The Bulls were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention on Friday when they lost at Oklahoma City. Chicago (29-44) has nine games remaining and is 9.5 games behind Miami (39-35), the current No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
After another mediocre start to the season — the team was 24-25 through the end of January — Chicago pivoted to a rebuild by trading away several veteran’s ahead of the February 5 deadline. The Bulls have gone just 5-19 since the start of February.
Chicago’s roster could look quite different in 2026/27, as 10 of the 18 players currently under contract could be free agents this summer. That includes third-year forward Leonard Miller, who has a $2.4MM team option for next season.
The Bulls are the ninth NBA team to be eliminated from postseason contention, joining Indiana, Brooklyn, Washington, Sacramento, Utah, Dallas, Memphis and New Orleans. The Bucks (29-43) will be the 10th and final team eliminated prior to the play-in tournament if they lose another game or the Hornets, Magic and Heat all win another game (they’re all at 39 victories).
Chicago is also currently ninth in the reverse standings, giving the team a 20.3% chance at a top-four pick and 4.5% odds at No. 1 overall. If the Bulls are still No. 9 when the regular season ends, they’d have a 50.7% chance of selecting at that spot in the 2026 draft.
Other than the MJ era, the Chicago team has been a poverty franchise the entire time.
NO MORE PLAY IN DYNASTY TEAM!!!!! My heart is so happy. Now fire Donovan and retire our AI GM in Marc Eversley and we can get excited.