Why Lowe’s disrespectful ranking of the Bulls won’t age well

Just a mere week away from the regular season tipping off, the Chicago Bulls have to be itching to get back on the court and prove they’ve improved after a catastrophic end to their 2021-22 campaign. Until the offseason formally ends, however, it looks like the analysts at ESPN are determined to continue their critical onslaught of the Bulls for as long as possible.

After ESPN’s Kevin Pelton took repeated shots at Chicago over the summer, Zach Lowe is the latest culprit here. Lowe seemed to relish in the opportunity to rag on the Bulls in a tier list ranking of every NBA team (subscription required) entering the 2022-23 season that he published on Thursday.

He planted the Bulls in the “GRASPING AT PLAY-IN HOME-COURT DISADVANTAGE” tier, alongside the likes of the New York Knicks, Sacramento Kings, and Portland Trail Blazers. This had the Bulls ranked somewhere in the 18-21 range among all NBA teams, and 9th or 10th in the East. When separated into tiers, here’s how Lowe envisioned the East shaking out.

1. Bucks, Celtics, 76ers
2. Nets, Raptors, Heat
3. Hawks, Cavaliers
4. Bulls, Knicks
5. Pistons, Magic
6. Wizards, Hornets
7. Pacers

When offering an explanation as to how he had Chicago ranked outside of the top 8 after a very promising season last year, Lowe had this to say.

"“The Bulls need maximum defense around [LaVine, DeRozan, and Vucevic], and until Ball returns, it’s hard for them to supply that without knee-capping their offense… The depth is not super-inspiring. LaVine is coming off knee issues. DeRozan will have trouble replicating his magical All-NBA season — and bonkers late-game shooting — and Vucevic is a stretch center who has shot 34% or worse from deep in four of his past six seasons.”"

And of course.

"“It’s really hard to argue they are better than any of the eight East teams above them here.”"

Is it that difficult Zach Lowe? Is it really?

For starters, the Brooklyn Nets are in an even worse position now than a year ago when they failed to claim a top-six position and were promptly swept in the first round of the playoffs. Ben Simmons appears to be deathly allergic to scoring points and Kyrie and KD remain as non-committal to the future of the Nets franchise as ever. The Heat will likely still surpass Chicago but suffered a significant loss by losing PJ Tucker, and the Raptors haven’t made any significant improvements after losing the season series against the Bulls 1-3 and only finishing two games ahead in the standings despite Chicago’s extensive injuries.

ESPN and Zach Lowe continue to underrate the Chicago Bulls, despite a long track record of being repeatedly proven wrong.

If you believe the Hawks and Cavaliers have a strong chance to be better than the Chicago Bulls this season, I cannot entirely fault you. After all, both Atlanta and Cleveland made aggressive moves to improve while Chicago remained stuck in the mud. However, Lowe’s analysis of a Knicks team that just went 37-45 and failed to qualify for the play-in tournament is where I draw the line.

“I’m betting on New York’s depth… to push them above expectations,” says Lowe, “Don’t be surprised if they finish ahead of Chicago.”

At a certain point, this reaches a territory where it begins to feel like irresponsible journalism. The Knicks do not have a single All-Star caliber talent on their roster. They haven’t proven they can win more games than they lose, let alone advance to the playoffs. They aren’t even guaranteed to be better than teams like the Hornets and Wizards. Is it too much to ask the Knicks to clear these very low bars before any comparisons to the Bulls are drawn?

This is just par for the course for Lowe, however, as he had the Bulls ranked in the 15-18 tier last year (somehow higher than they are this year?) and refused to accept their growth as they captured the East’s top seed. Lowe has also been repeatedly critical of Zach LaVine during his emergence to stardom over the last half-decade in Chicago.

Instead of gracefully accepting that it’s possible he misjudged this team, Lowe appears intent on doubling down on his unwarranted pessimism toward the Chicago Bulls. Sure, Lonzo being out indefinitely is a blow. But when the statistics, eye test, and concrete results all say otherwise, it’s plain to see that Lowe’s opinion of this roster will once again fail to age well.