After an anemic loss to the Washington Wizards ended their season, the Chicago Bulls were formally invited to join the NBA Draft Lottery by commissioner Adam Silver on Wednesday.

“It may be unconventional to have a playoff team in the lottery,” stated Silver. “But I can’t in good conscience ignore the plight of a team that fails to score 70 points in an elimination game.”

The NBA Draft Lottery 2014 will take place on Tuesday, May 20 and will include the 14 teams who were not in the playoffs, along with the Bulls, who only appeared to not be in the playoffs.

Bulls General Manager, Gar Forman, said he was “incredibly grateful” for the late addition.

“Having a lottery pick will allow us the opportunity to shore up our perimeter offense, our post-up offense and perhaps also our mid-range offense,” added Forman before being called to Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s office.

Andy Metz