The report emphasizes the Chicago Bulls' formula for the season doesn't work

The Bulls need another blueprint at this point.
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At this point, the Chicago Bulls’ annual plan is to be “competitive” and nothing more or less. There is no talk of winning an NBA title or making a deep run in the playoffs. Instead, their main goal is apparently only to have a decent record and be in the middle of the pack. 

This has left experts dumbfounded and fans exasperated. A recent report on Bleacher Report emphasized that this so-called “formula” should be shelved if the Bulls hope to remain relevant.

Middling Bulls

The middle is no place to be for an NBA franchise. It’s a place where players’ careers go to die, and teams are stuck in mediocrity. Yet, for the past few seasons, that is exactly where the Bulls have found themselves. With records hovering around .500 and no real threat in the playoffs, the team has become stagnant.

The Bulls front office seems content with this status quo, believing it’s a sustainable model for success. But as we’ve seen time and time again, being just average isn’t enough in a league filled with superstar players and stacked rosters.

“With only a few changes, we could recycle the same arguments we've been making about the middling Chicago Bulls for the last several years. Winners of an average of 34 games per season from 2015-16 to 2022-23, the Bulls are on pace to land in the upper 30s and possibly secure a play-in position,” Grant Hughes wrote.

“In a best-case scenario, they'll somehow escape that preliminary round and get smashed to bits against a top seed. If they win a single playoff game this spring, it'll double their total (one) since 2017.”

Going nowhere

Despite having some rising stars in Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, the Bulls do not have any discernable direction or identity as a team. They have been stuck for years, unable to make significant strides toward becoming a legitimate playoff contender, and things must change pronto.

“So here's the current reality: The Bulls don't compete with the best teams. Their few encouraging signs, Coby White's emergence chief among them, also don't come close to offsetting the bleakness of the franchise's broader future. Patrick Williams, the No. 4 pick in 2020, is out for the year. No team is in greater need of a reality check and a whole bunch of losses that precede a full teardown,” Hughes surmised.

As his shooting struggles continue, Coby White finds other ways to help the Chicago Bulls win


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Stephen Beslic
STEPHEN BESLIC

Stephen Beslic is a writer on Sports Illustrated's FanNation Network. Stephen played basketball from the age of 10 and graduated from Faculty of Economic and Business in Zagreb, Croatia, majoring in Marketing.