So that didn’t turn out like we expected. The basketball gods frowned upon the Bulls during Tuesday’s draft lottery, making them fall from the sixth pick to the seventh. Worse yet, the Sacramento Kings, whom the Bulls won a tiebreaker with for better lottery odds, ended up with the second pick.

Immediately, the armchair GMs on social media began calling out the Bulls for all the “character-building” wins they attained over the past season. They called it a disappointing end to a disappointing season. The tanking apparently was all for nothing. “Incompetent” and “typical” also were words thrown around.

But the way I see it, you can look at it two ways. You might naturally be inclined to lean in one direction or the other. It depends on what kind of fan you are.

You can take the angry route. The Bulls couldn’t tank properly and are getting what they deserved. They wasted games they would have been better off losing in spite of the instant gratification for the players and fans who want to watch winning basketball. Consequently, they’re completely screwed and will never be worth watching ever again, or at least until everyone in charge is gone.

Or you can take the more sensible route by not dwelling on what could have been and dealing with the cards you have. The ping pong balls have a funny way of bouncing, and it’s merely left up to chance sometimes. That’s something no amount of losing can change. All we can do is go with the present system because what’s done is done.

I’m taking the latter route, so who will be available with the seventh pick? It might be easy to forget right now, but there will still be some quality talent there. And the best part is the Bulls will have options. Don’t forget that they took Lauri Markkanen at the seventh pick last year, and history often repeats itself.

John Paxson said at his end-of-season press conference that the Bulls were looking to take a wing player, so Wendell Carter and Mikal Bridges appear to be the most realistic options. I know, neither player is one you build your roster around. Still, if the Bulls can get a strong role player who can compliment the big splash of the future, this can be seen as the next step in a successful rebuild both now and in a few years.

But what if the Bulls didn’t have to choose between those players? What if Michael Porter Jr., Mohamed Bamba or Trae Young fell to them? They were all projected to be drafted much higher at various points during the season. That means the Bulls could still have the impact player fans are striving for.

It’s going to be a month filled with anticipation. After all the analyzing is done, a promising young talent will be donning a Bulls cap next to Adam Silver. Whether it was the player the organization wanted all along or not, it will hopefully be someone who excites Bulls fans for the next several years. Sometimes, it turns out Plan B should have been Plan A all along.

Forget that the seventh pick should have been the sixth. It’s a better feeling than last year, when we didn’t know the Bulls would select that high until draft night. There’s no way they’ll trade down in this position, so maybe they’ll find a way to trade up, even if someone in the current core and future first-round picks have to go. And hey, don’t forget about what was the New Orleans Pelicans’ pick at 22nd.

Let the craziness and prognostications begin.