Winning basketball games on a consistent basis may be what every team in the NBA wants to achieve, but for the Chicago Bulls, they have finally faced the music and recognized that they're not exactly close to being a contending team. Their moves this past offseason say it all; after three seasons of trying to gun for a playoff spot, they decided that it was for the best for them to let DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso go.

But for the most part, the Bulls have remained as competitive as they have been over the past two seasons despite the departures mentioned above. Through the first 20 games of the season, Chicago has gone 8-12, putting them in the thick of the playoff hunt once again which, of course, would have the unfortunate consequence of removing them from contention for the top pick of what is shaping up to be a loaded 2025 NBA Draft.

The key for the Bulls moving forward is to build up their young players so their efforts to create a contending team will be sustainable, unlike in 2022 when an injury to Lonzo Ball took them right out of playoff contention. But the main concern for the Bulls through the early goings of the 2024-25 season is that the development of this youngster is not going according to plan.

Here is the Bulls' biggest disappointment to begin the 2024-25 campaign.

Josh Giddey is not looking like a long-term keeper for the Bulls

There was plenty of hope surrounding Josh Giddey after the Bulls decided to acquire him in the trade that sent Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Giddey suffered through a tumultuous 2023-24 season, with allegations of off-court indiscretions casting a dark cloud on his campaign, and in the end, his play dipped — especially when the Thunder gave more of the control over the team's offense to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

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With Giddey now having a fresh start in the Windy City, it was expected for him to pick up where he left off in the 2022-23 season, when he averaged 16.6 points. 7.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game on 48/32/73 splits. The Bulls also looked as though they had the personnel to maximize Giddey's playmaking skillset, with Zach LaVine and Coby White around as legitimate off-ball threats, not to mention Nikola Vucevic's utility as one of the most versatile scoring big men in the association.

Alas, the Bulls haven't quite unlocked Giddey; in fact, one could make an argument that the 22-year-old guard is playing worse now than even in his nightmare 2023-24 season. Not only is he taking a backseat to LaVine, White and Vucevic in the usage department, his scoring efficiency is also down from last season, owing to his worse two-point field-goal percentage. That should improve, and with that, increased playmaking numbers should come as well. He is averaging just 12.1 points. 5.9 rebounds, and 6.6 assists on 44/37/72 splits, which doesn't scream “breakout”.

There also may not be a worse defender among members of a team's starting lineup in today's NBA than Giddey is. Giddey has never been the best athlete (relative to NBA standards, of course), but his lack of effort and awareness at times is infuriating — and the Bulls have had a short leash on the 22-year-old guard when he messes up on that end of the floor.

Back on November 15, Giddey was benched by head coach Billy Donovan in a blowout loss to the then-undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers. He played in just 15 minutes, and the reasoning for this was clear; Giddey was slow to react and rotate, he was being torched when defending one-on-one, and he wasn't providing nearly as much utility on offense to justify playing time in spite of his defensive miscues.

Giddey has the size to at least be a disruptive defender; standing at 6'8″, the Bulls guard can at least be huge and deter would-be scorers in the paint, or at least he can be versatile enough to defend both guards and bigger forwards alike. But he has been a tweener on the defensive end, as he is too slow to reliably defend quicker guards, and he is too physically frail to be a deterrent against bigger players.

It's important to note that Giddey is only 22 years old; for reference, he is younger than Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht. There is also an acclimation process for Giddey, as he is still adjusting to life on the Bulls.

However, he has to get his act together, and quickly. He is due for a new contract soon and yet he hasn't looked like he'll be a huge piece for the Bulls for when they return to contention.