BULLS DOZED IN THE PLAY IN, AND AT THEIR OPPORTUNITY FOR A REBUILD
Written by Dustin Jones
Bulls fans had high hopes for the potential of their home team to make some noise in the play in rounds after finishing the season with a stretch that saw them win 15 of their last 20 games. But it was just that, a stretch.
A leap of faith.
A suspension of reality so fanatical that the likes of it can only be found in the realm of Chicago sports. Chicago would need to beat the pesky Heat at home, just to earn the right to play the loser of the 7 vs 8 matchup between the Magic and the Hawks, just to earn the right to play the East’s number one seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs.
Nevertheless, Bulls fans put on their rose colored glasses and came out in force, selling out the United Center yet again. The Bulls rewarded their home fans with a lackluster effort on both sides of the ball. Allowing an embarrassing 71 first half points to a putrid Miami Heat offense, and giving their best effort to make Tyler Herro look like the most unstoppable shooting guard in the NBA. Offensively they weren’t much better, managing 47 first half points.
The game felt over before it even started, and ended in a 109-90 Miami Heat drubbing of the home town Bulls. For what it’s worth, Arturas Karnisovas believes the Bulls are on the “right path” and that playing in “meaningful” games is good for the internal development of his players.
So we should all take comfort in that.
Never mind the fact that they finished the regular season at 39-43, and as the tenth best team in a shoddy Eastern Conference.
Never mind the fact that making it into the play in was a hollow victory that ultimately did more damage than good for the future of this organization.
Never mind the fact that, even with the likes of Josh Giddey and Coby White on this roster, the Bulls are still worlds away from having the kind of talent that is necessary to compete in the NBA at a high level.
This is a team in desperate need of a complete rebuild. Unfortunately the GM of the Chicago Bulls seems to be a man who celebrates mediocrity, and uses it as a flimsy justification to keep repeating the same mistakes that doom this team to dwell in basketball purgatory.
AK waited two years too long to start this half assed “rebuild.” AK secretly extended Billy Donovan in 2022 with a contract we STILL don’t know the actual details of! AK is the basketball mastermind whose team construction has led the Bulls to 3 straight years of 10th place, 9th place, and 10th place finishes in the Eastern Conference.
“What’s more appalling than this?” you ask… the ultimate decision makers for this franchise think this guy is doing a good enough job at running this team to allow him to maintain his status as an NBA GM of one of the most valuable franchises in the league! Either that, or they don’t care enough to actually pay attention. If you can’t tell, this pisses me off, and it should piss you off too.
Bulls fans don’t seem to mind. They continue to sell out the UC night after night. They continue to support a team that doesn’t give the impression that they care about being truly competitive, and a team that clearly doesn’t care if you can even find them on your television! I’ve been with this team through many highs and lows in my over 30 years of fandom, but this is the lowest I can recall. The front office is clueless, the coaching is substandard, and the roster lacks the kind of premium talent that is necessary to compete within the top half of the NBA.
In trading Zach Lavine, the bulls were able to regain the unprotected rights to their original 2025 pick, which they probably would have kept anyway because they were never going to finish outside of the top 14. (Another hollow victory celebrated as if it was actually a meaningful victory for this front office). Instead of looking at this as a golden opportunity to add a top 5 player in this upcoming draft to a team in desperate need of impact players, the Bulls leaned into winning meaningless games to end the season and put forth the least inspiring performance of the play in rounds by far.
The result of this “valiant effort” is the Bulls are currently projected to pick 12th in the upcoming draft, with a 2.4% chance of ending up with the 4th pick. Coaches and GMs of teams that have experienced far more success have gotten the axe recently, while this Bulls franchise is content maintaining the status quo for another year that is sure to be spent in the NBA’s no man’s land. The Bulls had a legitimate chance to add some real talent to this team in this year’s upcoming draft, with Cooper Flagg being the top potential prize. Instead, they tricked themselves into believing they could be competitive… AGAIN.
The Miami Heat gave the Bulls and their fans a rude, but much needed, wake up call. This team is far from ready to compete on a high level, with no salvation in sight. But hey, at least Arturas Karnisovas believes the Bulls are on the right path. If this train wreck is ever going to get fixed the current front office needs to go. The current head coach and coaching staff needs to go. Hell, the ownership needs to sell to a group that will actually make winning in the third biggest market in the country a priority.
Unfortunately none of this seems likely to happen. Bulls fans keep showing up and supporting this abomination. The money keeps coming in, so why should ownership care? I guess it’s a plus that I can’t find this team on my TV anymore, because I don’t see this changing any time soon.
Congratulations Bulls! If your goal was to put an inferior product on the court, make that inferior product as inaccessible as possible to your fans, trade away your best assets for pennies on the dollar, go into this draft with the lowest draft pick possible, and alienate lifelong fans… then you just completed another successful season.
