The Chicago Bulls Can’t Get Out of Their Own Way, But There Is Still Hope
Plus: I’m not a fan of Sean Kilpatrick fan.
If you are reading this, you are probably a Chicago Bulls fan, and you are definitely staring at your screen looking dejected at the thought of reliving the Bulls recent win over the Charlotte Hornets yesterday. The win pushed the Bulls to 27–51, tying them with the New York Knicks for the 8th spot in the NBA Draft lottery.
I am just as sad as the next Bulls fan over the wasted opportunity for the team better their draft position. But there are plenty of great things to takeaway from the disappointing victory.
1) Two monumentally huge Tank games remain
After losing seven games in a row, the Bulls crushed the spirits of #BullsNation by reeling off a swift three-game winning streak that included victories over two tanking teams (Charlotte and Orlando) and one playoff-bound squad in the Washington Wizards.
But if you don’t subscribe to Bulls Reddit, I would do so now. Redditor Pepsuber188 has been absolutely awesome, doing a Bulls “Tank Watch” post pretty much everyday this season. Some are more detailed than others, but they all do a great job of summarizing what teams you need to be watching/rooting for for Bulls’ purposes, and exactly what position the Bulls draft picks are in.
With all of that being said, the Bulls are only 1.5 games back of the Brooklyn Nets/Cleveland Cavaliers for the seventh spot and 2.5 games back of the Sacramento Kings for the sixth spot. These two consecutive games against the Nets give the Bulls to control their own destiny, providing a clear path to the seventh slot in the draft lottery.
Save us D’Angelo.
2) In any 2017 NBA re-draft, Lauri Markkanen is a guaranteed top-five pick
See Markkanen, Lauri.
3) If you want to blame someone, blame Sean Kilpatrick
Sean Kilpatrick seems like a nice guy. I watched him play occasionally when he was at the University of Cincinnati. He has always been a big-time scorer, but at this stage of his career he has been given the Luke Ridnour treatment.
He has an inefficient scorer, a basketball relic. He has a career offensive rating 102 and a career defensive rating of 113. This all adds up to show that Kilpatrick is the type of player who negatively affects your team when he is on the floor. So closing games with Kilpatrick-fueled lineups surely would help the Bulls tank efforts right?
The above video is Sean Kilpatrick, in a Chicago Bulls uniform, going for 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists in a win over the Wizards. He later went on to score 21 pts in the meaningless victory over the Hornets. So despite him bringing a smile to my face by mentioning the Bulls burgeoning chemistry, I can’t help but to be a little upset with him contributing to wins. He isn’t a part of the franchise’s long-term future, but hey, at least everyone on the roster get’s a little extra money?
