The Chicago Bulls were one of the 10 best teams in the NBA after the 2025 All-Star break. They were 17-10 (compared to 22-33 before the break) and 15-5 in their last 20 games. Point guard Josh Giddey nearly averaged a triple-double, and backcourt mate Coby White stepped into the go-to-scorer role well enough to win the Eastern Conference Player of the Month Award in March.
All those positive vibes were quickly and brutally crushed, however, when the Bulls got run out of their own building, losing to the Miami Heat in the East Play-In Tournament for the third time in three years.
But a team led by a trio of players aged 25 or younger (Giddey, White and 20-year-old rookie Matas Buzelis) that showed real development down the stretch provides a certain level of promise for the franchise.
It's what happens next that matters.
Can VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas and the Bulls front office build on those successes and supplement Giddey, White and Buzelis with more talent? Or will more roster missteps cancel out any growth Chicago made?
The answers to those questions begin with the 2025 NBA Draft.
Bulls' NBA Draft Lottery odds after Play-In Tournament loss
The Sacramento Kings, ironically with Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, also suffered a Play-In loss and finished with the final spot in the lottery standings. That puts the Bulls at No. 13 with a 1.2 percent chance at miraculously vaulting to No. 1 and uber-prospect Cooper Flagg.
Per Tankathon, the average draft position of the team that finishes the year 13th in the standings is 12.4. Realistically, Chicago will be picking in the back half of the lottery.
Miracles can happen, though. The Atlanta Hawks had the 10th-best odds last summer before landing the first overall pick. And the Bulls didn't do so bad with the 11th pick last year when they grabbed Buzelis as he slid out of the top 10.
And without sending LaVine to Sacramento, the San Antonio Spurs would own this pick and the franchise wouldn't even have a first-round selection to use.
The Bulls' late-season run, while promising, unfortunately had a significant effect on their odds of lucking into the No. 1 pick, or even a top-four selection (1.7 percent chance). If Karnisovas can pull a Buzelis out of his hat this summer, it will make everything draft-related far less painful. If not, the franchise could be looking back on a promising end to a season that did more harm than good.