why Bulls fans can't enjoy good things

it's not the decision, it's the decision-maker

Have the Bulls won or lost since I last posted? Who can care, it doesn’t matter.

As I said then, the end result is already predetermined: one of the lowest spots in the dogcrap East play-in, and one of the lowest odds-positions in the draft lottery.

And also as I said then: it’s encouraging, but extremely-far-from determinative, that Josh Giddey and Coby White are playing so well. The end result there, an outrageous overpayment of Josh Giddey¹, will be cried over in due time.

So why repeat myself? Well, because a national writer has deigned to write about this second-division franchise. Michael Pina of The Ringer, he of the accurate-at-the-time “the Bulls are the most depressing team in the league” column a few years ago, says the Bulls aren’t quite as depressing but there’s still an underlying worry:

it was more than fair to acknowledge all the ways Chicago is sensibly trending in the right direction … but it’s also fair to be suspicious about what it all means for the organization’s future. In some ways, the Bulls are the perfect play-in team. They’re fun and new, injecting optimism into a fan base that hasn’t felt any in 12 years. But cynically speaking, they may be the textbook example of an NBA mirage.

Pina succinctly broadens both points: the Bulls are, unlike prior seasons, being successful due to the contributions of younger players. But on the other hand, what does ‘success’ mean, here?

The column is good, but passive-aggressively dances around the ultimate reason why fans should (and many do) have trepidations and outright cynicism when it comes to processing the team’s wins in March.

It’s not that we’re still mad about the lack of a tank, or Billy Donovan’s every-game insistence that these victories offer a significant long-term benefit to young players’ development. That has been long decided.

The issue is that it was decided by a stone cold moron who should’ve been fired years ago.

I thought we’d have to wait until after the season, but Arturas Karnisovas, he of the “we don’t settle for mediocrity” annual pull quote, already did a victory lap where he essentially looked at anything and everything to do with his team and said he loved them.

Especially galling in that it came from an executive who, out of embarrassment, should have never spoken again after the trade deadline.

Whether it’s genuine or simply to keep his job, this is what AK says and at least professes to believe:

1. the team is good enough

2. the team is playing to a style (and the style is working)

3. the team is only going to improve, and doesn’t need big swings to do so

All of these fundamental tenets are wrong. And they’re all wrong because of how AK overrates his guys. Not only has he overrated them, he has tried to diminished the priority of getting better players. He’s said instead of stars - one of Pina’s more well-warmed takes is that the current Bulls have zero future All Star Game appearances - you can instead win with depth and ‘identity’, as if running-and-gunning a veteran team out of the gym in a March back-to-back is something sustainable².

If you cover this team and are speculating on the Bulls next two summers based off of AK’s “plan”, you have already given up too much ground to insanity. AK shouldn’t have a plan because he shouldn’t have the job!

The best thing for this team in their current state was getting the #1 pick. The second best thing would be to get the #2 or #3 pick³. The third best thing isn’t Matas Buzelis “learning winning habits”, or building up Kevin Huerter’s trade value. The third best thing - because the first two doesn’t require a front office - would be getting a new front office.

That’s the reason why we can’t be objectively pleased with the young players objectively playing well: because we know the only person whose evaluation matters has already declared it good enough.

Whether they get blown out again in the play-in, or in a 4-1 first round loss, I sincerely doubt AK will say he’s not happy being in the middle. He’s going to be extremely happy being in the middle. Because he was able to change the perception of this middling bunch to a level of just good enough to keep him from getting fired.

1. In my eyes, due to his likely-intractable deficiencies and lack of interest around the league, the Bulls should offer Giddey something like $15M a season, and if he can’t beat that and wants the $11M qualifying offer risk, then fine. So, yes, I am likely to be extremely disappointed.

2. again, whether this is truly what he believes, or just knows that’s the hole he’s dug himself into so he’s spinning, is beside the point

3. more debatable, I don’t know if Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey are like ‘can overcome entrenched franchise incompetence’ level of prospects