Bulls dip to historic depths, extend losing streak to 11 games
Inside the walls that once housed a dynasty, the rampant effects of a rebuild run their course.
After wiping their hands of their last blueprint, rearranging the roster with the future in mind — namely, June’s NBA Draft — the Chicago Bulls have reached damning depths. Thursday’s 121-112 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers was their 11th straight defeat, sealing the worst month in franchise history: 0-11 in February.
Granted, this discordant group was assembled three weeks ago. It doesn’t erase the burden they feel to produce meaningful growth, or to avoid stumbling into the burned pages of a storied franchise.
There’s denial from players. Exasperation from a coach who’s wired to win. Fighting against their own roster construction, the Bulls have yet to wake up from a front-office-induced fever dream.
They refuse to believe that they’re as inept as February painted them.
“I mean, we’re not making excuses,” wing Isaac Okoro said Thursday night. “We don’t think we’re 11, 12 games losing streak bad.”
The Bulls began February with a 24-25 record before executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnišovas, weary of the middle of the standings, shook things up ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. They’ve lost every game since, and 14 of their last 15 overall. This 11-game skid is tied for the third-worst losing streak in Bulls history, their worst since 2000.
Chicago’s seven trades earlier this month created so much turnover that Okoro, in his first season with the Bulls, scored the prized corner locker closest to the training room (no one sits to his right). Its previous owner? Nikola Vučević.
These Bulls lack talent, fit, health and chemistry. Their impromptu centers barely played at prior stops and now log starter minutes. Their new guards, who add to a crowded position group, are all auditioning to some degree.
The youngest, 21-year-old Rob Dillingham, is erratic and grappling with newfound opportunity. Collin Sexton, 27, is on an expiring deal and seemingly faces an uphill battle to stick with a group that projects to be younger than him next season. Anfernee Simons is out indefinitely with a wrist fracture, which coach Billy Donovan disclosed as a lingering injury from his training camp with the Boston Celtics. Jaden Ivey remains sidelined, attempting to strengthen leg muscles after notable injuries.
Then there’s the frontcourt.
Zach Collins might be the best screener Josh Giddey has teamed with through five NBA seasons. He might never truly know; they shared 10 games this season before Collins’ season was shut down last week for toe surgery.
Noa Essengue, the 12th pick in last year’s draft who had a shoulder procedure in the fall, played six minutes as a rookie. Pat Williams and Jalen Smith will miss at least a week with their respective injuries, by Donovan’s estimation.
This is the Billy Bunch.
A mirror of their prideful coach, insistent on finding cohesion and identity while being resentful of any inkling of a losing mentality. Pride forces them to reject what’s unfolding.
“I don’t think the trades, whoever’s on the court — I don’t think it affects anything,” Okoro said. “We can control whatever we do on the court. We can control our turnovers, we can control how we block out, control our rebounding. We control if we’re playing hard.”
Since the deadline, the Bulls have averaged a league-worst 19 turnovers per game. Their net rating of minus-14.1 ranks at the bottom of the league. They own the NBA’s second-worst offense with an offensive rating of 106. They also boast the fourth-worst defense in that span, only outdone by the Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks — tanking squads showing them how it’s done.
Matas Buzelis earned new expectations, with a green light on a more ambitious shot diet. But Chicago’s offense can often fall into ill-fated isolation. The spacing and passing often make this look like a team that’s existed for mere weeks.
A loaded upcoming draft class, with several projected franchise-altering talents and a slew of tantalizing mid-lottery guards, is the focus in Chicago. With the current state of lottery odds, time ticks on their chances to capitalize on this losing. The Bulls, the only major-market team with a small-market payroll and tendencies, approach one of the most important drafts in franchise history.
If these Bulls were designed with the caveat that they joined their rebuilding cohorts four months late, the existing roster is making up for lost time. The Utah Jazz, taxed for yanking starters before the fourth quarter and effectively playing in the face of commissioner Adam Silver, were fined two weeks ago. The Kings, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards have all long felt so enchanted by the prospect of drafting Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa or Cameron Boozer that none of them have more than 16 wins.
There are levels to this.
In a world where tanking teams grow more audacious much earlier in the calendar, the Bulls are delivering what might be the NBA’s most ethical tank. Their staff and players reek of desperation. They don’t want this reality. It’s happening to them anyway.
“I don’t really care what people think we’re trying to do at the end of the day,” Okoro said. “The guys in the locker room, coaching staff, we’re trying to win. I don’t care if people think we’re trying to tank or whatever.”
Thursday’s loss to Portland aided Chicago’s outlook in multiple ways. Should the Blazers make the playoffs, their lottery-protected first-round pick conveys to the Bulls. If the season ended today, Portland would need to win a pair of Play-In games to earn a playoff berth. The result pushed the Blazers to 29-31, 2½ games behind the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors.
The kind of win the Bulls weren’t actively aiming for.
Satisfying to those gunning for a worthwhile pick in this lauded draft, or any semblance of a future. Dreadful for those in the building trying to make sense of February’s unraveling.
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