The Chicago Bulls have leaned into their youth movement since losing Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams for the season. But it is the players on the other end of the team’s age curve who are putting the Bulls outside the ball clubs expected to be a threat from the play-in tournament ranks this season, per Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey.
Putting Chicago squarely with the squads he calls “no-chancers,” for the Bulls, in the B/R analyst’s estimation, “a deep playoff run (which we’ll define, perhaps arbitrarily, as a conference finals appearance) just isn’t in the cards” due to the age of some of Chicago’s top players.
Other “no-chancer” teams include the Indiana Pacers (“too young” for Bailey), Atlanta Hawks (“too Hawks,” he notes vaguely, yet we all somehow understand), Brooklyn Nets (“probably won’t even be in the play-in”), Sacramento Kings (“the toughest cut”) and Houston Rockets (“too young”).
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In fairness, the sort of teams Bailey sees as a “dangerous” play-in team include clubs like the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Philadelphia 76ers, all of whom would likely be favored vs. the Bulls.