The NBA designed its In-Season Tournament with the goal of bringing a new energy to the early months of the season.

That goal has been accomplished in Chicago, where the Bulls are buzzing — with interest, at least — as they prepare for their tournament debut Friday against the Brooklyn Nets at the United Center.

“With 82 games, you almost look for something to get you up and ready every game,” guard Zach LaVine said. “This is just another opportunity to have some fun in the season. Obviously during those times you want to have a good game or put on a show — and win, obviously.”

One detail particularly stirred up the Bulls locker room: the courts.

Each team will have a new court design specifically for its In-Season Tournament games. The United Center court will be painted red from baseline to baseline with a white Bulls logo emblazoned at center court over the image of the tournament trophy.

When the league revealed all of the court designs last week, it caught the attention of Bulls players.

“The new court is actually getting me kind of excited,” LaVine said. “I just want to see what it looks like. When we saw the court, we were definitely like, ‘Oh, man, look at this.’ It’s going to be really fun.”

If you’re still confused about the structure of the tournament, you’re not alone. LaVine admitted he’s uncertain how the particulars work past the group stage.

“I don’t fully understand the later part of it,” he said, “but I understand the four stages on how to get to the championship.”

Here are the basics:

The Bulls were sorted into East Group C with four other teams — the Nets, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic — based on their records last season. They will play each of those opponents in the group stage.
The top team from each of the six groups — three in each conference — will advance to the quarterfinals along with a wild card from each conference.
The four quarterfinal winners will travel to Las Vegas for the semifinals on Dec. 7, with the final on Dec. 9. The quarterfinal losers from each conference will play one another on Dec. 8.
The teams that don’t advance past the group stage will play an additional two games that week.
All tournament games will count in the regular-season standings except for the final.

The tournament aims to liven up the opening months, typically the least interesting part of the season. For the Bulls, there’s an additional advantage: providing needed tournament experience to less experienced players.

The young core of the Bulls roster — including starters Patrick Williams and Coby White and role player Ayo Dosunmu — have seen hardly any knockout action. The Bulls have made the playoffs once in the last seven seasons — a five-game, first-round ouster by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2022 — and played two elimination games in the play-in tournament last year.

Even LaVine, who sat out Game 5 against the Bucks because of COVID-19 protocols, has played in only six postseason games in his nine-year career.

Coach Billy Donovan welcomes the tournament as an opportunity to challenge his players in a different environment.

“All those experiences are good for them,” Donovan said. “As much as you try as a coach to prepare guys for things, there’s nothing like actually going through the experience themselves. Hopefully that experience will give them more.”

Donovan and his team are realistic. No matter how seriously players take it, the In-Season Tournament never will replicate the intensity of the postseason.

But Williams is eager to test himself in a heightened environment.

“During the playoffs, it gets a lot more competitive,” he said. “Senses are heightened, every possession matters. I hope this tournament kind of replicates that early on in the season so you get experience.

“It’s not the playoffs, it’s not the Finals or anything like that, but you get the experience of an ‘every play matters’ type of competition.”

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