Bulls season highlight turned out to be an absolute disaster

Being in a team that is tanking to obtain a good draft pick is a conundrum.

On one hand, young players get extended opportunities, whether that's playing time, on-ball reps, or both, to prove they can be a part of the team's future. On the other hand, the front office is banking on the young players not doing too good in order to obtain a good draft pick and improve the team for next season. In the Chicago Bulls case, who made it to the Play-In Tournament and lost to the Miami Heat for the third season in a row, playing too good cost them dearly.

The best moment of the Bulls season took away a franchise player

Josh Giddey's half-court game-winner against the Los Angeles Lakers, part of a last-minute comeback against the LeBron James and Luka Dončić-led squad, ended up as an extra win that tied them with the Dallas Mavericks win total. A tiebreaker between the two placed Chicago with the 12th -best odds of the number one overall pick at 1.7 percent, with Dallas having just a 0.1 percent better odds than them. As we now know, that difference was everything, as the Mavericks did end up with the first pick.

Of course, in hindsight, it's tough to blame anyone involved in that situation for wanting to win. Billy Donovan is coaching to win, and all the players out there are playing to do the same, especially against James and Dončić. It's not hyperbole to say that Giddey's game-winner was the moment of the Bulls season, where all national media attention was on them, beyond the fact that the Lakers lost and LeBron was a big part in that.

At the same time, I'm sure all Bulls fans would've rather the team lost that game, have the Play-In Tournament play out the same way (they were two games ahead of Miami, so they still would've finished ninth), thus avoiding a tie with Dallas and, if the Draft Lottery played out the same, have the chance to draft Cooper Flagg. It would've taken away a positive moment for the young team, getting a winning experience against a top team, it would've come at the expense of some young players' rotation spots, but it would've improved the team long-term. That's all part of the conundrum a tanking team faces.