Matt Rourke/AP
PHILADELPHIA – The faces have changed, the playing style underwent a complete transformation, and coach Billy Donovan has gotten a bit grayer, but there the Bulls sat after Sunday’s 122-102 season-finale win over Philadelphia with the exact same 39-43 record as last year, still spinning the tires sunk in mediocrity.
So as much as the organization might want to pat themselves on the back for overcoming the losses of trading DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso last summer, and then Zach LaVine at the trade deadline, they still have a very familiar path ahead of them this week – needing to get through the play-in tournament just to try and become a playoff team.