For the past two seasons, the Chicago Bulls have struggled to find postseason success. They snapped a four-year playoff drought in 2022 after a hot start to the regular season, but they were eliminated in five games in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks. And this past year, they were bounced in the play-in tournament by the Miami Heat.
Despite putting together a star-heavy team with Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, Chicago has only won one playoff game. And this past year, the Bulls’ defense was good enough to warrant playoff success; they were fifth in the NBA in defensive rating at 111.5. They just weren’t able to translate that into wins in the playoffs.
Chicago’s defense was so good that Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas recently dished some high praise.