s best start to a campaign in four years \u2014 is that the Bulls have surrendered to their depth. They look left and right and are reassured not solely because Donovan\u2019s eager rotations leave them little choice. But because they trust the constant swaps, a belief partly born from summer kickbacks, a newfound camaraderie and youthful innocence.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got a selfless group,\u201d said Giddey, who totaled 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in Monday\u2019s 128-123 win over the Hawks. \u201cWe all want to win. That\u2019s our No. 1 priority. So, when a group and a lineup\u2019s rolling, you let them go, and you leave them out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Each night highlights a new hero. Or several. Tre Jones has snatched late-game glory and steadied this rapid-fire offense. Dosunmu\u2019s fourth-quarter shot-making has prevailed. Giddey\u2019s spin moves and rebounding have proved valuable. Patrick Williams looks different.<\/p>\n With each game, the Bulls have tallied an additional double-figure scorer: six versus Detroit, seven in Orlando and eight versus Atlanta. Chicago\u2019s bench scored 53 points versus the Hawks and 58 against the Magic.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all very connected,\u201d forward Matas Buzelis told\u00a0The Athletic. \u201cWe\u2019re all not jealous of each other when we\u2019re out there. We\u2019re excited for the next person up who\u2019s performing.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones, essentially discarded at February\u2019s trade deadline, has been surgically steady, a shepherd of offense, particularly necessary in the absence of a 20-point scorer. Active hands. Cool demeanor. A valuable reserve successfully settling into his guise as a starter in Coby White\u2019s absence because he both buoys Giddey and brings substance to second units.<\/p>\n He\u2019d never frown upon his experience in San Antonio. However, he\u2019s warm and bubbly over Chicago. Secure when the Bulls depend on him and Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107\u2019s pick-and-roll in glass-break scenarios. Seemingly grateful to be desired and used in the way he always hoped, as a traditional point guard who helps everybody eat.<\/p>\n Jones is almost too fitting a poster child for this Bulls start.<\/p>\n The Bulls have carried on as though the volatility embedded in this many substitutions and lineups is their weapon. There has been no truly transcendent Bulls lineup through three games. It has left room for risk in choosing combinations, chances Donovan was likely to take with such a youthful group anyway.<\/p>\n When Hawks coach Quin Snyder reached for lineups with big men Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is and Onyeka Okongwu, Donovan responded with Williams at center and at least three ballhandlers beside him.<\/p>\n The same small group that seemed destined to be buried by Porzi\u0146\u0123is on switches in Monday\u2019s second quarter eventually returned and remained afloat in the fourth, the kind of marathon these Bulls have run through three games. An answer for one of Chicago\u2019s lineups early on does not guarantee one late, when the Bulls have swapped player after player over and over. Catch them if you can.<\/p>\n \u201cBest teams in the league,\u201d Giddey said, \u201cthey can go nine, 10, 11 guys deep, and there\u2019s no drop off from first unit (to) second unit.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan\u2019s turnstile saw wrinkles unique to Monday. Marksman Kevin Huerter was plugged late, his movement shooting threatening Atlanta\u2019s switches. Isaac Okoro, who\u2019d missed all eight of his field-goal attempts through his first couple of games, shed any previously timid nature with the ball. He hung on the rim and drilled 3s; his 10 points were a breakthrough.<\/p>\n Buzelis has been a beneficiary. He\u2019s gone cold and has also thrived. He\u2019s been pushed around and has also done the manhandling. That Donovan has ventured so deep into the rotation has made up for any errors Buzelis has made early in this sophomore season, a year so vital for his development. It\u2019s also provided an idea of who Buzelis has to be.<\/p>\n In Orlando, the 21-year-old ambled to the bench with 10 minutes left in the game. What started as a whistle-induced sulk flared when he slapped the seat next to him. He spent most of the night there, just the second time he\u2019s fouled out in his career (the other instance, he begrudgingly noted, was also in Orlando). His teammates carried the load, and on Monday, they gave him the chance to work through those issues in real time.<\/p>\n Hawks forward Jalen Johnson wasn\u2019t any easier to handle than Paolo Banchero. Buzelis, thrilled to carry Donovan\u2019s physical orders, drew two quick fouls. His touch fell flat when trying to power through Johnson, shooting 2 of 7 for a minus-13 in the first half.<\/p>\n However, the Bulls\u2019 depth was the crutch Buzelis needed before he could make precise reads and get out of his own head. He made four of his final five attempts, finishing with 16 points and five boards.<\/p>\n The viability of this depth remains to be seen. Three games ain\u2019t 82. Three Eastern Conference foes \u2014 albeit three widely predicted to finish higher than Chicago \u2014 don\u2019t speak for the league. The idea that this marriage of depth and connection could thrust the Bulls into the playoff picture is just three games old.<\/p>\n However, Dosunmu felt this sensation in the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt special just going to dinners,\u201d Dosunmu, who scored a team-high 21 points Monday, said of the team\u2019s connection. \u201cI think this group, by far, is probably the closest group in terms of that. You know how sometimes you\u2019re around some teams where it might\u2019ve been forced in terms of the way we clicked as fast?<\/p>\n \u201cBut this group, we can go on a bus ride and we\u2019re laughing, we\u2019re talking about the NBA. It\u2019s more of a brotherhood, because we relate to each other more.\u201d<\/p>\n These youngins can revel in naivete. This juncture is one without onerous expectations; they\u2019ve already arguably made Chicago basketball as fun as it\u2019s been in years. They\u2019re empowered to believe that friendship fuels momentum in this league, because as far as they know, it does.<\/p>\n \u201cYou ever went to the park and played with your brothers?\u201d Dosunmu said. \u201cIf your brother (is) open, you gon\u2019 throw it to him, right? Because that\u2019s your brother. I think that\u2019s the type of relationship we have.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Joel Lorenzi<\/a>\u00a0is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Chicago Bulls and NBA. Prior to joining the Athletic, he covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for The Oklahoman for two seasons. He\u2019s the recipient of the 2023 USBWA Rising Star Award. A graduate of the University of Missouri, Joel was born and raised on the West Side of Chicago.\u00a0Follow Joel on Twitter\u00a0@JoelXLorenzi<\/a><\/p>\n