Barring an extremely impressive campaign, it seems highly likely that the Chicago Bulls won’t be a playoff team next year. But with the new NBA Draft Lottery odds, they also need to make sure that they aren’t one of the bottom three teams in the NBA, because those teams have worse odds at the top pick. And it’s up to Caleb Wilson to make sure of that.
The Bulls have built a pretty okay starting five heading into next season, but Wilson is the head of the snake. They have scoring around him. Playmaking. Defense. Rebounding, too. But if there’s anyone on Chicago’s roster who could turn into a star, it’s Wilson. It doesn’t have to be now, but he has to be good enough to help the Bulls win.
Wilson just needs to ensure that Chicago isn’t one of the worst three teams in the NBA next year. For right now, that should be his biggest goal.
Caleb Wilson needs to keep Bulls out of relegation zone
The new draft lottery odds are weird. Sixteen teams get a chance to land the first overall pick. However, if you’re one of the three worst teams in the league, your odds get reduced. It’s meant to punish tanking, and it’s called the relegation zone.
The two losers of the first Play-In Game (the 7-8 game) get one Ping-Pong ball. The nine and 10 seeds in each conference get two balls. After that, the fourth-worst to 10th-worst teams in the NBA each get three balls.
However, if you find yourself in the bottom three, then you only get two balls – the same odds as the teams who finished ninth and 10th in each conference. That’s a disaster.
It’s the exact situation that Chicago desperately needs to avoid. It needs to give itself the best chance at getting a top pick in next year’s draft, and Wilson has to help them.
The Bulls have an okay team. Their starting lineup will probably look something like this: Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis, Wilson, and Nicolas Claxton.
Obviously, Giddey, Powell, and Claxton are all decent players. Solid veterans. Buzelis is a blossoming youngster. Then, there’s Wilson. A rookie. The No. 4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
If the Bulls want to avoid being one of the worst teams in the league, he’s going to have to have a great rookie season. He needs to impact winning right away. Not necessarily at the highest level, but just enough to make sure the Bulls aren’t one of the three worst teams in the NBA.
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