The Chicago Bulls got off to one of the hottest starts in the NBA. They opened the season at 5-0, with essentially everything from their great run to end last season looking very much real. Josh Giddey has continued to put up dominant numbers, Tre Jones still looks like a reinvigorated player in Chicago, and perhaps most importantly for the offense, Nikola Vucevic is still hitting over 40%--44% (!!) to be exact--of his 3-point attempts. But all of those developments, plus second-year Matas Buzelis, and one of the NBA's deeper bench units, hasn't been enough to keep the Bulls on track. 

I would be remiss not to mention the absences of Coby White and Zach Collins. The Bulls impressive depth would be bolstered even more by the presence of White's explosive scoring ability, and Collins' toughness and rebounding in the paint. The Bulls are at least expecting to add White back into the fold soon, but "soon" couldn't get here soon enough for a team that is on a four-game losing streak entering Sunday's road contest against the Utah Jazz. This all leads me to ask: is a high lottery pick back on the menu in Chicago?

The Chicago Bulls don't "tank." They aren't going to shut anyone down with a minor injury, or sit healthy players out, with the intention of losing a game to improve their draft pick odds. There can be arguments made to the end of time about whether or not Chicago's reluctance to commit to a tanking season ever makes sense, but what can not be argued is that the Bulls currently are trending towards a lottery pick even while trying to compete this season. 

We obviously have a long way to go, but per Tankathon, the Bulls four-game losing streak has them as the last pick (14th) in the lottery as of now. And on top of that, Chicago would also be getting an extra 1st round pick courtesy of the Portland Trail Blazers if the lottery was today, as the Bulls still control a lottery-protected Portland pick that would be 15th as of today (the best possible outcome for Chicago).

This four-game losing streak has been mostly about being unable to match the star power of the opponent down the stretch of close contests as players like Victor Wembanyama, and Donovan Mitchell made their mark in impressive wins. Giddey's absence due to injury has caused the struggling squad to spiral a bit more, and now they desperately await the return of their starting backcourt as they finish off this road trip. 

It may not sound daunting on paper, but the remainder of the Bulls road trip that sees them take on the Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, and the aforementioned Portland Trail Blazers, could be the first part of the schedule that sees the team go below .500.

Utah is a textbook "trap game," as a team the Bulls should beat on paper, but an excellent coach in Will Hardy, and great shooting from familiar face Lauri Markkanen---who is averaging 29.3 PPG and shooting 39% from 3-point range--stand as major threats to Chicago's chance of picking up a "get right" win. 

I don't think I need to explain why Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets will be a tough matchup. We should all understand that ANY game against Jokic will be a tough game to win. 

And the Bulls end their road trip against the improved Portland Trail Blazers, who have a great mixture of youth and defensive skill to push the Bulls style of play. 

The Bulls should never--and they won't--be happy about losing, but this streak illustrates just how quickly things change in the NBA. Rosters change, lineups change, and in some issues, organizational goals change. It is way to early into the Bulls current predicament for them to be thinking about an organizational shift though.

They clearly want to compete/win games now, and they should have a chance to do just that once Giddey and/or White return to the backcourt. But with there being plenty of discussions in the sports media space about if the Bulls truly need a "star," it is tough not to keep an eye on the 2026 lottery odds. 

Tankathon currently has the Bulls projected to take Thomas Haugh at 14, a do-it-all combo forward out of Florida who excels defensively, can shoot, and keeps his teammates involved on offense. But if lottery luck was to shine on the Bulls and they jumped into the top-three, there would get a chance to select one of three prospects being referred to as "franchise-changing" in AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cameron Boozer. 

The Bulls are in a position several franchises may be a bit jealous of to an extent as they are having their cake and eating it too. The Bulls want to win and compete, but have a large section of their fanbase that would not get extremely upset if the team started to struggle this year given the bigger picture.

It's too early to say, but even a team like Utah that fell four spots in the lottery last year to five, looks to be walking away pretty happy for a team that would have what many called a "failed tank."

Team-building takes patience, timing, and luck, and the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery could be the time luck is finally on Chicago's side. The fanbase doesn't want the Bulls to lose, but they understand the different avenues to team-building afforded to a team with a poor record.

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