The Chicago Bulls are in an awful spot. In an NBA where championships reign supreme, the Bulls haven’t been a title contender since the Derrick Rose years, and even then, they only made it past the first round three times, including one Eastern Conference finals appearance. Needless to say, the Bulls have had a rough go of things since Michael Jordan left at the turn of the century.
Two years ago, Chicago made an attempt to push forward, trading for Nikola Vucevic and signing DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, and Alex Caruso. Unfortunately, their current core isn’t a championship-caliber team. During a recent article for CHGO, Will Gotleib provided a bleak outlook for the Bulls.
According to Gottlieb, the Bulls would be lucky to make the Play-In Tournament next season, as the rest of the league around them is either staying competitive or improving.
“I’d put it at 50/50…. to make the Play-In.
“Barring major changes (and there may be major changes), the Celtics, Bucks and 76ers remain significantly better,” Gottlieb wrote. “The Cavs, Knicks, Heat and Hawks too. Depending on what happens with the Nets and Raptors, the Bulls are effectively in the same spot they were last year. The difference is, they have very few avenues to improve, while the rest of those teams still have upside.”
In addition, he noted that Chicago is more likely to regress than improve.
“In other words, their risk of downside exceeds their potential to improve,” Gottlieb wrote. “There is no Victor Wembanyama in next year’s draft — teams won’t be racing towards the bottom. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Bulls miss the Play-In Tournament if they keep things as is while the rest of the league improves around them.”
As the Bulls push forward, the future looks grim.
