Copyright Chicago Tribune
NBC Sports ushered in the new NBA season Tuesday with plenty of Chicago Bulls highlights and a halftime interview with the franchise’s biggest star. Unfortunately for the current team, the highlights were mainly old clips of Michael Jordan in the 1990s, and the halftime interview with Jordan, titled “MJ: Insights to Excellence,” made no mention at all of the franchise he made into an international brand. As it turns out, Jordan’s fireside chats with Mike Tirico will have to suffice for Bulls’ content on the network, which has not included any Bulls games on its 2025-26 schedule. The Bulls currently have only three games carried nationally, at Orlando on Dec. 1 on Peacock, at Brooklyn on Jan. 16 on ESPN, and at Toronto on Feb. 5 on Amazon Prime. It makes sense. As the Bulls began their season Wednesday night at the United Center against the Detroit Pistons, expectations were lower than even last year, when no one gave them a chance to make the playoffs and trading Zach LaVine was their main priority. Executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas managed to get that done, starting the rebuild that brings us to this point. “AK: Insights to Mediocrity” won’t be playing on a network near you, but it perfectly sums up the path of the Bulls under their top executive, who was rewarded with a contract extension in the offseason. But don’t cry for the Bulls. Fans will still fill the United Center more often than not, and not just for Benny the Bull’s popcorn-spilling antics. And they ranked fifth in NBA merchandise sales last season behind the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks in spite of their recent woes. The Bulls’ brand remains strong some 27 years after the end of the Jordan-led dynasty, no matter how much they fail on the court. Perhaps Tirico can ask Jordan in a future segment why Bulls fans remain loyal to a team that never goes all-in. But Bulls fans should have a glimmer of hope in 2025-26. Not because the team will be significantly better than last year’s 39-43 record, but because the rest of the Eastern Conference should be significantly worse. The Pistons made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed last year with 44 wins, and that’s a goal the Bulls could reach with some improvement from their core — Coby White, Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis — and some regression from the other would-be contenders. They’re already better than the three lottery contenders, the Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets, and on the same level as the underachieving Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors. The Boston Celtics have all but given up on the season after losing Jayson Tatum to an Achilles injury, and the Miami Heat are no threat in their first full season without Jimmy Butler. The Indiana Pacers undoubtedly will come back to earth without Tyrese Haliburton, who is also out for the year with an Achilles tear. The Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks will tease fans with the promise of taking a step forward, before succumbing to their norm, finishing a little over or under .500 and in the play-in round. That leaves only the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks and Pistons as good bets to make the playoffs out of the East. So where do the Bulls get those extra five wins to reach the magic number of 44? Playing better against its divisional foes is a start. They went 4-12 against their Central rivals, including 0-4 against the Cavs and 1-3 against both the Pistons and Pacers. Using the home court to their advantage would be another attainable goal. The Bulls went 18-23 at the United Center last year while finishing 21-20 on the road. With packed houses and a fast-paced offense that creates fan energy when it’s working on all cylinders, there’s no excuse for the Bulls having a sub-.500 record at home. And finally, they need someone to develop the clutch gene that DeMar DeRozan had, whether it’s White, Giddey or Buzelis. LaVine was never that guy, and it’s no coincidence the team played much better after he was traded to Sacramento. Is that asking for too much? The key might be Buzelis, and coach Billy Donovan’s pregame press briefing on Wednesday featured almost nonstop questions about the second-year wing. If expectations for the Bulls are muted, they’re supercharged for Buzelis, who was given a short leash by Donovan at the start of 2024-25 but blossomed with added minutes following the LaVine trade. Donovan hopes everyone hits the brakes and lets Matas be Matas, a talented kid who has much to learn. “He has not arrived, he just hasn’t,” Donovan said. “And that’s just the truth. I love Matas and I think he’s got an unbelievable runway to be an outstanding player in this league if he keeps his drive and his motivation and doesn’t think he’s arrived. The great ones are always driven, regardless of what’s going on around them. “You were here with Michael Jordan. I couldn’t even imagine the distractions he had to handle with everybody telling him how great he is. It didn’t seem to affect his competitive spirit one bit. There are certain guys who are wired like that. And I’m not comparing Matas to Michael Jordan, but that’s going to be something as he progresses and gets better, he’s got to deal with that.” With White out for the start of the season with a right calf injury and Zach Collins out for an extended time with a fractured left wrist, the onus will be on Buzelis and Giddey to become a tandem that can carry the load early on. The Bulls aren’t deep enough to absorb losses to two key players, and will need everything to go right for them to win 44 games. Offensively, they should get by without White for three or so weeks if Giddey and Buzelis step up, and maybe Kevin Huerter and Tre Jones contribute more. Defensively, Donovan is looking for a team willing to put its collective bodies on the line on a nightly basis, pointing to the preseason games as a blueprint. “I know it’s only the preseason, and it’s not like I’m putting a lot of stock in it,” he said. “But we went from (being) one of the worst teams in the league last year in trying to take charges, and we were fourth in the preseason. Now we’ll see if that continues. We don’t necessarily have a lot of shot blocking back there, so we have to put our body in place.” That’s the defensive attitude Bulls fans like to see, and something that was missing last year due to the loss of Alex Caruso, who helped Oklahoma City win a championship and earned an extension the Bulls wouldn’t give him. It’s going to be a long season because it’s always a long season in the NBA. The Bulls can make it an enjoyable one if they do the little things that win games. It all started Wednesday on the West Side. Where it ends is up to them.
