How the Bulls got here: The ebbs and flows of a season

The Chicago Bulls (38-37) have had a very up and down season but still sit 1 game out of the playoffs with 7 games left on the schedule. In years past a .500 record would have guaranteed a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs but the middle of the EC has been especially competitive this season. Mathematically (not realistically) the Bulls could finish this season as high as the 3rd seed and as low as 13th in the EC, thats incredibly unusual for this late in the season in the EC and is a formula for a lot of intrigue down the stretch. On the flip side the Bulls would actually sit in 7th in the traditionally stronger Western Conference.

The Bulls inconsistencies have been head scratching to say the least, we can speculate and theorize reasons for days but first lets focus on things we know:

1. The Bulls rotation has been a proverbial turn-style all season. Doug McDermott has appeared in all but 1 game and is the only player, who averages more than 20 minutes a game to not show up on the injury report consistently this season.

2. On January 8th the Bulls were 22-12 and 2nd in EC. By February 18th they were 27-26. Thats a 5-14 record over a roughly 6 week stretch. During that time Joakim Noah played his last game of the year (Jan 15th), Nikola Mirotic had an emergency appendectomy and didn't play from Jan 28th till March 5th. Mike Dunleavy didn't return to action from offseason back surgery until Feb 6th. Jimmy Butler missed all but 3 games from Feb 1st through March 11th.

3. The Bulls have used 22 different starting line-ups in 75 games this season (per basketball-reference.com).

4. The Bulls Season stats paint a peculiar picture. They rank 2nd in field goals attempted (88.1) but rank last in opponents FGA per game. They are 8th in offensive rebounds per game(11.1) but again give up the most in this category (11.9). They are 24th in 3pt attempts per game but rank 3rd in 3pt shooting %. Most other major stats like assists, turnovers, blocks, points and pace rank in the middle of the pack. To summarize, the Bulls strengths in one area are neutralized by their inability to prevent opponents from doing the same.

Over the past week some serious drama has blown out of the back channels of the windy city. This gives us a chance to talk about mention some rumors and talk about things that we really don't know whats happening.

1. This is the big one, Chris Mannix of The Vertical reported a major disconnect in the Bulls locker room centered between coach Hoiberg and All-Star Jimmy Butler. Butler Criticized Hoibergs style back in December and that could be around when this possible bad blood started. For what its worth I don't buy this report, at least on the surface, it just doesn't make any sense. The reason is Butler has shown to be fairly easy going and certainly a team first guy. What could Hoiberg complain about? Hoiberg is not a micromanager who restricts individual play style. Quite the opposite actually, while Butler isn't known as a play maker his usage rate is a career high 24.3%. That shows the coach has confidence in his star player so what does Butller have to complain about. I think there is a lot more to this that we don't know yet.

2. Gar Forman, Jon Paxson and Jerry Reinsdorf have always done things against the NBA grain and it doesn't look like that will change. Following the surfacing of the Hoiberg-Butler conflict, reports followed that the Bulls would be more likely to trade their 2-time All-Star than make a coaching change. I'm sure it isn't the first time but I can't think of another time a franchise would side with a coach, a rookie coach in this example, over an All-Star entering the prime of his career. This is a stars league after all.

3. Durning the preseason Butler claimed the Bulls need more vocal leadership. Back in October I wrote about the possibility of this creating a rift in the locker room. My reasons were that Noah has always been one of the more spirited and vocal players league wide. At the time there were many reports of a feud between Butler and Rose already. And Pau Gasol was ok with Kobe Bryant getting on his case but Butler is no Kobe. Did this in fact cause tension that lasted the entire season?

4. No matter where the Bulls finish the season, playoffs or not, its likely this team looks very different next season. Talks already surfaced of Butler being moved. Derrick Rose has 1 year left and hasn't regained his max level for. Noah is a UFA. Gasol has a player option for next year. And Taj Gibson will be in his final year next year also. Many teams would be very interested in any of those players.

It will be an exciting 2 weeks to finish out the season with the Bulls, Pacers and Pistons competing for the final 2 spots in the playoffs. They all have a similarly difficult schedule, for the Bulls they would much prefer the Raptors in the first round over the Cavs. The Bulls have fared well over the Raptors this season and the Raptors have failed to make it out of the first round 2 years in a row despite having home court advantage both times. The Bulls have a great chance of making that happen considering their next game is Saturday at home against the Pistons who are coming off a back-to-back.

Kyle Griffin
Follow Kyle on twitter @Kgrif28