Well, it's not fun anymore. The Chicago Bulls' thrilling start to the season feels like a past life, as Billy Donovan's team has lost seven straight games, most recently a 32-point bludgeoning at the hands of the Steph-less Warriors and a 15-point loss to a Pacers team starting Garrison Matthews. A loss is a loss, but those losses are, like, deluxe losses.
It feels like this freefall has no bottom — and with the Pelicans and Hornets on the schedule this week, we'll learn quickly how far things can fall. In other words, the Bulls are about to find out how bad things can get.
Blowout wins against those teams, which have a combined record of 10-39, would feel like confirmation that the Bulls are, at least, not that bad. "Not as bad as the Hornets and Pelicans" isn't what you want to shoot for in the NBA, but the Bulls will take any win right now.
Bulls are about to find out where they stand among NBA's bad teams
In my head, the Bulls are still a tier above the Hornets and Pelicans. Unfortunately, my head is also filled with a repeating image of the Kurt Russell basketball scene in John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. so it might not be fully reliable.
The stats, especially recently, don't tell a promising story. Over the past 10 games, the Bulls are No. 28 in net rating, with the worst-ranked offense in the league. They remain in the middle of the pack in points scored, but that's mostly because they still play the second-fastest pace in basketball. While the breakneck pace remains, the efficiency has disappeared. The shooting has been brutal (no. 26 in 3PT%) they're letting opponents get to the free throw line at an alarming rate, and they aren't good enough at any one aspect of the game to have a real identity.
Thus, a Bulls team that appeared to be at least competitive is now looking like a walkover for good NBA teams. If they end this losing streak with a few convincing wins against teams in the gutter of the league, it will restore some hope that this season will be watchable. If they don't, and either of these games are close, a realization that these Bulls really are as bad as anticipated might sweep over Chicago.
Of course, plenty of Bulls fans have wanted this team to bottom out for years — the 2026 NBA Draft has some special talents at the top, so there's incentive to lose, lose, and lose some more. Still, when the losing is actually happening (especially after such a fun start) it's not quite as enjoyable.