Bulls’ Depth Exposed as Early-Season Momentum Fizzles
The Chicago Bulls are slipping-and not quietly. After a pair of disappointing road losses to the Hornets and Pacers, the Bulls are now staring at a harsh reality: the early-season optimism is fading fast, and the cracks in this roster are becoming impossible to ignore.
Let’s put the recent stretch into perspective. Over a four-game span, the Bulls faced teams that had a combined record of 9-53 before last Saturday.
That’s about as soft a schedule as you’ll find in the NBA. And yet, Chicago barely escaped with a one-point win over the Wizards before dropping the next three to the Pelicans, Hornets, and Pacers.
These aren’t just losses-they’re missed opportunities against teams that, on paper, the Bulls should be beating.
Zoom out a bit further, and the picture doesn’t get any prettier. Since the start of their road trip in Utah eight games ago, the Bulls have played in six clutch games-defined as contests within five points in the final five minutes-and have gone 3-3. That’s not terrible, but it also speaks to a bigger issue: why are these games even close to begin with?
It’s one thing to battle it out with playoff-caliber teams. It’s another to be fighting tooth and nail against squads that are either rebuilding, tanking, or simply depleted. That’s the existential question Chicago has to answer: why is this team consistently dragged into dogfights with the league’s bottom feeders?
We’re still shy of the 20-game mark, so it’s early. That’s typically the point in the season where trends begin to solidify and teams show their true identity. But even if we’re not drawing final conclusions yet, this stretch is enough to raise serious concerns about the Bulls’ direction-especially when you consider the franchise’s stated goal of being “competitive while building.”
That mission statement has always walked a fine line, but right now it feels like the Bulls are missing on both fronts. The depth that was supposed to be a strength?
It’s not holding up. The young talent that was supposed to develop into meaningful contributors?
Not showing up. And the front office’s ability to find value at the margins?
Still MIA.
Let’s talk about the depth, because that was supposed to be one of the few things this team could hang its hat on. Earlier this season, Chicago’s roster looked like it could survive a rough night from a star-or even an injury or two-thanks to a steady rotation of reliable role players. No All-NBA guys, sure, but plenty of fourth and fifth options who could keep the engine running.
But now, with injuries mounting and minutes available, that depth is being put to the test-and failing.
Patrick Williams is the headliner here, and not in a good way. Once viewed as a potential two-way cornerstone, Williams has struggled mightily.
With the Bulls’ frontcourt thinned by injuries, there was a real opportunity for him to step up, even in a small-ball center role. Instead, his play has regressed.
At this point, the conversation has shifted from “overpaid” to “is he even a rotation player right now?”
Dalen Terry hasn’t made the leap either. Despite being in a contract year, he started the season out of the rotation.
A brief spark in Portland was quickly extinguished in Miami, where he logged 13 minutes, scored zero points, and picked up five fouls. Now he’s nursing a calf injury.
Julian Phillips has yet to carve out a role. He’s shooting just 28% from three, and when minutes opened up, he was sidelined by illness. It’s been a forgettable campaign so far.
Noa Essengue is still a mystery. It’s too early to label him a bust, but the fact that he hasn’t seen real minutes-then got hurt in a G League game-isn’t exactly encouraging.
Even the two-way guys are getting run now. Lachlan Olbrich and Emanuel Miller saw the floor against Indiana.
Olbrich might help expand the Bulls’ presence in Australia, but right now, that’s about the extent of his impact. Miller, for what it’s worth, is older than Isaac Okoro, who was brought in to play over Terry.
This isn’t just about individual performances-it’s about the broader failure to develop talent and build a sustainable pipeline of contributors. The Bulls have averaged just one draft pick per offseason in recent years, and they let go of their head of player development. For a team that isn’t contending, that’s a tough sell.
And it’s not just that the Bulls are losing. It’s how they’re losing.
When Detroit’s B-squad comes in and outplays your rotation guys, that’s not just a bad night-it’s a red flag. Chicago’s recent stretch has made it clear: this team isn’t built to compete at a high level, and it’s not building for the future either.
The Bulls are stuck in the NBA’s worst place to be-forever in the play-in. Not bad enough to rebuild, not good enough to contend. And unless something changes, that treadmill doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.