With the trade deadline having come and gone, the Chicago Bulls currently sit firmly in last place in the Central division with a 22-33 record entering All-Star Weekend. The team enters the break dropping their last four games which includes a contest at home against the Detroit Pistons where they trailed 71-29 at halftime.
Chicago electing to ship out veteran Zach LaVine at the trade deadline could be a factor in their recent skid, but they hadn’t exactly been playing winning basketball before trading him. Despite the losing streak, the Bulls still have a decent hold onto the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
The team is 1.5 games up on the 76ers, but that lead could diminish quickly if they keep playing like this after the break. Each franchise had their viewership rating released this week and the Bulls stood out in a rough way.
The Chicago Bulls viewership has dipped significantly this season
The Bulls playing an inconsistent brand of basketball this season along with the new Chicago Sports Network platform are two major reasons why their viewership rating has dropped considerably. The Sports Business Journal’s report on the ratings across the league has Chicago as the organization that has lost the most viewers this season.
Bulls down 63% in viewership. https://t.co/CRNpd5Vz4K
— Jeff Agrest #🟦 (@JeffAgrest) February 14, 2025
A 63% drop for the Bulls is a pretty large drop for any team let along one in as big of a market as Chicago. Fans have made their frustrations known with Chicago Sports Network but also the team’s inability to pick a direction. The franchise has been stuck in mediocrity for three years now and the LaVine move was a good start toward ripping down the roster, but the front office still wasn’t able to get rid of every veteran piece on the roster that they wanted to.
Nikola Vucevic remains a Bull through the deadline and that could haunt Chicago’s chances in the draft lottery if they win a game or two that they shouldn’t. With how things have been going as of late, that might not be an issue, but there is still 27 games left in the regular season with the team still holding a play-in tournament spot.
Matas Buzelis will be a driving force to bring the Chicago Bulls back
Buzelis has been impressive to watch in his rookie season and his numbers don’t do his overall game enough justice. He is averaging 6.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game while shooting 44.1% from the field. Buzelis will be participating in the Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend and having him around the league’s best is certainly something that the Bulls organization will not complain about.
The Chicagoland kid has been in double figures and his last eight games, so his season averages should continue to rise after the break. Buzelis has developed nicely in his first NBA and without a doubt is turning into what the Bulls were hoping to get out of Patrick Williams when they took him fourth overall in 2020.
The obvious hope for the Bulls is for them to pull off an improbable feat in winning the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes this offseason. The Duke big man is one of the most hyped up draft prospects in the last decade and he would pair nicely with Buzelis for the organization’s future. If they don’t win the lottery, they’ll still have a shot at grabbing a significant piece to the puzzle moving forward with this being a highly touted crop of prospects.
Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan in line for big promotion amid 22-33 season
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