"It's over," Vince Carter dramatically declared following an elegant, between-the-legs dunk 25 years ago in the NBA Dunk Contest. Although not as dramatic nor elegant, the same sentiment can be shared regarding the Chicago Bulls' hopes of increasing their draft lottery odds.
The Bulls are on a collision course with the Play-In Tournament for the third consecutive season, most likely as the 10th seed. Chicago is now five games ahead of the 11th-seeded Toronto Raptors. Just two weeks ago, the Bulls were merely 2.5 games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers. Now, with 16 games remaining and the 22nd easiest schedule, the Bulls are all but likely to remain as the 10th seed.
According to PlayoffStatus, the Bulls' odds of finishing 10th is 59.0 percent. Moreover, Chicago's odds of earning a ninth-place finish have skyrocketed to 23.0 percent. The Bulls have doubled their play-in odds over the past 18 days despite fighting off the injury bug and losing one of their better players to season-ending surgery.
While the current four-game win streak is somewhat to blame, it's by no means the sole reason for the Bulls' boosted odds. Chicago's Eastern Conference counterparts deserve much more of the blame. For starters, Chicago has held steady in 10th place for 72 days and counting. Over the past 72 days, the Bulls have seen two separate five-plus game losing streaks, a 4-17 stretch, and injuries to Ayo Dosunmu, Josh Giddey, Nikola Vucevic, and Patrick Williams, to name a few.
The 76ers and Raptors have upped the ante in terms of tanking
Despite the Bulls' many unforeseen obstacles, their counterparts have purposefully instilled roadblocks to self-sabotage as the season winds down—for good reason. There's no forthright rationale to strive for a spot in the Play-In Tournament, only to miss the playoffs altogether or get bounced by the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics in the first round.
The Sixers are one of the more surprising teams to employ a tanking strategy. Nonetheless, it came to fruition after a dreadful start to a once-promising 2024-25 campaign. After beginning the season 3-14, Philadelphia never managed to get within nine games of .500. Amid a disappointing campaign, the 76ers have dealt with injuries to Joel Embiid, a regression from free-agent pick-up Paul George, and a hodgepodge of unanticipated lineups.
Since Embiid's injury led to a decrease in production, the Sixers decided it was best to shut the big man down after only 19 appearances. Following the decision to shut down Embiid, George has begun to meet with doctors to mull over procedures to treat injuries of his own. To make matters worse, Philadelphia's leading scorer, Tyrese Maxey, has missed five straight games as he's dealt with back and finger issues. Thus, the 76ers are 2-9 with a negative-11.2 net rating since the All-Star break.
Although rash, the Sixers aren't the only Eastern Conference bottom-feeder to utilize such an ideology. The Raptors are quietly 6-5 with a positive net rating (1.2) since the All-Star break. Nevertheless, Toronto has attempted to curb its success by any means possible. During a four-of-five game-winning stretch, the Raptors trotted out a G-League-adjacent lineup against the 76ers on March 12.
Somehow, Toronto won the contest, 118-105. Sure, as previously noted, Philadelphia is in full-on tank mode. However, the Raptors' leading scorers against the Sixers were A.J. Lawson, Jared Rhoden, and Orlando Robinson. None of the aforementioned players had surpassed 20 points in a game until that contest. Toronto is going to great lengths to regain its 13th seed. Ahead of its March 14 bout with the Utah Jazz, the Raptors list eight players on their injury report, including seven already ruled out.
Lastly, the Bulls' remaining other lottery foe, the Nets, are 2-10 with a negative-8.8 net rating since the All-Star break. What makes the Nets different from the 76ers and Raptors is that they have engaged in a tanking strategy since October. Therefore, the Nets haven't necessarily made changes to increase their lottery odds, but a 2-10 stretch is certainly beneficial as the season comes to a close.
The Bulls have taken a more subtle approach to securing a high draft pick. Trading Zach LaVine was a start, and so was being overly cautious with several veterans in recent weeks. All in all, the subtlety has since vanished, and the erroneous competitive spirit has once again overtaken the Bulls.