On February 5th, the Bulls looked ready to finally enter the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. After years of uninspiring mediocrity, the front office finally looked willing to commit to a rebuild, dumping Zach Lavine and his $44M+ annual salary to Sacramento in exchange for some grossly overpaid role players with the financial flexibility to reset the books faster.
Chicago promptly went 17-10 after the All-Star break, sneaking into the pitiful Eastern Conference play-in tournament before getting promptly waxed by the Heat. There was value in seeing Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey taking leaps offensively, but the winning railroaded the potential to move up and take a franchise savior. But after the NBA Lottery, many realized, despite the botched tanking attempt, just how close the club ended up being to picking at the top.
Cooper Flagg
Cooper Flagg
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The Dallas Mavericks conveniently and shockingly landed the first pick and the rights to take Flagg. The Bulls lost a coin flip to the Mavs for their initial starting point, thanks to identical finishes, meaning Chicago had a 50% chance of having the number combinations that would've given them the rights to take Flagg. Fans have reacted accordingly.
Many have quickly linked Giddey's stunning half-court buzzer-beater against the Lakers to costing Chicago their next superstar.
Plenty have suggested that the lottery results have are often a bit too convenient.
Naturally, the front office is catching plenty of heat.
It's hard not for many to put this in recent historical context.
Many are sick of the current organizational strategy of praying ping-pong balls bounce their way.