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No Guarantees With Lottery Luck, Giddey Back At It, Playoff Jimmy Advances, and Other Bulls Bullets

Posted on May 5, 2025 - 3:52 pm by

Last night seemed like a bit of a stark reminder for Bulls fans that no matter which route they take in their rebuild, unless they make the correct decisions, lottery luck and draft position don’t mean much.

Every single time I watch the Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton, it’s impossible for me not to think “what could have been?” Naturally, that thought was racing through my mind as I watched Haliburton help power the Pacers past Cleveland in Game 1 of that series. In the 2020 NBA Draft lottery, despite having the seventh-best odds to get the top pick, Chicago lucked into the fourth overall selection. Granted, it was just their luck that the draft appeared to have a “big three” at the top before a dropoff. However, lottery luck is lottery luck, and Arturas Karnisovas had a chance to grab a star earlier than he should have been selecting.

Who did Karnisovas take? 18-year-old Patrick Williams, who, granted, had incredible physical traits, was the sixth man for the Florida State Seminoles while Tyrese Haliburton was still on the board. Now, several other teams passed on Haliburton as well, so it’s not like the Bulls passed on a layup. But at the same time, Haliburton was absolutely in the conversation to go fourth overall and was in that “next wave” of prospects after the top three of Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and James Wiseman.

Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images So, I guess what I’m getting at here is that no matter what happens in next week’s lottery, nothing really matters if Arturas Karnisovas doesn’t get the pick right. You can tank for better odds and still get the pick wrong (i.e., James Wiseman in that 2020 draft). You can get lottery luck, jump three spots into the top four, and still get the pick wrong. You can get no luck, stay outside the top 10, and have a player like Tyrese Haliburton or Donovan Mitchell fall into your lap. I’m by no means trying to justify this endless loop of “competitive” Play-In losses that seem to be the goal of the Bulls’ front office. It’s absolutely the most inefficient and ineffective way to try and build a winner. But also, unfortunately, even if Chicago hits a massive stroke of luck next week, nothing is guaranteed. Fun times!

I think last night’s other game, Golden State at Houston, provided another lesson about building a team in the NBA. While having depth is awesome and hugely important, unless you have a true bonafide star, it’s really, really hard to win a title. The Rockets are an incredibly talented team with a lot of very good young players. But do they have that true superstar? Not yet. That’s not to say one of their core players can’t get there, but they’re not there yet. And despite being the deeper, younger, and probably more skilled team, Golden State’s star power (and a big performance from Buddy Hield) was too much for them to overcome. Steph Curry had a meh night? No worries, Jimmy Butler is there with 20, 8 & 7. It just goes to show, depth is great in the NBA, but high-end superstar talent is necessary to win it all.

The Bulls have some nice pieces right now, but even if they have a good offseason, all of their young players develop, and they draft well, do they have that true star on the roster? The answer is very likely no. And I really like Coby White, Josh Giddey, and Matas Buzelis. Maybe one day Matas can get there. But they just don’t have a true 1A player on a title contender, and hoping one of your players eventually turns into one usually doesn’t work out.

One of those players I just mentioned, Josh Giddey, is doing his best to try and take that next step! I’m not sure Giddey will ever be a true superstar, but the version we saw of him down the stretch this year was a really good basketball player and one that can contribute on a contending team. Giddey was on the court putting in some work back home in Australia, and even showcasing some defense!

Two more playoff series get started tonight with the Knicks and Celtics tipping off, as well as the Thunder and Nuggets. It’s kind of wild that with the NBA’s spread-out playoff schedule that we’ll see the Nuggets tip off a new series with just one day off after their Game 7 win over the Clippers, but I guess that’s the advantage of wrapping up your series early.

Speaking of lottery luck, the NHL Draft lottery is tonight, and the Blackhawks have the second-best odds to get the first overall selection, but also can’t pick any lower than fourth overall. Let’s send some good vibes over to the United Center’s other tenant and get the positive juices flowing!