The Chicago Bulls have been stuck in purgatory for a decade now. They’ve spent most of it either barely making the playoffs or barely missing them. Fans are stuck in a perpetual hell, praying for the organization to do something. Either rebuild or sell out to get a star. Instead, they’ve contented themselves with underwhelming moves that are just enough to keep the team interesting but not good. Meanwhile, it seems the basketball gods are taking a perverse pleasure in torturing fans as much as possible.
If you don’t believe in curses, this might change your mind. Last year, the Bulls held the 11th spot in the 2024 NBA lottery odds. The Atlanta Hawks were 10th. Atlanta would win the draft lottery, costing the Bulls a chance at Zaccharie Risacher and Stephon Castle.
Who knew it could somehow get worse? Prior to the lottery drawing this year, the Bulls held a coin flip with the Dallas Mavericks to determine who would gain the 11th and 12th spots. Chicago lost the flip. One month later, the Mavericks won the lottery to secure the #1 overall pick and the rights to Duke superstar Cooper Flagg.
The Chicago Bulls have nobody to blame but themselves.
They refused to pick a direction. They won’t gather money to chase a top free agent or trade options, and refuse to consider the idea of blowing their roster up. Arturas Karnisovas has had several opportunities to do both since he took over and passed every single time. That either means he is completely incompetent or Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf isn’t making it clear he has no interest in spending the time or money to travel either path. The team makes money as it currently is because fans are loyal. If there is no incentive in their minds to change the status quo, they won’t. Nothing short of a complete bottoming out like the White Sox might change that, and the Bulls are too talented to let that happen.
