The conclusion of the NBA Cup marks the end of the first third of the season.
As trade talks heat up and All-Star voting commences, what better time to reflect on how the Chicago Bulls have done up to this point?
CHANGES FROM LAST SEASON
The Bulls traded Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan and did not re-sign Andre Drummond during the offseason. These trades gave Chicago young pieces in Josh Giddey and two second-round picks. Caruso, DeRozan, and Drummond’s departures vacated minutes filled by young players such as Ayo Dosunmu, Matas Buzelis, Julian Phillips, and Jalen Smith.
Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball, and Nikola Vucevic are the remaining veterans on the team. LaVine and Vucevic are having one of the best seasons of their careers, while Ball is in and out of the lineup due to injury management.
Even though the team has gotten younger and the veterans are playing at a higher level, nothing has changed record-wise. Being a Bulls fan feels like being stuck in the movie Groundhog Day, reliving the same season over and over.
ONCE AN ACCIDENT, TWICE A COINCIDENCE, THREE TIMES A PATTERN
The Bulls are 13-15 through 28 games and are currently the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference. Before the season, it wouldn’t take a fortune teller to predict that the Bulls would be fighting for a Play-In spot. This is because they have been in the Play-In Tournament for the past two seasons.
This has been the story for the Bulls long before the NBA introduced the Play-In Tournament.
After the 2014-15 season, the Chicago Bulls fired head coach Tom Thibodeau. That season was the last time the Bulls won 50 games and a playoff series.
Why would the Bulls fire the second-best head coach by win percentage in franchise history? Bulls Owner Jerry Reinsdorf answered this question in the statement announcing Thibodeau’s firing.
“To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required,” said Reinsdorf.
Since Thibodeau’s firing, the Bulls have not continued to grow or had playoff success. They have finished above the eighth seed only once since 2015, in the 2021-22 season, when they briefly held the top spot in the East before Lonzo Ball’s injury sent them to the playoffs as the sixth seed.
The Bulls have been stuck in basketball limbo— too good to get a top pick, too bad to achieve success.
In sports, mediocrity is worse than failure. Failure gives you a chance at a higher draft pick and allows fans to look toward the future. Mediocrity has caused the Bulls to trot out the same team each year, making no significant trades or signings and expecting a different result.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR
If there has been a silver lining this season for the Bulls, it is the play of their young players.
The Bulls were trailing the entire game against the Celtics on Thursday. Then they subbed in their bench to end the third and start the fourth.
During that stretch, the Bulls went on a 19-4 run against the defending champs. They were down four entering the fourth after a Talen Horton-Tucker buzzer-beater floater to end the third and ended the run up nine points with 7:41 left in the game.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan has been getting quality minutes from his young players this season. Their success has forced the front office to focus on the future.
It has been reported since November that the Bulls will be sellers at the trade deadline. This marks a shift, as Chicago has been inactive at the trade deadline for the past three years.
Trade talks will only heat up as the weather gets colder. The Bulls have until February 6 at 3 pm ET to make a move.
Bulls fans have been asking for the same thing for Christmas every year — a direction for the team. It seems like this year, Chicago’s front office will finally choose to rebuild and focus on the future.
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