English
EspañolThe Chicago Bulls wanted a win. Badly.
Desperation seeped through the cracks days ago. This team is tired of winning. For returning players such as Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey, the hope of this season has curdled into disgust after one-too-many squandered games. For the new additions, each loss represents a failed audition for a future season in Chicago or in the league at large.
But wanting wasn’t enough in Thursday’s 121-112 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at the United Center. The Bulls couldn’t control the ball, forking over 20 turnovers. They still can’t shoot the ball from deep. And no matter how simple coach Billy Donovan makes the game plan, this team still can’t click.
Photos: Portland Trail Blazers 121, Chicago Bulls 112
For the first time in franchise history, the Bulls went the entire month of February without winning a game. For a team steeped in history, this type of milestone is both damning and baffling.
Something changes when a losing streak dips into double digits. The Bulls have lost 11 consecutive games. A pall hangs over the locker room after each loss, drenching the space in thick disappointment. Players talk more quietly, reciting insistent promises that this team isn’t that bad. Thursday’s loss struck another blow to a locker room sick with impatience and confusion over the disrepair left in the wake of the trade deadline.
But for the Bulls, the loss Thursday marked a crucial win for the long game. The only way they can strike success this season is by improving their draft stock. And losing to the Trail Blazers was a crucial step in that overarching goal.
Every loss helps the Bulls improve their draft odds — they currently sit ninth in the lottery standings. But losing accomplished an additional goal: helping the Bulls edge closer to earning another lottery pick.
The Trail Blazers owe the Bulls their first-round pick in 2026, but that selection is protected if the Blazers land in the lottery. This means the pick will convey only if Portland makes the playoffs, giving the Bulls a clear rooting favorite in the Western Conference.
At this point, making the playoffs outright is a pipe dream for the Trail Blazers. They sit 6½ games behind the Los Angeles Lakers, who are sixth in the West. It would take a sensational combination of losing and winning streaks for the Trail Blazers to somehow surge into the playoffs.
But the play-in tournament is still a viable option. The Blazers are firmly in position for that tournament, jockeying with the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers. If they can edge up into the No. 7 or No. 8 slot, they would have to win only one play-in game to advance to the playoffs and ship their pick to the Bulls.
These odds should serve as a salve for Bulls fans after yet another loss, but they weren’t a factor in the way the Bulls played. Fate hasn’t favored the competitiveness of the Bulls, who are wading through an ongoing deluge of injuries. They played the game without center Jalen Smith, forward Patrick Williams and guards Anfernee Simons and Jaden Ivey. These absences compounded the season-ending loss of Zach Collins, paring the Bulls frontcourt down to Guerschon Yabusele and Nick Richards.
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Things might be different if that entire slate of players remained available. The Bulls are not adopting the most mercenary mechanisms of tanking. Donovan refuses to sit players or tinker with rotations to tip the scales toward losing — even with games that could affect the final placement of draft picks.
“It’s not like I’m sitting over here saying, ‘OK, well, it’s a close game right now, let’s sit Josh and Tre and Jalen and these guys,’” Donovan said before Thursday’s game. “There’s not been that. And if I did do that, I think they would say, ‘Listen, you need to put our best guys out there.’”
But that intention hasn’t been enough to overrule the bleak reality of this battered roster, which can’t stand up to the best or the worst or the middle of the Western Conference.
Only one remaining game outweighs Thursday’s matchup in importance — Sunday’s home matinee against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are the only other Eastern Conference team separating the Bulls from the cutoff line for the play-in tournament. With every half-game of separation between themselves and the Bucks, the Bulls inch closer to a higher draft pick — and more security in their position as a lottery team.
The Bulls have the upper (or, perhaps more accurately, lower) hand in this matchup due to their goals. The Bucks still want to claw their way into the play-in tournament to give a fighting chance to injured star Giannis Antetokounmpo, who hopes to make it back onto the court by the end of the season. If the Bulls stretch this losing streak to 12 games, they will ensconce themselves in a 3½-game advantage in the lottery standings. A loss is more crucial than any other win that could occur this season.
This is a pessimistic line of thinking. There’s no way around it. Fans should not have to cheer their team’s losses. But as the Bulls continue to flounder, the silver lining of this skid only shines brighter — and with a high enough draft pick, it ultimately could eclipse the bitter disappointment of the season.