23. Chicago Bulls
They’re going to be so, SO bad this year that it’s impossible to put them any lower without knowing for sure that lottery reform will pass.
That’s how these rankings work. When you’re the odds-on favorite to lose the most games in the league and have a guaranteed top-four pick in a five-player draft, things could be worse. When you add in the fact that Chicago sits just below the top tier of free agent destinations and that the team has a clean cap moving forward, it’s easy to see a scenario ripe for a quick turnaround.
But then you consider the people running the show. They traded a Peter Luger porterhouse for a plate of half-eaten pork chops from the Golden Corral in the Jimmy Butler deal. They’ve given away real assets to get continually worse at point guard. Whatever young talent they have left excites no one.
If lottery reform does pass, they drop a handful of spots in these rankings. If it stays as is, even GarPax might not be able to screw up the good fortune they have coming their way.
Path to Glory: Suck, get the first pick in the draft, strike a bargain with a post-injury, shaky looking Zach LaVine, suck again (but with LaVine averaging 25 a night), get another high pick, and then round out the roster with one of the big 2019 free agents.