In 2022-23, the Chicago Bulls went 40-42, finished 10th in the East and were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament.
In 2023-24, the Chicago Bulls went 39-43, finished ninth in the East and were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament.
In 2024-25, the Chicago Bulls went 39-43, finished ninth in the East and were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament.
Does this look like a team that is making progress? Does this look like a team that even has designs on escaping mediocrity in the next few years? Not really! According to Bulls executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas, though, they have a plan and are executing it.
“I think we are on the right path,” Karnišovas told reporters at the end of the season.
It was a hell of a thing to say a year after telling many of those same reporters, “I’m not here to stay in the middle.” To hear Karnišovas tell it, though, this was not remotely the same situation. Yes, Chicago was still in the middle, but it wound up there despite having traded veterans DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Alex Caruso. The Bulls drastically changed their style of play and shot profile, targeted “young players with experience” and saw enough internal development for the front office to be encouraged about the direction of the team. Going into 2025-26, though, the burden is on the Bulls to show that this whole thing isn’t hopeless. They seem dead set against bottoming out, but if the new, younger “core” — Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey and Coby White — doesn’t have a higher ceiling than the previous one, then they’re just spinning their wheels.
The state of play
Last year: Four months in, Chicago was 22-35 and ranked 22nd offensively, 27th defensively and 24th in net rating. In the last seven weeks of the regular season, it went 17-8 and ranked 12th offensively, 12th defensively and 8th in net rating, but many of those wins came against opponents that were tanking or injured. Buzelis established himself as the Bulls’ most exciting prospect in years, Patrick Williams had the…
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