It might be time for Bulls to embrace the tank

The Bulls didn’t suddenly decide to tear it down. They just finally stopped pretending.

After years of hovering in the NBA’s soft middle, the Bulls used the trade deadline to do what they’d resisted for far too long — clear the deck.

Seven players out. A stack of second-round picks in. A few young flyers added. No headline-grabbing return, but that’s what happens when you wait until the market has already moved on.

Late, sure. Still necessary.

The more interesting part may come in May. Since the deadline, Chicago’s lottery positioning has quietly improved. The Bulls now sit ninth in the lottery order, behind both Charlotte and Milwaukee.

If the ping-pong balls were drawn today, Chicago would carry a 20.3 percent chance of landing a top-four pick and a 4.5 percent shot at No. 1 overall.

Not exactly Spurs-level odds. But meaningful. Especially for a franchise that has spent years insisting it doesn’t believe in tanking.

That stance may not age well, because the clock could be ticking.

According to ESPN, Adam Silver has informed league stakeholders that anti-tanking reforms are likely coming as soon as next season.

Options being discussed include freezing lottery odds midseason, banning consecutive top-four picks, using multi-year records to determine odds, or flattening the lottery altogether.

The push comes after the league fined the Jazz and Pacers, and after Silver publicly acknowledged that tanking has reached uncomfortable levels.

For Chicago, that creates a narrow window.

If the Bulls ever planned to fully lean into the lottery, this may be the cleanest chance they’ll get. They’re just 2.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies in the standings (entering Friday) and they’ve dropped 10 of their last 11. Momentum isn’t exactly pulling them upward.

Whether the league lands on a perfect solution is another question. There may not be one. But if tanking is about to get harder, the Bulls might as well make the most of the moment they finally acknowledged where they are.

Better late than never still counts, especially if the lottery balls cooperate.