John Hollinger predicts the Chicago Bulls will finish 12th in the Eastern Conference

Nobody expects the Chicago Bulls to make a deep playoff run. There are far too many questions surrounding their roster and coaching staff for the team to rise up the Eastern Conference’s ladder.

However, John Hollinger of The Athletic paints an even bleaker picture. He's predicting the Bulls to finish with a 33-49 record, good for 12th in the Eastern Conference this season. It could be a long year for Bulls fans if that comes to fruition.

Didn’t blow it up

The Bulls had a shot to reshape the team this offseason. Obviously, they kept the core intact, re-signing starting big man Nikola Vucevic to a three-year deal and bringing back guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. Hollinger, though, said that the Bulls had already painted themselves into a corner with previous roster decisions.

“One can argue the Bulls weren’t quite in a great position to blow things up this past summer, anyway. Zach LaVine was great last year, but teams have concerns about his knees with four years still to run on his deal. Moreover, better guards were available on the trade market for the win-now teams,” Hollinger wrote.

“Letting Nikola Vucevic walk for nothing was a non-starter. (Chicago extended him for three years and $60 million.) As one front-office insider noted to me, the internal optics of trading a lottery pick for Vooch and then seeing him leave for nothing in free agency were untenable; the Bulls had no choice but to re-sign him,” Hollinger added.

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— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 18, 2023

Teardown inevitable

With a team that has such a low floor and ceiling, it’s likely that this roster will have its inevitable blow-up sooner rather than later. Hollinger noted that even with the fortune of good health to its stars last season, the Bulls still couldn’t win 40 games.

“With all that said, the big picture gets back to the Bulls entering a year on the precipice, with a teardown looming if they can’t win half their games. Last season, as I already noted, they had incredible health aside from Ball and still managed to win just 40, although they played well after the All-Star break. This season, even that total may be hard to achieve,” Hollinger stated.

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— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 18, 2023