NBA games of the week: The Not All-Stars

2 of 4

CHICAGO, USA – DECEMBER 20: Denzel Valentine (45) of Orlando Magic during an NBA basketball match between Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic at United Center in Chicago, Illinois, United States on December 20, 2017.(Photo by Bilgin S. Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /

Monday, Feb. 12: Orlando at Chicago, 8:00 p.m. ET

In December, the Bulls shocked the NBA. They were 3-20. The tension surrounding the team from the Bobby Portis-Nikola Mirotic fight. They were playing about how we expected a team coached by Fred Hoibderg and run by Gar Forman and John Paxson would.

Then they rattled off 10 wins in 12 games, much to the chagrin of those like Black Tray, who had to become Blonde Tray:

Since then the Bulls have leveled off, though they’re always good for a random win over playoff teams like Milwaukee or Minnesota. They’re still a bad team, and they’ll be in the running for the top pick in the lottery, but their timeline, barring any disastrous injury, to their next All-Star seems to be set with The Finnisher Lauri Markkanen.

The Magic aren’t much better. They unloaded Elfrid Payton, a piece they just didn’t want to build around. Former coach Scott Skiles even went as far as to say Payton wasn’t an NBA starter. That caused a riff between Skiles and management, who invested a lottery pick in Payton. Now he’s off to Phoenix. The Magic have removed themselves from at least one question heading into the offseason. Soon they’ll have to answer the biggest one: What do they do with Aaron Gordon?

Home/NBA