How Bulls' win to end regular season hurt draft lottery odds originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Bulls took the floor for Sunday night's home matchup with the Bucks expecting Milwaukee's best.
But with the Brooklyn Nets securing a double-digit victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, and in doing so clinching the second seed in the Eastern Conference, Mike Budenholzer called a quick audible before tipoff. What was originally announced as the Bucks' regular starting five became Jeff Teague, Sam Merrill, Pat Connaughton, Thanasis Antetokounmpo and Mamadi Diakite.
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The Bulls, meanwhile, held Zach LaVine (knee tendinitis) and Nikola Vučević (rest) out of the contest in moves described by the team as injury management, but with the consequence of decreasing their likelihood of winning.
A loss would have clinched for the Bulls the eighth-best odds in June's draft lottery, and with that position, a 26.3 percent chance of jumping into the top four. Moving into that bracket is the only way the Bulls can retain their first-round pick this season as part of the trade deadline deal for Vučević.
But their eventual 118-112 victory moved the Bulls to 31-41 on the season, and into a three-way tie for eighth in the lottery standings with the New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings, who each lost on Sunday.
Tiebreakers don't exist in lottery world the same as they do for the real standings. Head-to-head matchups bear no weight. Instead, those three teams split the combined top four (and No. 1 overall) odds for the eighth, ninth and tenth place teams.
So the Bulls will enter the June 22 lottery with a 20.3 percent chance at jumping into the top four and 4.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 overall pick, as will the Pelicans and Kings. Entering the night, they had a 26.3 percent chance at the top four and six percent of landing No. 1.
The Bulls finish the season outside of playoff contention for the fourth consecutive year. On June 22, we'll know whether they can expect a top-four draft choice to the fold next season.
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