NBA: Chicago Bulls Media Day Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas speaks during Media Day. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Bill Simmons would hate to be the Chicago Bulls right now

Originally posted on ChiCitySports | By Zachary Roberts | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 1:02 PM ET

The Chicago Bulls are not in the best place in terms of competing in the NBA. Typically, you need to be one of two things. Teams either need to be a contender like the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, or Boston Celtics, or they need to be bad enough to get picks and players who can one day make them a contender.

The Bulls are neither. They are not a legitimate title contender, and they may not even be a legitimate playoff contender even in the East. They’re also too good right now to really get those picks and players, which puts them firmly in purgatory. In Bill Simmons’ mind, there’s no worse place to be.

Bill Simmons says Chicago Bulls’ five-year outlook is worst of all

NBA: Chicago Bulls Media Day Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas speaks during Media Day. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Of the non-contending teams in the NBA, Bill Simmons believes the Chicago Bulls have the least desirable situation, even worse than the Toronto Raptors, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Brooklyn Nets.

The insider said, “I don’t love a single guy on their roster. Maybe [Matas] Buzelis. At gunpoint, I like Buzelis. Is he going to make an All-NBA team? I don’t know. They have $85 million in expiring [contracts] this season, so you think like, ‘Oh, look out for the Bulls, summer 2026!’ They’ve just never been that team.”

Simmons went on to say that the Coby White decision could haunt the Bulls for a long time. “Coby White’s about to be a free agent. That scares me,” he said. “What is his next contract? I just don’t know what this team is.” Either the Bulls pay a lot to keep someone perhaps not worth it, or they lose maybe their best player for nothing in free agency.

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Simmons posited that Bulls fans have very little to latch onto anymore. Ownership, Simmons claims, has made it very clear that they’re never going to spend a lot of money in the NBA. “I just don’t really know what this team is other than a team that’s going to go 40-42 every year,” he concluded. That is as uninspiring as it gets, so while other teams are worse, their outlooks might not be quite as saddening.

This article first appeared on ChiCitySports and was syndicated with permission.

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