The Bulls are in the unusual position of both collapsing and holding onto a play-in spot, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago dropped its fifth straight game Thursday night in New York, falling to 22-34 overall. However, the weakness of the East leaves the Bulls with a game-and-a-half lead over Philadelphia and Brooklyn in the play-in race, and coach Billy Donovan isn’t interested in tanking the rest of the season.
“I think at some point, you gotta be able to talk about winning,” Donovan said. “The loss of DeMar (DeRozan), Alex (Caruso) and Zach (LaVine), in terms of the scoring and how great those guys are as players, losing those types of guys makes it challenging. But there is a responsibility for the guys that are playing. How can they find a way to do things to impact the outcome of the game? You’ve got to be accountable for those things.”
The absence of stars has caused opposing defenses to focus more on sixth-year guard Coby White, who had been a complementary scorer up until now. After Thursday’s overtime loss, White talked about how he handled late-game situations and the need to adapt to different looks.
“They were mixing up coverages,” White said. “They were blitzing, then not coming back, so I was just trying not to force it and let the game come to me. (Josh) Giddey had it going, (Lonzo Ball) had it going, (Nikola Vucevic) had it going, so take advantage of those moments. If that’s how they’re going to play me, then I have to be more of a playmaker, screening, those types of things. It’s definitely been a difference, but it’s something you’ve got to get adjusted to.”
There’s more on the Bulls:
- Backup big man Jalen Smith was ruled out of Thursday’s game after taking a shoulder to the face from Karl-Anthony Towns in the second quarter, per Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. Smith dropped to the court after the contact, and Towns tumbled on top of him. Poe notes that the injury enabled Zach Collins to play 15 minutes in his second game with the team, but he produced just two points while missing all four of his shots from the field.
- Matas Buzelis is hoping to make a late run at Rookie of the Year honors, Poe adds in a separate story. No clear favorite has emerged in this year’s race, and Buzelis, who was recently moved into the starting lineup, believes he has a chance to win over some voters. “I would like to win that award for sure,” he said. “I also want to win as many games as possible. But you know, if you win the games, then you’ll be in that conversation.”
- The two-way contract that Jahmir Young signed this week will cover next season as well, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).
Bulls are gonna have to ride the youngsters Matas Buzelis, Ayo and Patrick Williams, hope they develop and wait. Buzelis is intriguing. Raw, but long and bouncy. When his body matures he could be a real problem for the league if he can start making triples. Vucevic and Lonzo are both on deals that expire, or can be made to expire. Coby White still has a limited trade market.
Bulls are gonna have to save maximum cap space and wait on a disgruntled star player. They also need cap space to sign some talent that may not get extended the way they want. Jabari Smith in Houston. Amen Thompson, Jalen Green and Sengun are max contract players. Is there $$$ to pay Jabari?? Jaden Ivey in Detroit. Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren are gonna get paid. Is Ivey???
Bulls got to be patient and preserve cap space.
Agree on Buzelis/Ayo (and Pat by default unf, he has no value) … but I’d see if we could maximize assets on trading Coby before he wants big money. Orlando or Houston this summer?
And I think getting a guy like Jabari or Ausar would be great, but only guys that young ; trying to get a Giannis or Ja type makes no sense. This team is so many years away, they need to keep going alllll the way down to rock bottom and go from there.
Agree that patience is key. Unleash Buzi vert
It’s not a certainty that Buzelis will turn out to be a star. Only way to find out is to play Buzelis. I like the other reserve forward Phillips. Hope that the Bulls can find a lot of court time for Phillips. Last night against the Knicks, Phillips was very good.
Knicks got lucky against Bulls. Thank god for 2WayBridges …. He’s done this a few this year.
link to nypost.com
Giddey had a big game. Bulls should just go with Coby and Josh as their backcourt. Build around that. Buzelis is a nice takent. Still growing .
Even a lottery pick this yr 10-14. Is going to be a nice player. Williams has to be their three. I would of moved Vucevic. And go for a rim protector. This draft is loaded with guards and wings. I’d be looking for a big 4-5…. Not a Donovan fan
Barry, the new CBA makes what you propose a long shot. There is only one way for the Bulls to rebuild: tank hard for as long as it takes to build a good young core. The only value that unused cap space serves is to accumulate draft capital as an enabling partner in trades with other teams (like Detroit and Charlotte have been doing).
First, all teams either retain their young talent or, if unable, trade it while they still control their contracts. Houston and Detroit will either sign all the young players you mention or trade them first. Name a promising and healthy young player that wasn’t extended by his team in the last 5 years. (Lonzo Ball doesn’t count because his health was an issue.) Jalen Brunson is the only one I can think of, and he drove that in order to get to NYC and play with his father.
Second, with the new CBA, the odds of bad team picking up “a disgruntled star player” via free agency are slim. Instead, before hitting free agency, star players get moved via sign-and-trade, using matching salaries and draft capital. Not something to count on.
Bulls will be stuck in mediocrity until they go all in on tanking. That’s the only way for a bad team to acquire stars these days.
My point with preserving cap space is to utilize it to get involved as a 3rd partner in trades, direct partner in trades, etc. Free agency is kinda dead. Players are looking to move to teams with available cap space before they hit the market. Finding a disgruntled star comes via trade not free agency. Preserving cap space is to have it as a talent-add option. It’s the best they got right now. Vucevic and Lonzo are $30+ million in expiring contracts.
Tanking ain’t what it used to be. The talent just ain’t available in the draft. Matas Buzelis is talking about making a Rookie of the Year run. The USA basketball talent pipeline is dry for elite players, and has been for a while now. The last 7 NBA MVP’s are International. Harden was last American MVP in 2018. The same way college basketball programs rely primarily on transfers and not high school recruits …… The NBA is evolving into building through available cap space. Just ask Utah how building through the draft with a boatload of picks is going for them. If they had those picks 10 years ago, Utah might have had a shot. Now, unless you get no-brainer like Wembanyama, you are just as likely to get a guy who is no better than a rotation player.
I hate this team. Everyone but Buzelis should be expendable. There is not a IT guy on this roster that you can say “will lead us to the promised land”. Superstar players are not grown on trees. They are built thru the lottery and get lucky if someone wants out and you capitalize on the window. Not a creative front office either. Getting Giddey for Caruso, when OKC possessed 15 first rounders is an epic fail. DeRozan deal nothing to show for it. Can’t even get creative in a trade proposal for Vu. Absolutely inexcusable and unwatchable. Jerry and AKME ruined this franchise’s future with their stubbornness and prioritized fans in seats for attendance than doing the best thing for franchise.
Raz , how many decades will it be until the next title-level bulls team ? Gonna be an uphill battle as long as the Reinsforf dynasty remains intact. Don’t wanna be doomsday but I have a gut feeling that there’ll be a couple more rebuilds within this nightmare rebuild
I’ve made peace with it. I don’t see this team being a title team until 2035. They are not selling the team. He has already said his son Michael will be handling after Jerry passes. Basically, they are riding Jordan’s legacy all the way to the bank because everyone will still be the merch, the in-game experience and with tv revenue shares and other metrics, this franchise is a cash cow for that family.
Oh and from all accounts that I’ve read and talked to with people within the franchise…Michael is worse than Jerry when it comes to negotiations and loyalty. AKME will be here until 2040 probably. Lmao
100%, I’ve heard the same thing abt Michael lmao. I rly hope I’m wrong but I fear 2035 is optimistic. It’d prolly have to be like 2043.5 for me to consider a hypothetical under lol
We’re doomed man. This is why every June 14th for the last 15 years I watch Game 6 from start to finish lmao.
Haha that’s a great annual tradition. I’ll have to partake this year
Agreed. Strange that the Bulls couldn’t have received a 1st round pick when trading Caruso. Know that Giddey had a good game last night against the Knicks but wish that the Bulls hadn’t made the Caruso Giddey trade. Not a fan of Giddey. If Giddey is so good, then why did OKC demote Giddey and then trade Giddey to the Bulls. Like the style of the type of players for OKC. Young, athletic, great defense, aggressive attacking type of players.
OKC realized they didn’t need a player like Giddey next to Shai. They needed some defense and toughness and championship experience. It was a great move for them, for us we just sold low on a guy who would have fetched us atleast 1 unprotected pick, had AKME possess brain cells into 2024-25 season lmao.
> the talent just ain’t available in the draft.
Barry- you can verify for yourself with a little Google’ing, but you’re wrong about a few things. The draft has never been as important as it has been in recent years, and the CBA intends to make it even more so.
The system is designed to enable bad teams and small market franchises to thrive by relying on the draft and retaining players, and not by acquiring free agents.
1. Roster composition. Draft picks are increasingly important, with fewer players on rosters that weren’t drafted. And, as expected, there are proportionally more firsts on NBA rosters and less second-round picks and undrafted picks in the past.
2. Performance. Draft order has become increasingly predictive of both player and team performance. In other words, the draft is a more, not less, reliable indication of player success now than before.
3. International. There may be more international players in the league, but they virtually all are drafted. All the players you mention were drafted.
4. Other than the quality of players drafted, the most predictive factor to in-season and post-season success in the NBA Is roster continuity. The best teams retain their draft picks and best players for the longest time, and have the least roster turnover.