Bulls out of the Christmas Day marathon for the first time since 2009

While the Bulls front office seems excited by their new direction of a rebuild, the NBA schedule makers definitely gave it a yawn.

The league announced the Christmas Day schedule on Thursday, and for the first time since the 2009 season, the Bulls will be left out of the high-profile five-game marathon.

Instead, it will be Philadelphia at New York, Cleveland at Golden State, Washington at Boston, Houston at Oklahoma City, and Jimmy Butler’s Minnesota Timberwolves will face the Lakers in Los Angeles for the nightcap.

As far as seeing the Bulls on a national TV game that opening week, well, that won’t be happening, either. Boston and Cleveland will tip-off the Oct. 17 opener.

The full NBA schedule is expected out next week.