Any positivity that Chicago Bulls fans can latch onto right now should be welcome.
An up-and-down start to this season that, frankly, included too many ups and has the Bulls once again embroiled in an Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament battle gave way to a wildly disappointing trade deadline.
Yes, Chicago finally rid itself of Zach LaVine and his still lengthy and expensive contract. The Bulls got maybe 70 cents on the dollar for their best player, though. Holding onto Nikola Vucevic and re-signing Lonzo Ball didn’t inspire much confidence in the team’s front office, either.
Luckily, the Bulls may have such an oddly constructed and depleted roster that the season still has a chance to end on a high—or rather, low—note.
A recent move by the Philadelphia 76ers could help that process along.
76ers signing Lonnie Walker IV increases Bulls draft lottery odds
Despite sitting 11th in the East and 1.5 games behind Chicago, the Sixers made an addition to their roster in the form of veteran guard Lonnie Walker IV.
Lonnie Walker IV has agreed to a two-year, $3 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, his agent George S. Langberg of GSL Sports Group told ESPN. Walker has played for Zalgiris Kaunas in the Euroleague and had an NBA-out in his deal. He now enters his 7th NBA season. pic.twitter.com/NQW8xQa1mS
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It’s fair to say Philly’s season hasn’t gone as planned. After signing Paul George in free agency and pairing him with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers had their sights set on winning an NBA championship. Instead, injuries to Embiid and George and poor play (from Embiid and George) have Philadelphia on the outside of the play-in tournament looking in.
There’s an argument to be made that the 76ers would be better off letting Embiid, who’s currently sidelined with another knee injury, sit for the rest of the 2024-25 campaign. The same argument could be made for George, who’s reportedly receiving injections just to stay on the court at the moment.
But the addition of Walker doesn’t make it seem like Philly is ready to call it a day and focus on next year.
That’s some unexpected, but not unwelcome, positive news for the Bulls, who entered the All-Star break struggling in a big way. Chicago is 0-4 since trading LaVine, a losing streak that includes some truly horrific—and historic—defeats.
As it stands, the Bulls are 10th in the East and have the eighth-best odds at landing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Should the 76ers bypass them, coach Billy Donovan’s squad would jump to the seventh-best odds.
(It could be sixth as the Brooklyn Nets, who have the same record as the Sixers, continue to scrape out wins while the Bulls keep accidentally tanking).
It doesn’t seem like the 76ers are giving up on a potential playoff run this season; if they were, signing a veteran scorer like Walker wouldn’t make much sense. That refusal to move on to 2025-26 means one less team could stand between the Bulls and a desperately needed top draft pick.
