If you haven’t thought about the Chicago Bulls since The Last Dance came out, no one blames you.

The Bulls—winners of six NBA titles in the 1990s with Michael Jordan as the face of the franchise—have spent the past several years wandering aimlessly around the NBA’s version of purgatory. Since the team’s “Three Alphas” experiment blew up in their face back in 2017, the team has only made the NBA playoffs once—falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in a brief five-game first-round series in 2022.

In the seven seasons leading up to this one, the Bulls have won an average of 32 games, perfectly encapsulating their mediocrity. Chicago has not been good enough to make the postseason more often than not, yet they have not been bad enough either to get an impactful draft pick.

Over this stretch, they’ve had three top-seven picks, but have blown each one. In 2018, they picked Wendell Carter Jr. seventh overall ahead of players such as leading NBA MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, and Mikal Bridges. Carter was eventually traded away in 2021 as part of the deal that landed Nikola Vucevic from the Orlando Magic. 

The next season, the Bulls owned the seventh pick once again and used it on Coby White in what has turned out to be one of the shallowest draft classes with regard to star power in recent history. White has turned out to be a strong contributor for Chicago, averaging 19.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists, though it remains to be seen if he can be a contributor on a winning team.

The third and most egregious of these lottery picks is Patrick Williams whom the Bulls selected fourth overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. Williams was drafted ahead of some of the league’s best young guards today–Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, and Desmond Bane in addition to a handful of strong contributors including Onyeka Okongwu, Deni Avdija, Devin Vassell, and Payton Pritchard.

Now in his fifth campaign, the 23-year-old Williams is averaging an underwhelming 8.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and two assists in 51 games this season. He has not lived up to his billing as a two-way wing, struggling to make an impact on either end of the floor.

Both White and Williams remain on Chicago’s roster, yet their presence is more a reminder of their front office’s failures rather than a vote of confidence in their drafting acumen. White could still turn into the lead guard and star for this team if things click for him while Williams is more likely than not already what he is at this point.

The Bulls’ current team does have another interesting young guard that they could also build around in 22-year-old guard Josh Giddey, but everyone should be considered expendable at the moment. This team could win two play-in games and make it to the postseason, although this is likely to be no more than a brief cameo rather than a memorable Cinderella run.

On the bright side, Chicago owns all of its draft picks moving forward, giving the team a rare opportunity for a full-scale rebuild starting next season. It will take time for the Bulls to become relevant again, and their fanbase must be patient enough to let the process run its course. After all, two of the franchise’s biggest stars—Jordan and Derrick Rose—joined the team as top-three picks in their respective drafts. For Chicago to climb back up the standings, they must first hit the reset button and accept that the path forward will have to pass through the bottom.