The Bulls began this season with playoff expectations and arrived at its midway point as one of the league’s biggest underachieving stories.
After Monday’s loss in Boston, their seventh in eight games, they sit 5 1/2 games out of the playoff picture in a there-for-the-taking Eastern Conference. Starters Wendell Carter Jr. and Otto Porter Jr. remain out for extended periods. Their defense, something coach Jim Boylen has pointed to as a positive, is trending downward.
Depending on who you talk to, it’s a mess or reflective of a young team, trying to figure things out.
That wasn’t the message back on the team’s media day in September.