It has been easy to nitpick the Bulls’ front office the last few seasons, particularly when some of its worst work has come in March.
Last year at this time, the Bulls were in the midst of a 15-5 finish, including a half-court prayer shot by guard Josh Giddey to beat the Lakers at the United Center. All that did was give the front office false confidence in what the Bulls had and eventually put them into a tie-breaking coin flip with the Mavericks for position in the draft lottery. The Mavericks won that toss and, with it, No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg.
A year later, and much of the same nonsense is going on. The visiting Grizzlies, one spot in front of the Bulls in lottery position, seemed to understand the assignment and lost 132-107 to the Bulls on Monday night at the United Center — their eighth straight defeat. Meanwhile, the Bulls’ “competitive integrity” is fueling organizational failure.
Behind Giddey’s 12th triple-double of the season (and 30th of his career), the Bulls (28-40) improved to 4-4 in March and within a half game of the Bucks, who were holding down the No. 10 spot in lottery position.
While on the surface it means little to the overall odds of lucking into the No. 1 pick, it’s nothing to ignore. Just ask the Mavericks.
Currently, the Grizzlies have a 6% chance at the No. 1 pick, the Bulls 4.5% and the Bucks 3%. For a top-four spot — the heart of the 2026 class — the Grizzlies are at 26.3%, the Bulls 20.3% and the Bucks 13.9%.
If the Bulls end up jumping over the Bucks, they lose more than 7% at hitting the top four lost. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if the Bulls didn’t have a history of draft misses.
Coach Billy Donovan wasn’t exactly the right person to ask about that topic after the game, especially since coaches and players don’t tank — front offices and medical staffs do. Karnisovas isn’t expected to speak publicly until the end of the season.
“We’re giving all these guys an opportunity to play,” Donovan said. “Rob [Dillingham] played 26 minutes. We used [Guerschon Yabusele], used Nick [Richards], used Patrick [Williams]. I mean, we played Yuki [Kawamura] in the heart of the game, so we’re utilizing everybody. And like I’ve mentioned before, everything I’ve gotten from the front office has been about going out there and competing, trying to win. That’s what the discussions have been.”
If the front office “controlled” the playing time of Giddey and forward Matas Buzelis (who scored 29 points Monday) a bit better, maybe the Bulls wouldn’t be 4-4 in March. While it wouldn’t have mattered much against the lowly Grizzlies, it could matter down the stretch.
Donovan won’t stray from what he’s doing, and that’s trying to win games.
“It hasn’t been, ‘Hey, play this guy, this guy, this guy,’ or ‘Do this, this, or this,’ ” Donovan added. “I’m not that familiar with all the [draft] odds or percentages, things like that, but I just know organizationally — and I respect it — these guys come here every night, they work hard, and they want to compete. I respect that.”
