The Chicago Bulls, once one of the league’s most pleasant surprises in the early weeks of the season, have spiraled into one of its most frustrating stories. After a promising start, Chicago has dropped 13 of its last 16 games, including several to teams near the bottom of the standings. As a fan, I expected the hot start to cool off. The schedule was always going to stiffen, and the Bulls were going to face legitimate playoff teams. But what happened next wasn’t simply regression to the mean. It was a collapse.

When the schedule finally softened in late November, the Bulls didn’t seize the opportunity. They played down to their competition, and the losses piled up.

Now sitting at 9–14, Chicago has a few days off before a rematch with Charlotte, a game that could either spark a shift or extend this downward free fall.

Today’s Hottest Take: It’s Been Time to Blow This Team Up — Now You Have to Take a Risk

This is the part where my fandom shows. I, along with countless other Bulls fans, have been pleading for one thing: commitment. Either commit to acquiring a legitimate superstar, or commit to a real rebuild. What the Bulls cannot afford is the middle ground — this endless loop of being competitive enough to hover around the Play-In but never good enough to matter.

The Bulls have solid players in the 4–10 range of their rotation. If you could drop a Giannis Antetokounmpo or Nikola Jokic onto this roster, sure, you’d have something real. But those players don’t get traded, and even if they were, Chicago doesn’t have the level of assets necessary to win that kind of bidding war.

A more realistic gamble would be targeting a player like Zion Williamson, a true superstar talent whose health concerns have lowered his price. Even then, I wouldn’t be fully comfortable mortgaging the future, but it is very tempting at this point given where the team is.

Then there are the reports: unconfirmed but circulating, that Giannis’ camp reached out to gauge the Bulls’ interest, and the Bulls said they weren’t interested. If there is any truth to that, front-office jobs should be on the line. A near-top-five player in the league asks whether you’d like to have a conversation, and your response is no? That’s malpractice. But the truth may also be that even if the Bulls wanted to talk, they had no realistic way to build a competitive roster around him afterward.

This brings us to the real issue…

What You Need to Know: Being Mediocre in the NBA Is Worse Than Being Bad

Unlike the NFL or MLB, where you can find elite talent in later rounds, the NBA’s stars are almost always found at the very top of the draft. Yes, there are rare exceptions like Jokic or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Historically speaking, the transformative players, the kind who change your franchise’s trajectory, are found in the first five picks.

That’s why it hurts so much that the Bulls have lived in draft purgatory. They’re never bad enough to get into the top three, and they’re rarely good enough to matter. Even when they jumped to the fourth pick in 2020, they used it on Patrick Williams, passing on Tyrese Haliburton, who went ninth and is now an All-NBA level guard.

Right now, the Bulls’ best internal hope for a future superstar is Matas Buzelis. While he has shown improvement from year one, his development curve looks more like baby steps than leaps. Superstars pop early. Buzelis hasn’t popped yet.

Josh Giddey has grown into an excellent, versatile contributor; the type of player who can absolutely help a championship team. But help is not lead. And the Bulls continue to operate as if someone currently on the roster is secretly waiting to bloom into a franchise cornerstone. The reality? That player probably isn’t in the league yet.

Before You Go: The NBA Rewards Patience and Preparedness

You never know when a superstar becomes unexpectedly available. You never know when another team signals a rebuild, a player demands out, or a market shifts. But you can’t capitalize on those moments if you’re stuck in the middle with no direction, no assets and no identity.

The Bulls need to choose a path. Either take the big, uncomfortable swing for a franchise-level star — or tear this thing down and finally commit to a real rebuild.

Because if there’s one lesson the NBA teaches over and over, it’s this:

In this league, being mediocre is the one place you can least afford to be.