Bulls Sitting In Familiar Spot as We Near 20-Game Mark

Michael Walton

Nov 30, 2025, 22:58

Michael Walton

Nov 30, 2025, 22:58

Updated at: Nov 30, 2025, 22:58

The Bulls are--stop me if you've heard this before--a .500 team, they've preached "patience," but it is starting to be a tough sell with things feeling quite familiar for Bulls Nation

On December 1 the Bulls will officially hit the 20-game mark for the 2025-26 NBA season. At the time of this writing, Chicago currently sits at 9-10, with their matchup with the Orlando Magic either elevating them to a .500 record or sitting them below even with a record of 9-11. Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas has long preached "patience" to the fanbase in relation to the team's success following the teardown of the DeMar DeRozan-Zach LaVine-Lonzo Ball-led version of the team.

At Media Day, Karnisovas again mentioned the Bulls hot stretch to end the 2024-25 season, “The last 20 games of the season gave us a glimpse of our future. We established an offensive identity...most importantly, we demonstrated cohesion and we got better. We were 14th on offense and 9th on defense. Those numbers are encouraging.” How about at the 19-game mark of the 2025-26 season? The Bulls currently sit at 23rd in Defensive Rating (116.8) and 21st in Offensive Rating (113.5). As you can see, those numbers are much worse, and I'm sure Karnisovas would agree that they are NOT encouraging.

As of this writing, the Bulls are 20th in Net Rating (-3.3) and are slotted into the--stop me if you've heard this before--back half of the lottery (13th). So we again ask ourselves: Are the real Chicago Bulls that team from the infamous 20-game stretch last season, or the defensively-challenged squad that we see now?

The answer is, of course, somewhere in the middle, which brings back to the forefront Karnisovas' words on patience. For a team that has been a constant in the Play-In but not the playoffs, it doesn't seem unreasonable to take the long view. But with starting center Nikola Vucevic--who despite some clutch offense has played a hand in the defense struggling--and backup center Zach Collins entering unrestricted free agency this offseason, Karnisovas and Co. will need to provide some answers sooner than later.

It's easy to say that the Bulls should turn their attention to lottery odds after losing three-straight games to teams that figure to be at the bottom of the standings, but there don't appear to be any course-changing trades on the horizon.

So is the 2025-26 season simply going to be a repeat of the 2024-25 one? The Bulls landed the 12th pick for their efforts last season, eventually selecting raw prospect Noa Essengue, who has yet to see meaningful minutes at the NBA level. The feel-good wins the Bulls were able to bank down the stretch last season were great for entertainment value and the fans belief in Josh Giddey, but they did little to actually help the rebuild in this writer's humble opinion.

Will the Bulls continue to struggle while trying to win, leading to solid lottery odds? Will they make trades with the intention of "stepping back," to secure better lottery odds? Or will they perhaps make a trade similar to the original Nikola Vucevic deal to try to bring in some veteran star power (*cough cough* Anthony Davis)? Whatever the route the Bulls choose, they will have to commit to it, as treading water with this group won't inspire confidence from a fanbase that simply wants their organization to choose a direction.

Bulls Sitting In Familiar Spot as We Near 20-Game Mark