The Chicago Bulls' first year of their rebuild is in the books. A 27-55 record ties them with the Sacramento Kings for the sixth-worst record in the NBA; thus they are both tied for the sixth spot in the lottery. The picking of the lottery will take place next month in Chicago, and The Bulls currently have an 18.3 percent chance at a top-three pick and a 5.3 percent chance of getting the first-overall pick. Only the Magic, Hawks, Mavericks, Grizzlies and Suns had worse records than the Bulls.
Many Bulls fans were aboard the "tank" from the season's beginning, hoping they would get as good of a chance as possible to get a top-three pick.
They started off 3-20, and it seemed like they may not win 20 games, but a hot stretch mid-season when Nikola Mirotic returned from injury boosted their record a bit.
Mirotic was traded for another first-round pick surprisingly, but the Bulls could not tank their way back to the top-three. Even when they shut down Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn and only played Lauri Markkanen and a bunch of G-Leaguers, they could not lose enough to be as bad as the other five teams ahead of them in the lottery.
The lottery and Pelicans pick
The first-round pick the Bulls got from the new orleans Pelicans for Nikola Mirotic is unfortunately not a lottery pick. New Orleans finished 48-34 while making the playoffs and will pick later in the first round.
Hopes for the Pelicans losing a lot and getting in the lottery did not come close to happening, and it will not be a pick that will likely draft a future superstar. Though it is still a first-round pick, they can still get a talented player for the future. The fact that Mirotic was able to come back after being punched in the face by Bobby Portis and was able to put up great numbers to justify a first-round pick is really incredible.
No doubt the most important pick is their own. Looking at the odds of getting anything higher than six, it would be safe to assume that around six or seven is where the Bulls will be drafting. The Bulls did get a nice break when the Kings beat the Rockets last night because a Kings loss would have bumped the Bulls down to seven.
Everything will be officially answered during the lottery draw in May. It is hard to count on the Bulls getting lucky again like they did in 2008 with Chicago native Derrick Rose being the first-overall pick.
After simulating seven lottery picks on Tankathon.com, the Bulls were the six or seven pick all times but one. There is technically a chance for anything, but the chances of a top-three pick are still pretty small all things considering. Especially small for the first overall which will most likely go to either the Suns or Grizzlies.
