NEWSLETTER
Let’s be clear, I believe in a Chicago Bulls playoff run almost as much as I believe Nicolas Cage could actually steal the Declaration of Independence.
Is it practical? Absolutely not. Is it possible? I mean … never say never, it’s freaking Nic Cage. Will I watch him try? Mhmm.
In this case, we’re dealing with the freaking NBA, and this league has its own way of being super duper weird to a point where it can make the impossible seem probable. For example, while the Bulls sit with a 19-36 record at the All-Star break and a six-game losing streak, they’re still only five-games back from a playoff berth … they’re also only seven games ahead of being the worst team in the NBA. See, super duper weird.
When the Bulls return on Thursday for a game against the Charlotte Hornets, they will supposedly be that much closer to having a fully healthy roster. Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter, and Wendell Carter Jr. are all reportedly set to return over the next week or so (Kris Dunn isn’t as lucky).
And with the Bulls healthy starting lineup back intact, Zach LaVine isn’t ready to let the Bulls playoff dreams die.
“For me personally, I just want to keep the foot on the gas pedal,” LaVine told the Sun-Times. “You never know what’s going to happen. We can’t be in vacation mode. Sometimes you come out of the break, teams go up or down. Hopefully, we’ll be one of the teams that goes up.”
Yet, plummeting toward the bottom of the barrel seems far more realistic for this Bulls squad. Five Thirty-Eight’s Playoff Predictor currently gives the Bulls just a 5.0 percent chance of playing postseason basketball. Meanwhile, ESPN’s BPI Playoff Odds gives the Bulls a 1.7 percent chance of sneaking in.
But, hey, filling-up a five-game hole doesn’t feel all that impossible. After all, the Bulls first four games after the break are against the Suns, Wizards, Thunder, and Knicks – three of those teams sit with a below .500 record. As the weeks pass by though, the Bulls strength of schedule only becomes more difficult. According to Tankathon, a site that will calculate the combined winning percentage for each NBA team’s opponents over the remaining games this season, the Bulls’ strength of schedule is 52.5 percent over their remaining 27 games. In other words, the Bulls have the 6th-most “tankable” or hardest schedule in the NBA.
If the Bulls complete roster couldn’t take advantage of one of the easiest schedules in the league at the beginning of the season, I don’t think we have any reason to believe they can do it against one of the hardest schedules. The basketball might be a bit more bearable with players like Porter and Carter Jr. back on the floor, but the results are projected to pretty much be the same.
Also, even if the Bulls do opt for a tanking-approach sometime over the next month, securing a high draft pick isn’t going to be all that easy. Not only do the newer draft lottery rules discourage it, but Detroit, Washington, and Golden State are all in the mix for top picks and have even more “tankable” schedules ahead.
So, yes, the Bulls will also have some competition in “sucking” if they decided to purposely (rather than, you know, naturally) go that route.
Anyway, some of the players might still be talking themselves into a memorable run, but most everyone else knows it’s about time to throw in the towel. Let Coby White get some more clock, make sure Carter Jr. and Markkanen can bounceback/stay healthy, and let’s get a new front office in the building. Time to make those things the priority, and put this season behind us.
