From the Archives: A Franchise That Keeps Starting Over

By the Bulls Nightly Desk · Saturday, October 10

The Bulls head to Denver for preseason play on a calendar date whose only two logged results, both road wins, are more than fifty years old. Two games into Tiago Splitter's debut season, the roster is still answering questions the 1966 expansion franchise never had to face about patience.

Bulls Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Sixty years of resets. The Bulls got their franchise on January 16, 1966, the third try at pro basketball in Chicago after two prior clubs folded. Tiago Splitter's rebuild, two preseason games into his first season, is simply the newest version of a franchise that has reset itself more than once.

The expansion playoff trick. Red Kerr's 1966-67 Bulls went 33-48 and still made the playoffs, the only expansion team in league history to do that in year one. Guy Rodgers and Jerry Sloan made the All-Star team that season. Bryson Graham's front office is betting a faster roster turnover can shortcut a similar jump.

Two wins, decades apart. The only logged Bulls games on October 10 are road wins from the franchise's early years: 105-90 at Kansas City-Omaha in 1973-74, and 95-89 over Philadelphia in 1972-73. Neither came against Denver. Tonight's preseason trip to the Nuggets adds a new result to a thin historical date.

No lottery ticket this time. Michael Jordan fell to Chicago third overall in 1984, behind Hakeem Olajuwon and Sam Bowie, the luckiest break in franchise history. This roster has no equivalent pick. Josh Giddey arrived by trade, Norman Powell by free agency, Nic Claxton and Buddy Hield by trade again, an engineered build instead of a lottery gift.

The gap Denver shows. Chicago's six titles and the 72-10 record in 1995-96 remain the standard the franchise still gets measured against. Denver finished last season 54-28 with a net rating of plus-5.2. Nikola Jokic averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists last season, the kind of gap nostalgia alone does not close.

Health concerns on the calendar. Five Bulls regulars, Matas Buzelis, Tre Jones, Jaylin Sellers, Jalen Smith and Zach Collins, carry the same estimated return date, tomorrow, October 11. Nic Claxton's estimate is October 21, the regular-season opener. A franchise built on continuity in the 1990s now needs its newest center healthy before that season even starts.

On deck Next up is tonight's preseason game at Denver, then road and home preseason finales against the Bucks (Oct. 14) and Timberwolves (Oct. 16), before the regular-season opener at the Raptors on Oct. 21.

Have the Bulls ever played the Nuggets on October 10?

No. The only two games logged for this date are from the early 1970s: a 105-90 road win at Kansas City-Omaha in 1973 and a 95-89 win over Philadelphia in 1972.

When did the Bulls become an NBA franchise?

The NBA granted Chicago a franchise on January 16, 1966, the third pro basketball team in the city's history after two previous clubs folded.