Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images
The Chicago Bulls may finally be heading toward a rebuild.
After losing in either the first round of the playoffs or the play-in tournament in each of the last three seasons while being mired in consistent mediocrity, they made drastic roster changes this offseason, sending DeMar DeRozan to the Sacramento Kings in a trade and Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a separate deal.
It won’t be a complete rebuild with players like Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević still on the roster, but there seems to be more focus on the future than on battling for the final playoff spots than there was in the recent past.
Here’s a look at the schedule the Bulls will face as they begin this rebuilding process.
Bulls 2024-25 schedule details
Season opening: at the New Orleans Pelicans on October 23 at 8 p.m. ET
Championship odds: +100000 (bet $100 to win $100,000), by FanDuel
Full program: The full program is available on NBA.com.
The Atlanta Hawks have also faced consistent mediocrity since their surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021.
They lost in the first round the next two seasons, then lost to the Bulls in the play-in tournament last season. Like Chicago, they made significant roster moves this offseason, trading Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Much like Chicago, Atlanta has pieces on its roster that could prevent a complete rebuild. The most notable of those pieces is Trae Young, and it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if the two teams were once again battling for a spot in the play-in tournament.
While it may not be in the best interest of the Bulls’ long-term viability, games with playoff implications against a guard like Young would be a welcome test for Chicago’s young backfield of Coby White, Josh Giddey and Ayo Dosunmu.
After all, it was just last season when White scored 42 points in a playoff tournament win over the Hawks.
And winning those head-to-head games against Atlanta would go a long way toward potentially clinching one of those play-in tournament spots at the end of the season.
These aren’t the championships of the past that this franchise was fighting for with Michael Jordan leading the way, but it appears there’s at least some at stake in this competition.
The Indiana Pacers are likely to be more focused on the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but the Bulls could look to them as a sort of yardstick and formula to follow as they embark on their own rebuild.
Indiana lost in the first round for five straight years from 2016-2020 before missing the playoffs entirely the next three seasons.
But the present and future are now much brighter, thanks in large part to Tyrese Haliburton leading the way. The 24-year-old guard helped propel a young, talented Indiana team on a deep playoff run in 2023-24 and will look to do the same in 2024-25.
Haliburton’s version of Chicago to lift the franchise out of the cloud of mediocrity that has recently followed may still be there, but the Pacers offer some form of regional hope to a team that has struggled of late.
And winning those games would give some confidence to young players like White, Giddey and Patrick Williams as they try to become key pieces of the next core that will make the Bulls a legitimate contender.
For now, they continue to look to the Pacers and other Eastern Conference teams.
From one perspective, you could see a potential playoff team in Chicago if a number of things move in the right direction.
Maybe a healthy LaVine will take another step forward as an elite scorer. Maybe Vučević will have his best season in the Windy City as a double-double force. Maybe Lonzo Ball will return to the court for the first time since January 2022 after knee injuries derailed his time with the Bulls and provide a spark.
And perhaps the youngsters of White, Giddey and Williams will all be able to fully exploit their potential.
In reality, this is a flawed team that will sorely miss Caruso’s defensive presence and DeRozan’s ability to step up in crucial moments offensively.
Chicago went 39-43 last season, even though those two players led the way in some of the most important moments. They were consistent playmakers for a team that didn’t have many of them last season, and it’s hard to imagine the Bulls improving their record without them.
There are far too many question marks than answers for this group, and that doesn’t even factor in the possibility that management decides to further accelerate the rebuild by trading some of the veteran players at the deadline.
And that will lead to an even worse outcome.
