Projecting the East next year

[pipfan]

I think we might be farther from the playoffs than we think. I do admire our late season run here-the Laker game was the best game the Bulls have had in years. But, I fear we could still be a Playin (or worse) team next year, even if AKME keep making win-now moves

Bos/Clev/NY (not going anywhere)
Milw (if they don't deal Giannis, they're still a playoff team)
Indy (should resign Turner, will be solid)
Orl (if Paolo/Franz healthy they're above us)
Det (should keep improving)
Atl (won't tank, with pick depth and Johnson returning-plus might add 2 picks-Sac/LAL)
Miami (might owe unprotected '26 pick to OKC, won't tank-also against their culture)
Sixers (assuming Embiid is back, they're a playoff team)
Tor (Barnes/Ingram/Quickly/Poeltl/Dick/RJ/top 6 pick-more talent than us)

We should be better for sure than Char (if Ball healthy and they add a stud, they could jump us), Wash (they add Flagg they could make a move) and BRK (probably make their move in 2026 and tank again)

I know some will say we should avoid a losing culture and be the best team possible, and I understand
BUT-we could be a "better" team next year, and still be a mid-lotto team

We have Matas (awesome pick), Giddy (will resign him) and White as our "core"-plus lots of solid players. I could EASILY see us fighting again for the Playin for the next few years

OR
We could sell high on Coby, resign Giddy and do a soft tank-building towards the future. We could look to add some young talent from better teams (guys like Black/Howard on Orl, Dieng/Topic from OKC plus other options) and future picks?

The 2026 draft looks epic in the top 4-maybe we get our franchise guy there?

[Donkedave]

I think we might be farther from the playoffs than we think. I do admire our late season run here-the Laker game was the best game the Bulls have had in years. But, I fear we could still be a Playin (or worse) team next year, even if AKME keep making win-now moves

Bos/Clev/NY (not going anywhere)
Milw (if they don't deal Giannis, they're still a playoff team)
Indy (should resign Turner, will be solid)
Orl (if Paolo/Franz healthy they're above us)
Det (should keep improving)
Atl (won't tank, with pick depth and Johnson returning-plus might add 2 picks-Sac/LAL)
Miami (might owe unprotected '26 pick to OKC, won't tank-also against their culture)
Sixers (assuming Embiid is back, they're a playoff team)
Tor (Barnes/Ingram/Quickly/Poeltl/Dick/RJ/top 6 pick-more talent than us)

We should be better for sure than Char (if Ball healthy and they add a stud, they could jump us), Wash (they add Flagg they could make a move) and BRK (probably make their move in 2026 and tank again)

I know some will say we should avoid a losing culture and be the best team possible, and I understand
BUT-we could be a "better" team next year, and still be a mid-lotto team

We have Matas (awesome pick), Giddy (will resign him) and White as our "core"-plus lots of solid players. I could EASILY see us fighting again for the Playin for the next few years

OR
We could sell high on Coby, resign Giddy and do a soft tank-building towards the future. We could look to add some young talent from better teams (guys like Black/Howard on Orl, Dieng/Topic from OKC plus other options) and future picks?

The 2026 draft looks epic in the top 4-maybe we get our franchise guy there?

Give us a run down on the moves you would make as the bulls manager. Then I’ll do one also, sounds like fun!

[pipfan]

I think we might be farther from the playoffs than we think. I do admire our late season run here-the Laker game was the best game the Bulls have had in years. But, I fear we could still be a Playin (or worse) team next year, even if AKME keep making win-now moves

Bos/Clev/NY (not going anywhere)
Milw (if they don't deal Giannis, they're still a playoff team)
Indy (should resign Turner, will be solid)
Orl (if Paolo/Franz healthy they're above us)
Det (should keep improving)
Atl (won't tank, with pick depth and Johnson returning-plus might add 2 picks-Sac/LAL)
Miami (might owe unprotected '26 pick to OKC, won't tank-also against their culture)
Sixers (assuming Embiid is back, they're a playoff team)
Tor (Barnes/Ingram/Quickly/Poeltl/Dick/RJ/top 6 pick-more talent than us)

We should be better for sure than Char (if Ball healthy and they add a stud, they could jump us), Wash (they add Flagg they could make a move) and BRK (probably make their move in 2026 and tank again)

I know some will say we should avoid a losing culture and be the best team possible, and I understand
BUT-we could be a "better" team next year, and still be a mid-lotto team

We have Matas (awesome pick), Giddy (will resign him) and White as our "core"-plus lots of solid players. I could EASILY see us fighting again for the Playin for the next few years

OR
We could sell high on Coby, resign Giddy and do a soft tank-building towards the future. We could look to add some young talent from better teams (guys like Black/Howard on Orl, Dieng/Topic from OKC plus other options) and future picks?

The 2026 draft looks epic in the top 4-maybe we get our franchise guy there?

Give us a run down on the moves you would make as the bulls manager. Then I’ll do one also, sounds like fun!

I'll try
White to Orl
Terry and Port pick to OKC
Dieng, Howard, #15, #26 to Chi

Orl gets their scorer, great fit with their lineup. Will get expensive in 2026 for a year, before KCP expires but they need a guy like White

OKC adds a future pick, and Terry is harmless depth for a year who fits their D-first mentality

Bulls add 2 young kids and 2 picks-go into next year with
Ball/Ayo/JCarter
Giddy/Huerter
Matas/PWill
Dieng/Phillips
Collins/Smith
Plus #10, #15, #26

[Dez]

I think we might be farther from the playoffs than we think. I do admire our late season run here-the Laker game was the best game the Bulls have had in years. But, I fear we could still be a Playin (or worse) team next year, even if AKME keep making win-now moves

Bos/Clev/NY (not going anywhere)
Milw (if they don't deal Giannis, they're still a playoff team)
Indy (should resign Turner, will be solid)
Orl (if Paolo/Franz healthy they're above us)
Det (should keep improving)
Atl (won't tank, with pick depth and Johnson returning-plus might add 2 picks-Sac/LAL)
Miami (might owe unprotected '26 pick to OKC, won't tank-also against their culture)
Sixers (assuming Embiid is back, they're a playoff team)
Tor (Barnes/Ingram/Quickly/Poeltl/Dick/RJ/top 6 pick-more talent than us)

We should be better for sure than Char (if Ball healthy and they add a stud, they could jump us), Wash (they add Flagg they could make a move) and BRK (probably make their move in 2026 and tank again)

I know some will say we should avoid a losing culture and be the best team possible, and I understand
BUT-we could be a "better" team next year, and still be a mid-lotto team

We have Matas (awesome pick), Giddy (will resign him) and White as our "core"-plus lots of solid players. I could EASILY see us fighting again for the Playin for the next few years

OR
We could sell high on Coby, resign Giddy and do a soft tank-building towards the future. We could look to add some young talent from better teams (guys like Black/Howard on Orl, Dieng/Topic from OKC plus other options) and future picks?

The 2026 draft looks epic in the top 4-maybe we get our franchise guy there?

Give us a run down on the moves you would make as the bulls manager. Then I’ll do one also, sounds like fun!

I'll try
White to Orl
Terry and Port pick to OKC
Dieng, Howard, #15, #26 to Chi

Orl gets their scorer, great fit with their lineup. Will get expensive in 2026 for a year, before KCP expires but they need a guy like White

OKC adds a future pick, and Terry is harmless depth for a year who fits their D-first mentality

Bulls add 2 young kids and 2 picks-go into next year with
Ball/Ayo/JCarter
Giddy/Huerter
Matas/PWill
Dieng/Phillips
Collins/Smith
Plus #10, #15, #26

Bulls get way too much for way too little.

Also I can't stand it anymore, it's spelled Giddey.

[Ice Man]

I'm going to play the optimists' card. Teams that will surely be better than us -

Cleveland
Boston
NY
Milwaukee (assuming Giannis doesn't blow up in frustration and force his way out)

That's it. I would guess Detroit will be better, too, but funny things can happen to young teams that seem to be inevitably on the rise. See Memphis.

Meaning that if we get a center who can defend, we could end up as a young team that is a #5 or #6 seed, thereby being of interest to veteran FAs who are looking to make playoff noise.

I am not saying that this *will* happen, but it could. That's not an unreasonable hope.

[MrSparkle]

I’m forever pessimistic of how good the east will be.

Boston, Milwaukee and NYK are over the 2nd apron, and Cleveland’s joining them next year. Celtics and Cavs are obviously the cream of the crop, but the rest are longshot contenders with no flexibility.

Orlando, Detroit, Indiana obviously moved past us, but they’re hardly intimidating. If Philly gets Flagg they’ll be relevant, but at this point Embiid and George have to prove they can make it through a season.

To me it’s always the lesser conference. Being stuck in #10 play-in purgatory is all the more sad.

[kodo]

Do people really think we're a high seed next year? I would guess most people believe we are who we are since no addition is coming this offseason, other than some 10th pick. Even with lucking out on Buzelis, he's still not yet carrying this team to the 4th seed and the #10 next year almost certainly won't either.

6th seed is possible, it always is for the play-in teams it's only about a 6 win difference. Just relative health can easily swing that # over a full season. And Coby/Giddey are unusually healthy players. Both are on track for ~75 games this season, last season they played 79/80 games. Most core players are ~65-69 games.

I will throw in one big caveat...a decent athletic/defensive Center replacing Vuc will massively change things around. Scoring has never been the problem, we're the #1 scoring team in the league post ASG. We always lose on defense. That LA game was a microcosm of Chicago basketball, on the game deciding possession all we had to do was make 1 stop for 6.1 seconds, and LA scores in 2. Wasn't even entirely Pat's fault, he was not giving up a jumper so it forced a drive but there was nobody at the rim. We had a center on the floor but he was literally guarding nobody at 20'. Lebron & Luka were out by the 3P line. Vuc was literally guarding empty space and turning his head around trying to figure out what happened.

That one change could push the Bulls to 5th-6th seed, and getting a Gafford type isn't expensive, he cost a very low (OKC) 1st rounder. The biggest hurdle here is that AK loves soft, offensive Vuc type big men. After he paid draft picks to get Vuc, he tried to follow up by signing Danilo Gallinari (who signed with BOS instead) and drafted Marko Simonovic. He's never even tried to get an athletic C even on the SL team or on a 2-way. If everything went great for AK our frontcourt rotation would have been Gallo/Vucevic/Simonovic.

[Chi town]

Health and a defensive C and we are in the mediocre mix with everyone but CLE and BOS and those teams only have next year before the 2nd apron breaks them up.

I think Coby will take another step to be full time post ASG Coby. Same for Giddey with a better 3 ball and more FTs. Buz is the real wild card. If he comes back strong and improved we are a fun watch and could fight for that top tier outside contenders. Need Zo and Tre healthy though and a normal Pat not this DNP Pat that gets rotation mins.

[NZB2323]

I could see us as the 7th seed instead of the 10th with improvement, but still a play in team. We’re not good enough to make the playoffs and we’re not bad enough to get a lotto pick.

[rosenthall]

I think we might be farther from the playoffs than we think. I do admire our late season run here-the Laker game was the best game the Bulls have had in years. But, I fear we could still be a Playin (or worse) team next year, even if AKME keep making win-now moves

I definitely don't think we'll maintain our record over the last 15 games into next year. Team records in this part of the regular season aren't very reliable for a number of reasons. I think we'll probably be in the play-in too, but more likely to be 7-8 than 9-10, and have an outside shot of getting to the #6 pick.

Bos/Clev/NY (not going anywhere)
Milw (if they don't deal Giannis, they're still a playoff team)
Indy (should resign Turner, will be solid)
Orl (if Paolo/Franz healthy they're above us)
Det (should keep improving)
Atl (won't tank, with pick depth and Johnson returning-plus might add 2 picks-Sac/LAL)
Miami (might owe unprotected '26 pick to OKC, won't tank-also against their culture)
Sixers (assuming Embiid is back, they're a playoff team)
Tor (Barnes/Ingram/Quickly/Poeltl/Dick/RJ/top 6 pick-more talent than us)

Agree about Bos, Cle, NY, Indy, Orl and probably Det. Miami is thin on talent and have been bad since Jimmy got traded, so I don't think they're likely to be better than us. Embiid's health is shaky every year, so they could very much be out of the playoffs next year too. Atlanta has been a mediocre team for 4 years now, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're in the 35-40 win range like they usually are.

I actually think Milwaukee is shaky. Giannis is dominant, but the rest of their team looks pretty bad to me. BroLo is running on fumes, and we have no idea how serious Lillard's blood clot injury is.....but they're usually pretty serious. They're a Giannis injury away from just tanking the season IMO.

I could see Toronto getting a lot better.....but I'm kinda low on their big guys. I don't actually think RJ and Ingram are difference makers, and Poeltl is an average starting center, nothing to get excited about. I wouldn't pencil them in as being a play-in team next year.

We have Matas (awesome pick), Giddy (will resign him) and White as our "core"-plus lots of solid players. I could EASILY see us fighting again for the Playin for the next few years

I think that's the likely outcome, but our current style of play is more dangerous than in previous years. DeMar ball is great for grinding out wins against mediocre teams in the regular season, but it would have gotten crushed in the playoffs. We also might get a Buzelis jump, which seems more likely than it did at the beginning of the season.

We could sell high on Coby, resign Giddy and do a soft tank-building towards the future. We could look to add some young talent from better teams (guys like Black/Howard on Orl, Dieng/Topic from OKC plus other options) and future picks?

The 2026 draft looks epic in the top 4-maybe we get our franchise guy there?

I think trading off Coby and Giddey for a tank is a viable option. I'd make the choice depending on what you think you can resign Coby and Giddey for. I think if you can get the two of them resigned for ~30 - 35% of the cap in 2026-2027 then it's a good play to make, since that'd lock you into a .500ish team with a decent amount of youth and cap flexibility to continue to make moves. If their deals get you closer to 40-50% of the cap in that same year I'd really consider moving them for players and picks.

[Donkedave]

I think we might be farther from the playoffs than we think. I do admire our late season run here-the Laker game was the best game the Bulls have had in years. But, I fear we could still be a Playin (or worse) team next year, even if AKME keep making win-now moves

Bos/Clev/NY (not going anywhere)
Milw (if they don't deal Giannis, they're still a playoff team)
Indy (should resign Turner, will be solid)
Orl (if Paolo/Franz healthy they're above us)
Det (should keep improving)
Atl (won't tank, with pick depth and Johnson returning-plus might add 2 picks-Sac/LAL)
Miami (might owe unprotected '26 pick to OKC, won't tank-also against their culture)
Sixers (assuming Embiid is back, they're a playoff team)
Tor (Barnes/Ingram/Quickly/Poeltl/Dick/RJ/top 6 pick-more talent than us)

We should be better for sure than Char (if Ball healthy and they add a stud, they could jump us), Wash (they add Flagg they could make a move) and BRK (probably make their move in 2026 and tank again)

I know some will say we should avoid a losing culture and be the best team possible, and I understand
BUT-we could be a "better" team next year, and still be a mid-lotto team

We have Matas (awesome pick), Giddy (will resign him) and White as our "core"-plus lots of solid players. I could EASILY see us fighting again for the Playin for the next few years

OR
We could sell high on Coby, resign Giddy and do a soft tank-building towards the future. We could look to add some young talent from better teams (guys like Black/Howard on Orl, Dieng/Topic from OKC plus other options) and future picks?

The 2026 draft looks epic in the top 4-maybe we get our franchise guy there?

Give us a run down on the moves you would make as the bulls manager. Then I’ll do one also, sounds like fun!

I'll try
White to Orl
Terry and Port pick to OKC
Dieng, Howard, #15, #26 to Chi

Orl gets their scorer, great fit with their lineup. Will get expensive in 2026 for a year, before KCP expires but they need a guy like White

OKC adds a future pick, and Terry is harmless depth for a year who fits their D-first mentality

Bulls add 2 young kids and 2 picks-go into next year with
Ball/Ayo/JCarter
Giddy/Huerter
Matas/PWill
Dieng/Phillips
Collins/Smith
Plus #10, #15, #26

Where’s Vuch going?

[Muzbar]

Give us a run down on the moves you would make as the bulls manager. Then I’ll do one also, sounds like fun!

I'll try
White to Orl
Terry and Port pick to OKC
Dieng, Howard, #15, #26 to Chi

Orl gets their scorer, great fit with their lineup. Will get expensive in 2026 for a year, before KCP expires but they need a guy like White

OKC adds a future pick, and Terry is harmless depth for a year who fits their D-first mentality

Bulls add 2 young kids and 2 picks-go into next year with
Ball/Ayo/JCarter
Giddy/Huerter
Matas/PWill
Dieng/Phillips
Collins/Smith
Plus #10, #15, #26

Where’s Vuch going?

Oblivion.

[Donkedave]

I'll try
White to Orl
Terry and Port pick to OKC
Dieng, Howard, #15, #26 to Chi

Orl gets their scorer, great fit with their lineup. Will get expensive in 2026 for a year, before KCP expires but they need a guy like White

OKC adds a future pick, and Terry is harmless depth for a year who fits their D-first mentality

Bulls add 2 young kids and 2 picks-go into next year with
Ball/Ayo/JCarter
Giddy/Huerter
Matas/PWill
Dieng/Phillips
Collins/Smith
Plus #10, #15, #26

Where’s Vuch going?

Oblivion.

Get hawks on the phone and ask nicely to take him into the TPE in the offseason, no questions asked all for free no picks required

[MGB8]

Absent big trades:

Boston will likely decline a little bit (Jrue and Horford are older and critical pieces),
Cleveland be more or less the same,
Knicks more or less the same,
Orlando likely better (Suggs returns w/out big decline, generally young team on upswing),
Detroit also better, but probably not enough to change tiers (Ivey back, Thompson, Holland, Duren development, but also rely pretty heavily on some older wing vets and Tobias)
Atlanta a bit better but no huge jump
Indiana more or less the same - a bit too much talent to just collapse

Milwaukee could regress a lot (and biggest candidate to make team altering trade)
Toronto was absolutely snake-bit this season, and I expect them to be a lot better

Miami I expect to be similar to this year - play-in level - not an old team anymore, have some guys on upswing

Philly has so much chaos, hard to predict if they bounce back, and how much
Charlotte a mess so despite talent, hard to see significant improvement

Brooklyn and Washington would have to make serious moves to be or they of discussion even. Brooklyn competes but just not there. Washington far away - some way overpriced vets got dumped there plus Sarr, who is meh, Couilbaly…

[Hangtime84]

4-6 in the east gonna be tough

Detroit continued growth
Orlando key players should be should be fully healthy
Atlanta healthy with experience of guys being contributors
Milwaukee declining but they have Giannis
Chicago full year of playing this group
Indiana continued growth

[meekrab]

We've been playing at 49 win pace since the ASB. Yes some tank wins in there but there will be tank wins every season, and we won't have the godawful start where the team was still figuring out how to score any points without Zach LaVine. We might as well face it this team is going to be competitive for an actual playoff spot next year, not simply a home play in game.

White to Orl
Terry and Port pick to OKC
Dieng, Howard, #15, #26 to Chi

This is a literal free gift of Coby White to Orlando; terrible terrible trade. Almost like what Nico Harrison would do if he was running the Bulls. At least ask Orlando for a player that they'll miss after the trade rather than a guy shooting a career 35% from the field with a single digit PER. If Dieng is the point well OKC would probably salary dump him on us if we asked nicely. And there's absolutely no room in our rotation to play and develop 3 rookies after we add back the injured Lonzo, Ayo and probably Tre Jones.

[Dan Z]

Absent big trades:

Boston will likely decline a little bit (Jrue and Horford are older and critical pieces),
Cleveland be more or less the same,
Knicks more or less the same,
Orlando likely better (Suggs returns w/out big decline, generally young team on upswing),
Detroit also better, but probably not enough to change tiers (Ivey back, Thompson, Holland, Duren development, but also rely pretty heavily on some older wing vets and Tobias)
Atlanta a bit better but no huge jump
Indiana more or less the same - a bit too much talent to just collapse

Milwaukee could regress a lot (and biggest candidate to make team altering trade)
Toronto was absolutely snake-bit this season, and I expect them to be a lot better

Miami I expect to be similar to this year - play-in level - not an old team anymore, have some guys on upswing

Philly has so much chaos, hard to predict if they bounce back, and how much
Charlotte a mess so despite talent, hard to see significant improvement

Brooklyn and Washington would have to make serious moves to be or they of discussion even. Brooklyn competes but just not there. Washington far away - some way overpriced vets got dumped there plus Sarr, who is meh, Couilbaly…

I agree that Philly is tough to predict, but I bet they're at least play-in level or better. Both PG and Embiid will come into the season looking to prove that they're still good (will they be? That's the difficult part). Plus Philly will have a full year with Jared McCain and will most likely add a top 6 pick to the roster. Additionally...do they re-sign Grimes and Yabusele? Both have played well this year.

[Bulliever2020]

Spoiler alert: We're going to be in the play-in again

[MrSparkle]

I think this off-season is going to be extremely busy, mainly cause of the apron rules, but also, few teams are just due for change.

Could be that the Bulls also have a busy summer. I kind of hope not (don't want to add marginal upgrades/salary and move up to 5-seed range), although getting ahead of the 2026 FA decisions would be wise. Maybe. But what do you do without seeing Coby for a full season?

Anyway, I perennially project the East to be worse than the West, besides the top 1-2 seeds... I see those 2 top seeds possibly slipping back if they have to make those salary dumps. I don't see more teams emerging. Orlando ought to be better with less injuries, Sixers should reverse course... but otherwise, I'm not expecting huge jumps from Atlanta, Charlotte, Toronto, even if they get Flagg or some nice trades.

Pretty much your A-tier Cavs/Celtics, B-tier Knicks, and then the Bucks/Pacers/Pistons/Magic/Hawks/Bulls seem to be kinda comparable despite record differences. Whichever of those teams go for the biggest upgrades ought to be 3-6 seeds. Asterisk Sixers if they fully recover.

[burlydee]

I think the best path forward and what will make the Bulls most competitive next season are probably two different things. I think they probably are about the same as last year standings wise.

Cleveland/Boston are the clear top tier.
NY/Indy/Det/Mil/Orl - seem like a good bet to compete for the playoffs barring injury
Miami/Atl/Chi - are the play-in crew.

The Bulls need to keep looking to add good young players to the team. Draft smart / trade smart. Time to find a way to move Vuc. Get a top 5 prospect with your pick this year. And then be opportunistic. Can the Bulls bring in a Mark Williams? Cam Johnson? Lauri Markannen? Jabari Smith? Look at other young guys who need a 2nd or 3rd chance.

The big difference between the outlook a year ago and now is that the "core" is a lot younger. So that gives you more options to build. It also helps that Giddey and Matas are versatile in ways that Derozan, Vuc, and Lavine just are not.

I think they might have screwed themselves a bit with the Ball extension (what's new) but they have tradeable pieces in Huerter, Ayo (sorry, writings on the wall), Ball and the Portland pick. Since they've decided to not tank really have to be economical and hit on the majority of the moves around the margin. in fairness to AKME, they've built a team with decent depth. They just need to find the next Giddey while continuing hit on picks and with reclamation projects.

That is all to say, its not impossible for me seeing a team with Giddey/Coby/Matas claiming a spot 4-6 in the East as it was like 2 months ago. But they really need to hit on the 4th and 5th guy in those other starter spots that really elevate the team.