From the Archives: Starting Over Isn't New in Chicago

By the Bulls Nightly Desk · Tuesday, September 29

The Chicago Bulls have been rebuilding since the day the league granted them a franchise, and the one time it worked immediately was 1966-67. Tiago Splitter takes over a 31-51 team now with the same basic job: turn strangers into a group that wins games nobody expects it to win.

Bulls Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

An expansion blueprint. Dick Klein got the Bulls into the NBA on January 16, 1966. Red Kerr's first team went 33-48 in 1966-67 and still made the playoffs, the only expansion team in NBA history to do it. Guy Rodgers and Jerry Sloan made the All-Star team; Kerr won Coach of the Year.

Six banners, one memory. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen won six titles in two three-peats, going 72-10 in 1995-96, an NBA record until Golden State topped it in 2015-16. That team played fast and physical. Last season's Bulls played at a pace of 103.2 but ranked 23rd of 30 teams in scoring margin — a long way from that ceiling.

Rivals change, grudges don't. Detroit ended three straight Bulls playoff runs from 1988 to 1990 before Chicago broke through. The rivalries now run through Miami, which eliminated the Bulls from the play-in three straight seasons, and Cleveland, which Chicago sent Lonzo Ball to in the trade that brought back Isaac Okoro. Different decade, same need to get past somebody.

New names, old banners. The United Center added six names to its Ring of Honor last September: Johnny Bach, Bill Cartwright, Neil Funk, Horace Grant, John Paxson and Norm Van Lier. Nic Claxton, Norman Powell and Buddy Hield are the newest players to walk into that building, under banners none of them helped hang.

Drafting to keep, not deal. Scottie Pippen arrived on draft night in 1987, in a trade the Bulls made the moment they picked. This year's rebuild works differently: Chicago kept its pick and took Caleb Wilson fourth overall, and owns every first-round pick it's due through 2030. No deadline scramble needed to find out what it has.

The drought, and the exception. Chicago hasn't touched that late-90s level since. Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah got the closest, winning above .732 in 2010-11 and 2011-12 before Rose's ACL tear ended the run. Jordan and Rose combined for six MVP trophies as Bulls; Tiago Splitter now starts from 31-51, looking for anything close to either era.

On deck Preseason opens October 7 against the Suns, followed by the Grizzlies on October 9, at Denver on October 11 (ESPN) and at Milwaukee on October 14. The regular season starts October 21 at Toronto.

When do the Bulls play their first game of the season?

Chicago opens preseason October 7 against the Suns and starts the regular season October 21 at Toronto.

Has a Chicago Bulls expansion team ever made the playoffs?

Yes. The 1966-67 Bulls went 33-48 in their first season and made the playoffs, the only NBA expansion team ever to do that immediately.