Bulls on verge of losing numbers game in NBA’s tanking contest

Sixers center Joel Embiid is back, and the Bulls’ front office couldn’t be more thankful.

Be it the knee injury, the suspension for shoving a reporter or whatever reason it was that he missed the 76ers’ first nine games, Embiid is an MVP candidate who can fall out of bed and score 30 points and grab 10 rebounds.

What that means for the 76ers is that their nightmare season will start getting better. What it means for the Bulls is that another Eastern Conference team should jump ahead of them in the standings by the winter.

That’s what this season really is for the Bulls: a numbers game. And the numbers aren’t exactly falling in their favor right now.

To keep their first-round pick next summer — in as talented a draft as the NBA has seen in years — the Bulls have to finish in the bottom 10 of the league. If they don’t, then the protected pick goes to the Spurs as part of the sign-and-trade deal for DeMar DeRozan in 2021.

Entering Tuesday, the Bulls had the 10th-worst record in the league at 4-7. ESPN released its first mock draft of the season, however, and it has the Bulls finishing with the 11th-worst mark and sending their pick to the Spurs.

That’s a complete guess, but it might not be far off. That’s why the Bulls need slow-starting teams such as the 76ers and Bucks to get going and teams such as the Nets and Hornets, who were expected to be cellar-dwellers, to keep overachieving.

Here are the teams in the running to draft Duke freshman Cooper Flagg at No. 1 — a pick it would be nearly impossible for the Bulls to land:

1. Wizards

They were projected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA and have been. They’d have to give their pick to the Timberwolves if it isn’t in the top 10, but there’s almost no chance of that.

2. Jazz

There aren’t many horrible looking teams in the Western Conference, but the Jazz are locking that down. Yes, they have had several key injuries. But given how talented the upper part of the West is, don’t expect them to move up much.

3. Raptors

They came into the season with a mission to tank and have not strayed from that. In terms of talent, the Bulls are much better than the Raptors. It’s not even close.

4. Trail Blazers

They are the other team in the West expected to be beaten up. Of their three victories so far, two have come against the injury-depleted Pelicans.

5. Pelicans

Brandon Ingram is the only reason they are afloat, and he is expected to be traded by the deadline in February.

6. Pistons

They definitely have been trying — starting the season 4-7, like the Bulls — and appear to have an emerging All-Star in Cade Cunningham, but it still feels as though they are a year away from play-in status.

And here are the teams in the same general area as the Bulls:

7. Hornets

They are an injury to LaMelo Ball away from slipping to the bottom of the East, but they have played solid basketball so far.

8. Nets

They already have beaten the Bulls head-to-head, they play hard and their roster is better than first thought.

9. Hawks

They are basically Bulls South. The good news for the Bulls, however, is that the Hawks will give their pick to the Spurs, no matter what. There is no incentive for the Hawks to finish outside the play-in games.

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