\n Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) sinks a three-point shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)
\n AP\n <\/p>\n
Hey, guess what? The Chicago Bulls clinched a playoff berth Tuesday night. Can you believe it?<\/p>\n
(Waits for reaction.)<\/p>\n
Ha ha, you should see your face right now. I just zinged you with a classic April Fool\u2019s prank.<\/p>\n
With their 137-118 win over the Toronto Raptors on April 1, the Bulls clinched their third straight Play-In Tournament berth. Someone call Pat Riley, because we\u2019re talking about three-peats in Chicago again.<\/p>\n
I guess the joke is not so funny if you\u2019re a Bulls fan. One with higher standards, anyway.<\/p>\n
Now, I\u2019m not the kind of writer who thinks anything short of a championship is a lost season. People say the worst place to be is in the middle, but at least there\u2019s pride a team can take in being a perennial playoff team. Judging by the facial reaction Bulls guard Coby White gave me when I mentioned the Bulls\u2019 three consecutive Play-In appearances, he\u2019s not celebrating this minor accomplishment. He likes the idea of advancing out of the tournament since the Bulls haven\u2019t done that yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe things that we\u2019ve done this back half of the season, the way we\u2019ve played, you know, I think it would be exciting for us to make the playoffs,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n
If the standings stay the same, the Bulls will play the Miami Heat for the third straight year, this time in the first game of the Play-In Tournament. The winner will play the loser of the Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks game.<\/p>\n
With a playoff appearance on the line each time, the Bulls have lost to Miami in the last two Play-Ins, but this time, there\u2019s no Jimmy Butler on the other side. The Heat had a half-game lead on the Bulls going into Wednesday, and the two face off April 9 at the United Center. The winner gets to host the 9-10 game, so maybe team president Michael Reinsdorf will give the Bulls a pep talk about gate receipts and beer sales.<\/p>\n
The Bulls have beaten the Raptors and Hawks in the 9-10 game the past two years, only to see their season end two days later in Miami.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough, especially to lose to the same team twice,\u201d White said after Tuesday\u2019s win.<\/p>\n
This will be the fourth Play-In appearance for the Hawks, who are currently the seventh seed, and the third for the Bulls and Heat, who are battling for the ninth spot. All four teams have losing records. No one really wants to see these teams play any more games, but then again, the Heat went from the Play-In to the NBA Finals two years ago, so you never know.<\/p>\n
A positive for the Play-In Tournament is that it keeps teams with losing records like the Bulls interested and engaged at the end of the season. But should middling organizations get to pretend that making the Play-In Tournament is any kind of real accomplishment?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a conundrum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get where we\u2019re at in the totality of the league,\u201d Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. \u201cThe reality is we\u2019re at the bottom of the league in the East, but we\u2019re fighting for an opportunity to potentially have to win one game or two games, or whatever it may be, and if that happens, you\u2019re in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the Bulls stay in their current situation, the reward for winning two games would be playing the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers, who already have 60 wins, and losing any kind of shot in the NBA draft lottery.<\/p>\n
The Bulls (34-42) already clinched their third consecutive losing season when they got blown out by the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. That also marked the Bulls\u2019 seventh losing season out of 10 since they fired Tom Thibodeau after the 2015 playoffs. They\u2019ve made the playoffs only twice since then and failed to win a series. This team is in desperate need of a reset, starting with a lottery selection, preferably made by a new front office.<\/p>\n
After trading Alex Caruso in the offseason and letting DeMar DeRozan walk, the Bulls waded back into the rebuild waters, but only so far. Trading Zach LaVine at the deadline didn\u2019t crush this team, as it\u2019s still the ninth- or 10th-best team in the East. A smart leadership group would\u2019ve positioned this team for better lottery odds, but the Bulls don\u2019t have one of those.<\/p>\n
With nothing else to play for, Donovan thinks the Play-In Tournament, along with the carrot of the playoffs, has some value for young players like rookie Matas Buzelis, one of the few bright spots in the organization right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think these guys that are going through this, these younger players, they need to feel what that feels like in those moments, in my opinion,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to lose that opportunity for their growth and development.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, there\u2019s been a little Bulls buzz in the city and nationally after they won 9 of 11, including two over the Los Angeles Lakers, over three weeks in March. Five of their six losses in March came at the hands of actual playoff teams, which shows this team\u2019s limitations.<\/p>\n
White, who averaged 27.7 points in 15 games in March, was named the East\u2019s player of the month, making him just the sixth Bulls player to earn that honor, joining DeMar DeRozan, Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Scottie Pippen and, oh yeah, Michael Jordan. White needs only 15 more such awards to tie Jordan\u2019s team record, 16 to pass him.<\/p>\n
If the Bulls are going anywhere once the regular season ends, it has to be White who leads them. He\u2019s already thinking about what went wrong the last two years and what they need to get over the rebuild hump and win two in a row. It\u2019s in the best interest of the organization to lose and keep a lottery spot, but that\u2019s not the players\u2019 problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can we come down from that emotional high and do it again two days later and be able to have that same attention to detail, that same physicality, that same compete level?\u201d he said. \u201cAnd quite honestly, I feel like Miami, the last two years we played them in the Play-In, they physically dominated us. And so how can we match that, both games? Obviously, we gotta get past the first game. But how can we bring that competitiveness in both of those situations? Because it\u2019s single-game elimination; it\u2019s just like March Madness. So how can we be ourselves but also ramp it up to a whole new level?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s kind of like how the Jordan Bulls had to figure out how to get past the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs, right?<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the path we were given,\u201d White said. \u201cThis is our journey. This is our own personal journey as a team. So we got to make the most of it, continue to fight together, be together, stay connected. We\u2019re still blessed and fortunate with the opportunity to make the playoffs, so we\u2019ve got to take full advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2025 The Athletic Media Company. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by New York Times Licensing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) sinks a shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo\/Erin Hooley)
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