Although a few surprises cropped up \u2014 the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic have underperformed deeply, the Boston Celtics are making every predictor and pundit eat their preseason rankings \u2014 the Eastern Conference remains a wide-open runway to the playoffs. Even at two games under .500, the Bulls (23-25) are still in play-in position with only 3\u00bd games of separation from a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
The Bulls could make a push for the playoffs and forgo a lottery pick in one of the stronger drafts in recent years. But do they want to?<\/p>\n
At the start of the season, the answer was no. Kind of. During training camp, the party line within the front office was that the Bulls essentially were content to miss the playoffs if it meant setting up decent draft position, making a few trades to maximize the value of expiring contracts and giving hefty minutes to young players such as Matas Buzelis<\/a> who need development. Karni\u0161ovas said as much in his season-opening news conference: \u201cWe have to be patient.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bulls front office was not immune to the excitement of a 6-1 start<\/a>, although executives and coaches alike were not surprised when that hot streak normalized within weeks. But once the season settled into mediocrity, the Bulls regrouped around their original grounding intentions for the season.<\/p>\n This might sound familiar. The Bulls will not make overly brash moves \u2014 for instance, dumping players at bargain prices \u2014 to force a nosedive into the lottery. But their ultimate hope for the season is to take another patient step toward building a young roster. While making the play-in tournament or even the playoffs isn\u2019t fully ruled out as an option, the future is still the focus.<\/p>\n All right. So that\u2019s the plan. But the Bulls still have to define one crucial aspect before they proceed: Who on this roster even qualifies as young? And who from that group is worth building around?<\/p>\n There are a few obvious answers. Buzelis is 21. Noa Essengue<\/a> is 19. Both certainly qualify as young players. Josh Giddey still fits that bill at 23, although he is reaching the end of his \u201cyoung player\u201d tenure as he enters the second year of his second contract<\/a> next season. Julian Phillips, 22, and Dalen Terry, 23, technically fit in this group, but neither plays enough to register as a priority in the conversation.<\/p>\n Much of the rest of the roster is in a nebulous zone between 24 and 28 that separates young players from veteran status. Patrick Williams is 24 (and still failing to establish himself in the rotation). Coby White, Isaac Okoro and Jalen Smith are 25. Ayo Dosunmu and Tre Jones are 26. Kevin Huerter is 27 and Zach Collins is 28.<\/p>\n The Bulls roster can be lazily classified as \u201cyoung\u201d simply because of the absence of age. But this in-between group of players makes no sense when aligned with the timeline of a potential breakout from Buzelis. There\u2019s no way to develop this group over the next four years without contracts ballooning unsustainably; and that same group lacks any of the star power necessary to lift the Bulls out of their current mediocrity.<\/p>\n![\"Bulls](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CTC-L-BULLS-PACERS-120525-27.jpg\")
Bulls forward Matas Buzelis (14) and guard Coby White head to the bench against the Pacers on Dec. 5, 2025, at the United Center. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n