Chicago Bulls: 5 biggest disappointments from 2017-18 NBA season

4. Letting the lottery odds slip

The NBA Draft Lottery odds race was a close one this year, with a sizable amount of teams in the fray. It came down to just a few extra wins making the difference between a top-three vs. a top-10 pick.

In a projected top-heavy draft class, those wins will make a big difference for Chicago, especially given its specific needs for this offseason, which is to either draft a pure small forward to put next to Zach LaVine, or to draft a center. While the first is ideal, the former is more likely after a few key wins (which ironically, are losses for the organization) down the stretch.

The Bulls won seven of the final 20 games of the season, including a three-game streak near the very end against teams like the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards. Their odds entering the offseason are 5.3 percent for the first overall pick and 18.3 percent for a top-three pick.

Ultimately, the Bulls probably will lose out on the Marvin Bagley III and Michael Porter Jr. sweepstakes, and will likely be looking at the athletic big man from the University of Texas, Mohamed Bamba — not a bad consolation prize, but a few extra Ls could’ve improved the Bulls’ future dramatically. Tsk, tsk.