If you missed the Chicago Bulls’ schedule release earlier this month, I can’t blame you. After a second straight losing season and some rebuilding moves this summer, anticipation isn’t particularly high for the 2024-25 campaign.
With that said, any change is welcomed change at this point. The Bulls are finally prioritizing player development and looking to build for the future. This new direction still makes the looming schedule matter, especially with the franchise’s 2025 first-round pick at risk of ending up in San Antonio.
For a complete look at the schedule, I encourage you to check out our initial post here. We also broke down some of the most important games here. What I wanted to do today is tie up any loose ends. There are a couple of other observations that stood out upon further review, so I’ll drop those below.
As always, a big shoutout to Positive Residual for some of their great database, which you’ll see I mention below!
Miscellaneous Bulls Schedule Notes
- According to Positive Residual, the Bulls hold the 13th-toughest strength of schedule in the NBA this season. While this can of course shift when the season begins and we have a better understanding of the league’s actual hierarchy, the site uses several factors (rest advantage, miles traveled, etc.) to come up with a pre-season SOS.
- Some teams worth noting with an easier SOS are Toronto, Washington, Detroit, and Charlotte. Every win matters – in a bad way – when you’re in the thick of the Cooper Flagg Sweepstakes. Theoretically, this SOS suggests the Bulls could have a slightly easier time tanking than their fellow Eastern Conference bottom-feeders. Fingers crossed!
- The Bulls enter the year tied for having the third-most games with a rest advantage. In other words, they’ll enter 13 games this year with more rest than their opponents. The only two teams with more include the Brooklyn Nets (15) and Golden State Warriors (14), per Positive Residual.
- Unsurprisingly, this also means the Bulls will have limited games where they’re at a rest disadvantage. Positive Residual has the Bulls entering the third-fewest games (9) with a rest disadvantage. Only the Mavericks (8), Magic (8), and Pelicans (6) have fewer.
- Another positive is the amount of back-to-backs on the Bulls’ schedule this season. While they’ll quickly face one in their second and third game of the season, they only have a total of 13 on the season. This ties them with five other teams for the fewest in the NBA this season. A total of 11 teams will have at least 16 B2B sets, which is the most in the league. In case you’re curious, I’ll drop the B2B matchups below …
Oct. 25-26: @ MIL, vs. OKC
Nov. 6-7: @ DAL, vs. MIN
Nov. 17-18: vs. HOU, @ DET
Nov. 22-23: vs. ATL, vs. MEM
Nov. 26-27: @ WAS, @ ORL
Dec. 5-6: @ SAN, vs. IND
Jan. 14-15: vs. NOP, vs. ATL
Feb. 4-5: vs. MIA, @ MIN
Feb. 11-12: vs. DET, vs. DET
March 12-13: @ ORL, vs. BRK
March 19-20: @ PHX, @ SAC
March 31-April 1: @ OKC, vs. TOR
April 8-9: @ CLE, vs. MIA
- The Bulls will play two “mini-series” this season – aka two straight games against the same opponent. They’ll face the Boston Celtics on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20 in a home-and-away split. Then, shockingly enough, they’ll face the Pistons on Feb. 11 and Feb 12 in a B2B mini-series! From what I remember since the league started doing this a couple of years ago, we typically see at least a day break between these mini-series games.
- The Bulls will play 16 games before they have two straight home games on the schedule (Nov. 22-23). When I first noticed this, I thought it was extremely unusual. And it turns out I was right! Shoutout Basketball-Reference for allowing me to go on a game log journey. This is the longest the Bulls have gone into a season without two at home since the 1988-89 campaign (17 games).
- Ten of the Bulls’ first 14 games will come against teams that finished the 2023-24 season with a record of .500 or better. The last month of the schedule appears just as daunting, as the team will embark on a six-game Western Conference road trip from March 14-24. Again, if draft position is a priority for this franchise (and it should be), this is good news!
- ICYMI: Here is some info on the Bulls’ national TV schedule.