14 hours Ago By Julia Poe
The Chicago Bulls aren’t tanking. At least, not if the players have anything to say about it. Zach LaVine made that clear last week after the Bulls put together a rare streak of three consecutive wins capped with an upset over the Boston Celtics .
“Players and coaches never tank,” LaVine said. “It’s not going to happen.” That shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone who has fired up the antenna to watch the Bulls this season.
LaVine and fellow veteran Nikola Vučević have anchored the Bulls through a complete offensive overhaul. Their new style of play demands some of the highest-effort workloads in the entire league — and players from LaVine all the way down the rotation to Jevon Carter are stepping up to that challenge. And as a result, the Bulls aren’t anywhere close to as bad as they might have planned.
With one week left until 2025, the Bulls are still ninth in the Eastern Conference, a position in the standings that has become a sort of purgatory for this franchise over the last three years. And with 30 games gone by, the Bulls are inching closer to missing the boat on any attempt to save their top-10 protected draft pick. This might seem like an overreaction.
The Bulls are only 1.5 games above the playoff line. Even with its current level of effort and buy-in (and 3-point sharp shooting), this roster hasn’t been able to elevate itself above .
500. Monday night’s dismal loss to the Milwaukee Bucks highlighted the unfortunate truth that this team’s promise hasn’t crystallized into anything seriously competitive. As far as coach Billy Donovan is concerned, the only goal for this season is to keep attempting to win.
Chicago Bulls players yell from the bench after forward Jalen Smith made a shot against the Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center on Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (Armando L.
Sanchez/Chicago Tribune) “Collectively inside the organization, there is an expectation about the integrity of competition,” Donovan said. “Nothing has ever been said to me like, ‘Listen, we’ve got to keep this pick so do this and this.’ That is not happening.
” This is the correct way to approach this type of season. There’s no easier way to lose the loyalty of a player or coach than by speaking honestly with them about the reality of needed losses in a season. But this is also why executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley can only accomplish tanking this season through transactions.
So that brings us back to the tanking . Tanking is an ugly thing to talk about. Fans don’t want to hear about it.
Players don’t like it. Coaches and front offices can’t even begin to admit to it. Beat reporters certainly tire of writing about it.
And even in the seasons where it makes the most sense — when the stakes are a truly generational player like Victor Wembanyama or Caitlin Clark — it can be hard for any casual viewer of the game to stomach the months of monotonous losing required to reach the finish line and claim a lottery pick. That doesn’t make it any less necessary. The Bulls need a rebuild as much as any team in the NBA.
This is not a reflection of the stars on this current roster — the effort and execution from LaVine and Vučević in particular have proven their value as contending cornerstones — but the Bulls have simply run out of runway. And they knew that. The front office entered this season with a shifted focus on evaluating value and moving players to begin a new stage of building through the draft and the trade market.
So why isn’t that clear in the standings? Related Articles Chicago Bulls | Chicago basketball report: Tyler Marsh hires his first Sky assistant in Courtney Paris — and Alex Caruso gets paid Chicago Bulls | Column: Chicago Bulls are still looking for an identity while former Bull Alex Caruso gets rewarded for his Chicago Bulls | Photos: Milwaukee Bucks 112, Chicago Bulls 91 Chicago Bulls | Column: Will the Chicago Bulls tank or go for it? The next month of play should provide the answer. Chicago Bulls | Alex Caruso signs a multiyear extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder There was no harm in letting this team rip for the first few weeks. LaVine and Vučević needed to rebuild their trade value (mission accomplished).
Lonzo Ball is still getting his legs back under him as he pushes the limits on his minutes restriction. Young players like Matas Buzelis deserve plenty of time to develop. But here’s the thing about the Eastern Conference this season: mediocrity isn’t cutting it.
In the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns have a .500 record and are still sitting just outside playoff contention. But the East is a different story.
The Washington Wizards have already carved out a 7-and-a-half-game margin at the bottom of the standings. The Toronto Raptors (minus-19) and Charlotte Hornets (minus-18.5) aren’t far behind.
Above those three bottom-feeders lives a whole lot of uncertainty. The Philadelphia 76ers are floundering. The Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons are jockeying for the last spot in (or out).
And the Bulls are treading water in the middle of it all — too low in the standings to ever challenge for an outright playoff spot, too high to hang onto their first-round pick. The players have made it clear: even despite their shortcomings, they won’t be completing this tank job on their own. The rest is up to the front office.
And without a significant series of moves in the next month, the Bulls will remain in this same meaningless position — too mediocre to satisfy fans in either direction. Bah humbug..
