1. Finally make the playoffs
What most Chicago Bulls fans are waiting for by this point is this team to finally make the playoffs and end the misery GarPax is putting us through in the third year of this rebuild. The playoff drought for the Bulls isn’t all that long, but the fans have seen some bad basketball when they missed the playoffs in the last two years.
Thus far, the Bulls are trending in the right direction. But the slight improvement in wins in the first full season under Boylen as head coach just doesn’t seem like enough progress was made. The Bulls still sit a good ways out of the playoff picture, even though they’re within striking distance. And Boylen really struggles to beat teams with winning records.
More bad news for the Bulls is that the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the rest of the regular season. The month of January, featuring 17 games, isn’t going to do any favors for the Bulls and their quest to make it back into the playoff picture. Feasting on bad teams was something that the Bulls didn’t do enough early on in the regular season, and could pay for it now.
However, a lot would be forgiven for Boylen if he’s somehow able to piece together a playoff run this season. Getting firmly into the playoff picture would take a borderline miracle since the Bulls are starting to have injuries pile up again. Markkanen and Carter Jr. are both dealing with ankle sprains and small forward Otto Porter Jr. is still out with a foot injury.