Again, this is not where the Bulls hoped or want to be. They pushed forward chips in the form of two lightly-protected future first-round picks and Wendell Carter Jr. to compete now, and the returns haven't manifested.
If the season ended today, the Bulls would have the eighth-worst record in the NBA, and thus, the eighth-best odds of winning June's draft lottery. But unless they land in the top four, they'll owe that pick to the Orlando Magic as part of the Vučević deal. With the eighth-best lottery odds, the Bulls would have a 23.5 percent chance of landing in the top four, and 5.3 percent chance of hitting No. 1 overall... Which ultimately translates to a 76.5 percent chance of forfeiting the selection.
And regardless, the Bulls will scratch and claw for every win they can get down the stretch. For younger players, being challenged in must-win games means experience, for elder ones it's pride.
"We were in a better situation and we lost some games. We put ourselves in a more difficult position than we were. But there’s no point in us looking back at it and thinking about what could’ve been or what we could’ve done differently. I think we just have to move on and try to improve every game and try to win as many games as we can," Vučević said after the Knicks loss. "We’re going to fight until the end. There’s still 10 games left. A lot of things can happen."
Donovan sees the value in following the play-in push as far as it can go.
"I think it's good, it's healthy for guys to be in those situations where you're having to battle and fight and compete for something," Donovan said recently. "Miami is doing the same thing right now with their seeding, with where they're at. We're doing it. Washington's doing it. So you've got a lot of teams right now that are vying coming down the stretch here. And I think it's healthy and good pressure to have to play under that and play together and to play well in those situations."