The Chicago Bulls have had one key identity change this season.
Early in the season, the Chicago Bulls were a bit of a surprise team. Expected to launch a full-on rebuild, they were swinging a bit above their weight class as it pertains to challenging other teams across the league on a nightly basis.
Now, the Bulls are 20-27 as they’ve slipped in the standings and are on the bubble as a Play-In Tournament team, sitting at the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Given the stature of the team, Chicago would be better off if they were to strip their roster ahead of the trade deadline and get a higher draft pick with a better shot at landing a potential superstar in the coming draft. Still, the Bulls have dealt with slippage for one key reason.
Why the Bulls are worse than they were at the start of the season
It’s no secret the Bulls have taken a step back, it’s not quite shocking, either. Their roster isn’t built to be a high-caliber playoff team. Can they squeak into the postseason in the Eastern Conference? Sure. Should they? Not particularly.
While trades might be on the horizon for the club, which is shopping its entire roster outside of Mata Buzelis, the Bulls have had quite an identity change mid-season. Stacey King, the team’s commentator and a former NBA player, made a realization about the team and why they are starting to slip on the season in a recent episode of his show.
“What I’m seeing that I didn’t see at the beginning of the year, when the tough is supposed to get going, they kind of shut down,” King said.
“A little adversity hits, a little bad play here and there, and the body language changes, they just kind of lose their focus.
“I don’t want to say they quit, that’s a strong word, but they got to get tougher, this the NBA, man.
“You got to get tougher, man. You got to fight through adversity. When you have a bad quarter, you got to find ways to change it. And it’s really easy. It’s just it’s high basketball IQ.”
Evidently, as King brings up, the Bulls aren’t good at shooting 3-pointers consistently. They’ve got to have an identity outside of that, and they haven’t found that yet.
“This is not a good three point shooting team consistently. Are they streaky? yes, they are, but not consistently. They don’t make threes consistently. You’re not Boston,” King said.
How the Bulls can get into the race for a franchise-altering talent
At this point in time, holistically, the Bulls might be better off launching a full-scale rebuild. They’ve got Buzelis, who is arguably the only untouchable player on the team. Outside of him, Chicago should be listening to any offer from any team across the league.
By emphasizing youth and draft capital, the Bulls would take a further step back in the standings. By missing the playoffs outright, the Bulls could improve their odds in the draft lottery odds, which will help their chances at securing a draft pick capable of drafting a potentially franchise-altering talent.
With Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey and others set to lead the upcoming draft class, there is big opportunity for the Bulls to get great lottery odds as soon as this season.
Needless to say, if the Bulls don’t deconstruct their roster, they could be stuck in mediocrity until any big changes are made.
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