Following a 121–112 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, the Chicago Bulls have now dropped 11 straight games, and perhaps most demoralizing, finished February without a win. February 2026 is now cemented as the worst month in franchise history.
While the 11-game skid now ranks as the fourth-longest losing streak in the NBA this season, it didn’t happen by accident. Just two games into the slide, Chicago executed a flurry of trade deadline moves (seven in total), parting ways with eight players and bringing in seven new faces.
In a matter of days, Chicago underwent a full-scale transformation. Growing pains were inevitable, and February proved just how steep they would be. The Bulls closed the month ranked in the bottom five in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, turnovers, and plus/minus. It was one of the bleakest stretches of basketball in franchise history.
Bulls barely climb in draft order amid losses
Yet despite piling up losses, the Bulls’ draft position barely moved. Chicago climbed from 14th to ninth in the lottery order, even as its winning percentage plummeted by 10 percent over that span. While the Bulls have separated themselves from fellow play-in hopefuls like the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers, they remain well outside the bottom six. The trade deadline overhaul worked… just not enough.
And unless lottery luck intervenes, it may never be enough. Chicago remains 5.5 games behind the sixth-place Utah Jazz—a team fully committed to the tank. With 22 games left, there isn’t enough runway to close that gap, especially against franchises deliberately positioning themselves at the bottom rather than merely stumbling into it.
It’s a case of too little, too late. A theme that has come to define Artūras Karnišovas’ tenure as the Bulls’ Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations. From passing on obvious trade opportunities to waiting until the deadline to dismantle a clearly flawed roster, Karnišovas has built a reputation for passivity, tending to be reactive rather than proactive.
Dismantling the Bulls’ perennial play-in roster was necessary. But as evidenced by Chicago’s third-longest losing streak in franchise history, it hasn’t moved the needle nearly enough. The Bulls will likely land a talented prospect in the loaded 2026 NBA Draft, yet there’s still meat left on the bone. The top four, arguably the top five prospects, are so coveted that six teams have yet to reach 20 wins.