{"id":6697,"date":"2024-11-12T20:01:29","date_gmt":"2024-11-12T20:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6697"},"modified":"2024-11-12T20:01:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T20:01:29","slug":"tank-race-are-the-chicago-bulls-too-good-for-their-own-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6697","title":{"rendered":"Tank Race: Are the Chicago Bulls Too Good for Their Own Good?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of now, the Chicago Bulls have more<\/em> than 72 games left on the calendar. And that\u2019s a problem.<\/p>\n

The Bulls sit 4-6 through their first ten games of the season. While that record isn\u2019t anything to call home about, it is better than most expected. A lot of this is due to the team\u2019s buy-in to head coach Billy Donovan\u2019s new offensive identity. We\u2019ve seen the Bulls operate at the league\u2019s highest PACE to begin the season, as well as record the NBA\u2019s second-highest AST%. No, they aren\u2019t the most efficient scoring team (15th in EFG%), but they are among the most unselfish and have consistently tired teams out over 48 minutes.<\/p>\n

In fact, each of the Bulls\u2019 wins this season have come despite a 15+ point deficit. They have shown unexpected resilience and discipline in the face of adversity, which I can\u2019t deny is a positive when we consider the many young pieces that fill this roster.<\/p>\n

So what exactly is the problem? Well, the Bulls may be showing signs of being too<\/em> competitive. This season isn\u2019t supposed to be about the win-loss column. If the Bulls want to build a sustainable, long-term winner, they have to prioritize player development and draft positioning in the short term. The latter is particularly prudent this season, as their 2025 first-round pick currently belongs to the San Antonio Spurs and is top 10 protected. In other words, if the Bulls want to select a high-upside youngster in what many believe is a very deep draft, they must finish as one of the NBA\u2019s worst 10 teams.<\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t one of those right now.<\/p>\n

\"Tank
Oct 12, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan talks with Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chicago Bulls Start Slow in Tank Race<\/h2>\n

If the season ended today, the Chicago Bulls would sit 9th in the Eastern Conference and 11th in the overall league standings.<\/strong> This means they would appear in their third-straight Play-In Tournament and \u2013 sans some insane lottery luck \u2013 watch their pick end up in the laps of the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n

All things considered, this has been the fear ever since it became clear that veterans like Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic would return this season. Both players have been off to All-Star-caliber starts and have played vital roles in the Bulls\u2019 comeback victories. On the one hand, this could prove great for the individual value of LaVine and Vucevic on the trade market. On the other hand, the more games they help this team win now, the more trouble the Bulls might be in come May.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re only 10 games into the season, so I understand how silly this conversation might feel. But I don\u2019t think we can simply assume that the Bulls will stop walking this dangerous line. Far too often we\u2019ve seen the organization trick themselves into thinking they\u2019re further ahead than they are. There is a lot of time left for Arturas Karnisovas to convince himself that pursuing a No. 8 seed is worthwhile. Likewise, head coach Billy Donovan has never been one to embrace a tank. We\u2019ve already seen him struggle to give No. 11 overall pick Matas Buzelis the room to make mistakes.<\/p>\n

I also didn\u2019t love what I heard from Marc Stein in a recent interview with the guys over at CHGO. The long-time NBA insider mentioned that the Bulls sound motivated to win as many games as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just saw the guys in Dallas, and talking to people with the team, that\u2019s the vibe you get from being around this team,\u201d Stein said of the Bulls trying to play to their ceiling. \u201cI spoke to one person in the organization and they\u2019re saying \u2018Zach is going to be an All-Star in the East this season.\u2019 Again, that\u2019s why this team, I\u2019m so fascinated by. They are way too good \u2026 How on earth are your Chicago Bulls going to hang on to that top 10 pick?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

You can listen to Stein\u2019s full interview with the CHGO guys on YouTube. <\/em><\/p>\n

Look, as I\u2019ve said since the offseason, I would never expect the organization to outright admit they are tanking. But there are things you can do to signify that wins and losses aren\u2019t the focus, and the team clearly didn\u2019t do those things when Stein was around in Dallas. I don\u2019t love that!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sounding the alarm yet, to be clear. Time remains on the Bulls\u2019 side, and I do believe their ability to potentially trade LaVine or Vucevic (or both) gives them a leg up in what is bound to be a tight tank race. However, every single game matters when we\u2019re talking about draft positioning, and I\u2019m not convinced the Bulls realize that just yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls may not be off to an excellent start, but is it bad enough to keep them alive in a competitive tank race?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nTank Race: Are the Chicago Bulls Too Good for Their Own Good? - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6697\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tank Race: Are the Chicago Bulls Too Good for Their Own Good? - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chicago Bulls may not be off to an excellent start, but is it bad enough to keep them alive in a competitive tank race?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6697\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-12T20:01:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/01-2024-11-13T030113.432.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsHan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsHan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6697\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=6697\",\"name\":\"Tank Race: Are the Chicago Bulls Too Good for Their Own Good? 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