Chicago Bulls: Pre-NBA Draft offseason primer, hype manual

It’s been weeks since the Chicago Bulls took a tumble in the already infamous Draft Lottery and, by now, I think everyone has gotten over the shock. Now, we wait for the draft.

And I hadn’t felt so defeated. That fall in the lottery was tough to swallow, even when I saw it coming. The chances of falling were higher than moving up and after struggling through one of the worst seasons in Chicago Bulls history, that lottery dealt a final punch to the gut of the team and the fans. A true microcosm of how the last seven-plus months played out.

The fact that last season was an absolute struggle, on and off the court. Our “reward” by receiving a worse lottery pick felt comical. Purely symbolic of their entire season, which, in case you forgot, was a laughable catastrophe. Missing out on Zion Williamson and Ja Morant will sting for a while, especially when the Pelicans and Grizzlies had much smaller odds to jump into the top four.

And after Jimbo Boylen’s predictable, yet idiotic extension, it truly was a “double lose”.

Imagine being born after Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Phil Jackson’s Bulls? Imagine if the only Bulls team you loved was the one run by John Paxson and Gar Forman? I mean, how tragic is that? No one would blame you for jumping ship.

That said, while the Raptors bask in the glory of winning the franchise’s first NBA title, the Bulls still face a pivotal offseason for like the 27th time. Even with falling to seventh for the third year in a row, the Bulls need to make smart draft picks and spend their money in free agency wisely. Consider this my blueprint(s) for their offseason.

You will soon find that there’s actually a lot to discuss.

Let’s get #JackedAndJuiced.