As a franchise, the Bulls have gotten to a point where they're simply bad at being bad. Chicago has traded away veteran pieces like DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso and Zach LaVine with the goal of skewing the roster young and hitting the beginning stages of a rebuild. It hasn't helped.
They held onto other veterans at this year's trade deadline and received three more in the deal that sent LaVine to the Sacramento Kings, in the process keeping themselves in NBA limbo with a roster that's too good to tank but too bad to make a real playoff run.
It's not that Chicago is actively trying to win games; the Bulls are 3-7 in their last 10 and have lost nine of their last 12. Yet somehow, they find themselves losing the race to drop to the 11th spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Chicago is seemingly destined for another Play-In Tournament berth and late-lottery draft selection.
If that's the case, coach Billy Donovan's team may as well make the best of it and get young players like Matas Buzelis some "big game" experience.
Eastern Conference Play-In picture and potential Bulls opponents
Chicago is 3.5 games ahead of the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, comfortably sitting 10th in the conference standings but also 3.5 games behind the Orlando Magic for ninth.
It certainly appears like the Bulls will enter the postseason with the No. 10 seed, which means a matchup with the No. 9 seed in the first round of the Play-In. Per the tournament's rules, the winner of the 9-10 matchup will play on the road againt the loser of the 7-8 game (the winner of the latter contest automatically qualifies for the playoffs.)
The Miami Heat (29-33) hold the seventh spot in the East as of March 8, while the Atlanta Hawks (29-34) are a half game up on the Magic but four full games of Chicago.
As it stands, the Bulls would play Orlando in the 9-10 game in which, despite Chicago pulling out a two-point win on March 6, the Magic would be favored. If the Bulls somehow get past the opening round, they would face the loser of Miami-Atlanta.
Chicago beat the Heat at home on Feb. 4 and play them two more times before the regular season ends on April 13. The Bulls split their four games against the Hawks with both of their wins coming before the calendar turned to 2025.
As Miami trails the sixth-place Detroit Pistons by 5.5 games, it looks like the Heat, Hawks, Magic and Bulls will face each other, in some combination, during the Play-In, which takes place this year between April 15 and 18.
It also seems like Chicago will be playing on the road for both games, assuming a young Bulls team can even win one. Exciting times.