You’re not going to find any tank talk inside the United Center locker room, but the proof is in the sour-tasting pudding.

Thanks to a 121-112 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, the Chicago Bulls have now dropped 11 consecutive games. It’s only the fourth time in franchise history that the organization has stacked this many losses, with the last instance being 25 years ago in February of 2001, per Stathead. Speaking of which, according to CHSN’s K.C. Johnson, this Bulls streak marks the single-worst month the organization has ever seen.

The losing streak pre-dates February 5 by two games, but there is no question that this trade deadline is what kicked things into high gear. Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Nikola Vucevic, Kevin Huerter, Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips, and Jevon Carter were all sent packing. Meanwhile, Jaden Ivey, Rob Dillingham, Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, Guerschon Yabusele, and Nick Richards were all welcomed into the United Center. It was a rare and remarkably mid-season roster change – one that was very difficult to envision leading to any success.

Arturas Karnisovas even expressed that exact sentiment during his post-trade-deadline press conference:

“I think we have to take a look at different combinations of players. I’m definitely worried about so many new players on the team and how little time we have for cohesion and getting to know each other and all this stuff. But I trust Billy and their staff. They’re going to do their best for the next couple of months.”

It may not have been an official waving of the white flag, but the front office leader surely wasn’t preaching his typical messages about competitive integrity and pushing for the postseason. Even Karnisovas knew that good basketball and a seven-player turnover likely would not go hand in hand.

Chicago Bulls Stats Since the Deadline

Nevertheless, the mere fact that the Bulls have found themselves in a situation where this drastic of a teardown was needed says it all. It serves are a reminder of the organization’s long-standing acceptance of mediocrity, as well as their repeated hesitance to make meaningful roster changes. They painted themselves into a corner where an 11-game losing streak became better than the alternative. And the horrible optics of that have been made very clear by fans and analysts alike in recent weeks.

Still Better Late Than Never?

Silver linings can be hard to come by at a time like this, especially when we continue to see little progress made in the Tankathon standings. One would think that an 11-game skid would have thrust the Chicago Bulls right into the top half of the lottery, but they are still lagging behind.

Indeed, every loss without a climb up (down?) the ladder is a reminder of how waiting too long has hurt this organization again. A handful of those teams sitting near the top of the tantalizing lottery board mapped out their course of action far earlier. The Bulls are now essentially boxed out of moving anywhere past the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 8.

Even swapping spots with them could prove challenging, as the Grizzlies sit 1.5 games worse. For what it’s worth, the two tanking teams will play each other twice over the remainder of the season, and you can bet Adam Silver will have his eyes on that as he looks for more tanking fines to send out!

As incriminating as this all is, however, this very well could remain the best-case-scenario. The pre-deadline Bulls were riding the same old wave to a fourth-consecutive Play-In Tournament loss and another lottery pick that sat outside the Top 10. At least now they have given themselves a better shot at landing a player who could significantly help the franchise. And, to their credit, they even improved their chances of securing a second first-rounder with their latest loss.

Few things would have felt more Bulls than beating the Portland Trail Blazers. Since acquiring their lottery-protected first-rounder, Portland has never been closer to the postseason. Handing them another win on Thursday helped move them within 2.5 games of the Golden State Warriors for a chance at the 7v8 Play-In game. And, at worst, it helped build their lead for the No. 9 seed, which allows them to host the 9v10 matchup.

In other words, there is a reason the saying better late than never exists. The Bulls have finally done what is necessary to move out of the middle. Might the timing and execution be reprehensible? Absolutely, but you have to start somewhere. And, unfortunately for the Bulls, somewhere is in the gutter.