Bulls Rumors

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Coby White Earn Player Of The Month Honors

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Bulls guard Coby White have been named the NBA’s Players of the Month for the Western Conference and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

Gilgeous-Alexander continued to bolster his Most Valuable Player case in March by averaging an eye-popping 34.7 points per game on a scorching-hot .517/.413/.929 shooting line across 14 contests. The Thunder won 13 of those 14 games, with Gilgeous-Alexander also contributing 7.4 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 1.0 block per night.

The Oklahoma City star has now been named the West’s Player of the Month three times this season, having also won the award for October/November and December. He’s the only player in either conference to have been recognized as a Player of the Month more than once in 2024/25.

Gilgeous-Alexander beat out fellow nominees Deni Avdija, Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Alperen Sengun, James Harden, and Ivica Zubac to claim the Western Conference award, per the NBA (Twitter link).

As for White, he has taken his game to another level since the Bulls traded leading scorer Zach LaVine to Sacramento ahead of the trade deadline. In 15 March games, the sixth-year guard put up 27.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 3.7 APG with a .495/.379/.878 shooting line, leading Chicago to a 9-6 record.

White was named Player of the Week for the Eastern Conference on both March 17 and March 24, becoming the first player this season to earn that honor in consecutive weeks.

The other nominees for Player of the Month in the East were Paolo Banchero, Quentin Grimes, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, Knicks teammates OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns, and Pacers teammates Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam.

How Giddey/Caruso Trade Has Become Win-Win Deal

Josh Giddey faced his former team for the first time back in October, when the Bulls hosted the Thunder during the first week of the regular season. But Monday’s contest represented the first time that Giddey had returned to Oklahoma City since the two teams completed the trade sending him to Chicago in exchange for Alex Caruso last June.

Giddey was a former lottery pick who had started all 210 of the regular season games he played for the Thunder through his first three NBA seasons, but his unreliable three-point shot and inconsistent defense resulted in him being pulled from the starting five during the second round of the playoffs last spring. He was traded about a month later.

“No player wants to be in the position where you’re the one that’s getting adjusted to in the playoffs,” Giddey said ahead of his return to Oklahoma City, per Paul Sullivan of The Chicago Tribune. “That was a tough pill for me to swallow, but it was probably what I needed at that point of my career. It’s better to learn that lesson as you get deeper into your career.

“Looking back in hindsight, it was probably the best thing for me. Most of the time you feel like, ‘Oh, you don’t want to go through that.’ But … they made the right decision in what they did, in terms of the playoffs, that whole series, and matchup-wise they did it for the right reasons. I don’t ever look back in anger or whatever towards OKC. I had nothing but great things to say about OKC.”

Given that Giddey was coming off a playoff demotion and Caruso had just earned his second consecutive All-Defensive nod, the trade was widely viewed as a steal for Thunder general manager Sam Presti, with fans and analysts alike calling out the Bulls for not getting more in return for one of their top trade chips.

However, as Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman writes, Presti didn’t necessarily view it that way. His comments at the time of the deal suggested that he hadn’t really wanted to move Giddey and only did so because the former No. 6 overall pick asked about the possibility of a trade after he was informed that he’d likely be coming off the bench in 2024/25. According to Mussatto, Giddey’s play in Chicago during the second half of this season has shown that Presti was right to be hesitant.

Since the All-Star break, Giddey has averaged 21.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 8.9 assists per game with a .507/.470/.805 shooting line, leading the Bulls to a winning record during that stretch and bumping his full-season averages to 14.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 7.0 APG on .464/.376/.776 shooting. Giddey’s usage rate, which was 19.9% prior to Chicago’s deadline-week trade of Zach LaVine, has jumped to 24.4% since then and the fourth-year guard has thrived in his increased offensive role.

The Thunder believed Giddey was capable of playing like this — in the press release announcing the trade, Presti referred to him as having “All-Star potential.” But Presti’s front office knew it was unlikely to happen in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder were at their best with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander serving as the team’s lead ball-handler.

Caruso’s offensive numbers this season (6.9 points and 2.6 assists per game on .447/.354/.814 shooting) pale in comparison to the ones Giddey are putting up, and the veteran combo guard is playing a relatively modest rotation role, averaging fewer than 20 minutes per game. But his defensive impact has been exactly what the Thunder were hoping for.

Oklahoma City’s 106.0 defensive rating leads the NBA by a wide margin and Caruso has played a key role in that unit’s success. Among players who have appeared in at least 40 games and logged at least 500 total minutes, only Dyson Daniels has averaged more steals per 36 minutes (3.3) than Caruso (2.9). And Caruso is actually slightly ahead of Daniels in deflections per 36 minutes (6.4 to 6.3).

Nearly a year after the trade was finalized, it looks like a clear win-win, according to Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman and Rylan Stiles of SI.com. The Thunder got the type of role player they needed, while the Bulls landed their potential long-term point guard.

It seems like the deal should be a win-win for the two players involved as well — Caruso signed a four-year, $81MM extension in December, while Giddey has taken on the sort of primary play-making role that best suits him and appears poised to cash in as a restricted free agent this summer.

As Lorenzi points out, there can sometimes be hard feelings or bitterness when a player returns to his former home city for the first time, but there was none of that on display on Monday when Giddey played his first game as a visitor in OKC, a testament to the fact that everyone involved was happy with last June’s one-for-one trade.

It’s still fair to wonder if the Bulls could’ve extracted an extra asset or two from the Thunder in their negotiations last June or what the return might have been if they’d sought a return heavier on draft picks. But there’s certainly no guarantee that any of the other deals Chicago could have made would have netted the team a more valuable potential cornerstone than Giddey.

Central Notes: Bickerstaff, Prigioni, Atkinson, Jones, Bucks Defense

Not only did five players get ejected for a brawl between the Pistons and Timberwolves on Sunday night, but Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Timberwolves assistant coach Pablo Prigioni also got the boot.

It wasn’t a coincidence as the two coaches had a verbal altercation, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and Hunter Patterson.

“There was things said by their assistant coach and I’m in the same boat our guys are in,” Bickerstaff said. “We’re going to defend each other. I’m not going to let people say belligerent things about my guys. It’s that simple. He said what he said, he knows what he said.”

Prigioni reportedly made comments about Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart, who was one of the players ejected. Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo and Stewart had some verbal exchanges shortly before the brawl that spilled into the stands.

“From my understanding, he was trying to have a conversation with the referee about one of their players who’s kind of prone to these situations,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “And then their bench, J.B. in particular, had an issue with it, and they exchanged words.”

We have more from the Central Division:

  • Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson felt his team got a little complacent during the last couple of weeks. Atkinson let off some steam prior to their game against the Clippers on Sunday, according to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon, and the team responded with a 127-122 victory. “There was a very (explicit) message with a lot of choice words from Kenny that got us fired up,” center Jarrett Allen said. Atkinson commented, “We needed to, maybe for psychological reasons, get this game and get it in a good manner.”
  • Tre Jones‘ return from a sprained left foot has apparently hit a roadblock. The Bulls guard was still experiencing pain and wearing a walking boot over the weekend, according to The Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley. Jones hasn’t played since March 20. After the injury occurred, the Bulls announced Jones would be out for at least two weeks.
  • The Bucks had an embarrassing outing against the Hawks on Sunday, allowing 82 first-half points and 145 overall. A familiar problem cropped up, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm writes. They were consistently broken down by dribble drives. “They had a simple game plan (Sunday). Spread the floor, catch it and just put your head down and force a drive. And we just could not keep the ball in front of us,” coach Doc Rivers said. “Is that scheme? Is that ability? I gotta watch (to see). I never fall on the old coaching (adage) ‘We didn’t play hard’ because I don’t believe that. But we didn’t play well defensively and we got beat off the dribble a lot. And that’s not good for us.”

Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Kings, White, Grimes, Mavs

A number of people around the NBA view Wes Wilcox‘s decision to leave his position as the assistant general manager in Sacramento for a college job with the Utah Utes as a sign that the Kings‘ front office is on shaky ground entering the 2025 offseason, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Whether or not the Kings make major changes to their basketball operations department could depend in part on how the rest of the season plays out, Stein and Fischer note — a number of scenarios remain in play in Sacramento, ranging from the team claiming a playoff spot to missing the play-in tournament altogether.

However, there’s “considerable angst in the air” in Sacramento, given how the team’s season has played out, Stein and Fischer write. Interim head coach Doug Christie is a favorite of team owner Vivek Ranadive, but after winning 10 of his first 12 games on the job, he’s just 13-18 since then.

At the very least, Stein and Fischer say, the Kings’ front office will likely operate much differently without Wilcox in the picture, since he frequently communicated with agents, as well as with rival teams during trade talks. His personality and his experience as a front office executive were among the reasons why Sacramento initially wanted him to pair him with McNair, Stein and Fischer add.

Here’s more from The Stein Line:

  • Coby White generated a significant amount of trade interest prior to last month’s deadline, according to Stein and Fischer, who say that the Bulls “swatted away” that interest. That decision has paid major dividends, as White has been on a tear in recent weeks, averaging 29.1 points per game on .496/.377/.875 shooting in 14 March outings. He’ll be extension-eligible this offseason, but without cap room available, Chicago may not be in position to make him a competitive offer prior to free agency due to restrictions on veteran extensions.
  • Quentin Grimes didn’t explicitly request a trade out of Dallas last month, despite some rumors to the contrary, Stein and Fischer report. But the move from the Mavericks to the Sixers has certainly worked out for Grimes, who was among March’s standouts along with White, averaging 26.6 PPG on .504/.403/.738 shooting for the month. Despite the team’s high projected payroll, Philadelphia is hoping to re-sign Grimes this summer as a restricted free agent, per Stein and Fischer.
  • Unsurprisingly, Stein and Fischer say the Mavericks would “love” to promote two-way players Kessler Edwards and Brandon Williams to their standard roster immediately if they had the ability to do so. Both Edwards and Williams have reached their two-way limit of 50 active games and Dallas doesn’t have enough room below its hard cap to elevate either player and reactivate them at this point.

Bulls Notes: Giddey, White, Karnisovas, Ball

The improved play of Josh Giddey and Coby White has turned the Bulls into a much better team, but it also means both players will be in position to demand big contracts soon, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.

Giddey has been putting up All-Star numbers since Zach LaVine was traded to Sacramento last month. He’s averaging 20.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game since the deal while shooting 51.1% from the field and 48.9% from three-point range. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer, as he and the team were unable to reach an extension agreement after he was acquired in a trade with Oklahoma City last June.

Cowley observes that the Bulls are in position to let Giddey test the market and match whatever offer he gets because there are so few teams with significant cap room. However, they would be risking a strained relationship if he’s stuck with a below-market contract. Cowley estimates Giddey’s worth at $28MM to $30MM per season.

White has one season left on his deal at $12.9MM before entering unrestricted free agency in 2026. Cowley notes that he’s averaging 29.5 PPG in March with back-to-back Player of the Week honors and is likely to get at least $40MM in the first year of his next contract if he continues to perform at or near this level.

There’s more from Chicago:

  • The Bulls could have tanked after trading LaVine and losing Ayo Dosunmu, Lonzo Ball and Tre Jones to injuries, but they’re playing their best basketball of the season. They’ve embraced coach Billy Donovan‘s extreme up-tempo style that puts constant pressure on opposing defenses, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “We’ve shown over the last month, six weeks, that we can compete with anybody,” Giddey said. “It’s just the way we play the game, I think it wears teams down. We get up and down. We run. We put heat on teams to get back, and a lot of veteran teams don’t particularly want to get back and play in transition, so we understand our game plan and our identity. When we stick to it, we’re a tough team to beat.”
  • Executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas offered some insight during an appearance on the broadcast of Thursday’s game, tweets KC Johnson of Chicago Sports Network. Karnisovas has been very happy with Jones, Kevin Huerter and Zach Collins, whom the Bulls received in the LaVine trade, saying the front office targeted young players with NBA experience and high basketball IQs. He added that the organization was determined to keep its first-round pick in 2025, along with future draft assets, and is pleased with how the younger players on the roster have developed. He said rookie forward Matas Buzelis needs to get stronger, but he’s humble and has a strong work ethic.
  • Ball continues to make progress toward returning from a sprained right wrist, and Donovan indicated that he’ll be back in the rotation if he’s able to play again this season, Cowley adds in a separate story. “I get a little concerned with the minutes we’ve played some guys and the pace we’ve been playing, and with Coby, his minutes have been up there, so I think we need another backcourt player,” Donovan said. “I don’t know what the minutes restriction will be, but being able to plug him in and get him back into the fold will be good.”

And-Ones: Award Races, Summer Flight Risks, BRI, RFAs

As we relayed on Wednesday, Warriors forward Draymond Green took over this week as the new betting favorite for Defensive Player of the Year honors, surpassing Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley.

Mobley’s teammates and head coach disagree that Green should be considered the frontrunner and Zach Harper of The Athletic sides with the Cavs’ contingent, placing Mobley ahead of Green (and Hawks guard Dyson Daniels) on his hypothetical ballot in his latest look at this season’s award races.

With just over two weeks left in the 2024/25 season, Harper currently has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ahead of Nikola Jokic in the MVP race, Stephon Castle ahead of Jaylen Wells for Rookie of the Year, Payton Pritchard ahead of Malik Beasley for Sixth Man of the Year, Kenny Atkinson over J.B. Bickerstaff for Coach of the Year, and Cade Cunningham over Mobley for Most Improved Player.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report runs through all 30 NBA teams and predicts their most likely flight risk in 2025 free agency. In some cases – like Seth Curry in Charlotte or Dalano Banton in Portland – the player in question has a relatively modest role, but others – such as Ty Jerome in Cleveland or Russell Westbrook in Denver – have been important contributors. Of course, a handful of clubs have stars or high-level starters to worry about, including Indiana with Myles Turner and the Clippers with James Harden.
  • In a free article for his Substack, Pincus shares some highlights from the NBA’s recent memo to teams, including the fact that players – who have 10% of their salaries put into escrow each season – are only on track to get a very small percentage of that money back in order to balance the basketball-related income split between players and teams. In other words, Pincus writes, a player with a $10MM cap hit for 2024/25, is only projected to actually earn about $9.1MM.
  • What sort of contracts will this season’s restricted free agents sign? Keith Smith of Spotrac digs into that question, making predictions ranging from nine-figure deals for Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, and Sixers wing Quentin Grimes to minimum-salary contracts (and no qualifying offers) for players like Pacers center Isaiah Jackson and Nets wing Ziaire Williams.

Lonzo Ball On Track To Return Before End Of Season

Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball has been out since February 28 due to a sprained right wrist and isn’t ready to return quite yet, but he still intends to make it back before the end of the regular season, tweets Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune.

Ball took part in a 5-on-5 scrimmage at the Bulls’ practice on Wednesday (Twitter video link via Poe) and was “upbeat and optimistic” afterwards when he spoke to reporters, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).

The expectation is that Ball will need another week to get his conditioning back up to speed. Poe suggests that next Friday’s game against Portland might be a target date for his return.

Ball returned to action last fall after having been sidelined for more than two-and-a-half years due to a series of knee problems. Given how long he was away from the game, it has been a successful comeback season in 2024/25 for the 27-year-old, who has averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in 22.2 minutes per game across 35 outings (14 starts). The Bulls have posted a +5.5 net rating when he’s on the court, compared to a -4.8 mark when he’s not.

Although the knee injury hasn’t been a problem for Ball this season, his wrist has been a recurring issue. He missed 15 straight games in October and November due to a right wrist sprain, so this is his second extended absence this season as a result of that same injury.

According to Poe and Johnson (Twitter links), Ball has been experiencing pain during his shooting follow-through all season and doesn’t expect his wrist to be pain-free until he gets the opportunity for a longer recovery period during the offseason.

While Ball entered the season on an expiring contract, he signed an extension with Chicago last month and now has a guaranteed $10MM salary for next season, followed by a $10MM team option in 2026/27.

Central Notes: Bulls, Vucevic, Giannis, Rivers, Bickerstaff

After trading DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso during the 2024 offseason and Zach LaVine at last month’s trade deadline, the Bulls – who had a 21-29 record at the time of the LaVine deal and had reacquired full control of their 2025 first-round pick – were considered likely to tank the rest of the season.

Instead, the club has played some of its best basketball of the season in recent weeks. Chicago has posted a .500 record (11-11) since the LaVine trade and has been especially hot as of late, winning eight of its last 10 games. That stretch includes road victories this past week over the Kings, Lakers, and Nuggets, as well as back-to-back Player of the Week awards for guard Coby White.

“I just think we kind of embraced the challenge and took pride in showing that people kind of wrote us off when Zach got traded,” Nikola Vucevic said on Monday, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I think we’ve really come together as a group. Our chemistry has been really good. When you lose someone, a player like (LaVine), it opens up opportunities for other players, and guys have really stepped up — Josh (Giddey), Coby, Tre (Jones) before he got hurt, Kevin (Huerter). Like, Kevin wasn’t playing much in (Sacramento), and he came here with a chip on his shoulder and showed he can still contribute at a high level, and he has been.”

Vucevic was widely expected to be on the move prior to the February 6 trade deadline and is now considered an offseason trade candidate. However, according to Cowley, the veteran center is buying into the new-look group and wouldn’t be opposed to finishing out the final year of his current contract in Chicago.

“Who knows what happens in the summer, but right now I’m focused on this group of guys,” Vucevic said. “I’ve really enjoyed playing with them. Guys with good character, guys that really want to win, they care. We play for each other, we compete, and that’s what you want.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

  • In a wide-ranging interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo lauded Milwaukee’s role players, reiterated that he cares much more about winning another championship than another MVP award, and downplayed a recent post-game meeting involving him, Damian Lillard, and head coach Doc Rivers.
  • Rivers ranks eighth all-time among NBA head coaches in regular season wins and will tie Phil Jackson at 1,155 with the Bucks‘ next victory. Rivers spoke to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about what it would mean to surpass Jackson on that list, as well as a handful of other topics, including what Milwaukee needs to do in order to have postseason success this spring. “No. 1 is health,” Rivers said. “But this team is an interesting team. We have proven on given points that we can beat anybody. They decided they were going to win the (NBA) Cup and no one was going to beat us. But then we go backwards.”
  • Speaking to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press, J.B. Bickerstaff explained why the Pistons‘ head coaching position appealed to him last spring when the team was coming off a 14-68 season and why his decision to accept the job was the right one. “I have 1,000% fallen in love with this group,” Bickerstaff said. “And all my focus goes into them and seeing them elevate and seeing them grow. That’s the thing that I find the most joy in.”

Coby White, Kevin Durant Named Players Of The Week

Bulls guard Coby White has been named the Player of the Week for the Eastern Conference, while Suns forward Kevin Durant has won the award in the West, the NBA announced today in a press release.

It’s the second straight week that White has claimed the honor in the East. According to the Bulls (Twitter link), White joins Michael Jordan as the only players in team history to win the award in back-to-back weeks (Jordan accomplished it twice).

White, 25, helped guide Chicago to a 3-1 record last week, averaging 30.3 points, 4.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds on .556/.394/.848 shooting in four appearances (35.5 minutes). All four games came on the road.

Durant, meanwhile, averaged 27.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game on .588/.471/.933 shooting in victories over Toronto, Chicago and Cleveland last week. It’s the 33rd time he has won the weekly award in his career, per the Suns (Twitter link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic), tying Kobe Bryant for second-most all-time (LeBron James has by far the most with 69).

According to the NBA (Twitter link), White beat out Giannis Antetokounmpo, Paolo Banchero, Cade Cunningham, his teammate Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes, Pacers teammates Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner, Celtics teammates Kristaps Porzingis and Jayson Tatum, and Trae Young in the East.

The other nominees in the West were Deni Avdija, Durant’s teammate Devin Booker, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Kawhi Leonard.

Central Notes: Kuzma, Hardaway, Haliburton, White

New Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma is adjusting to life on a competitive club after his years with the rebuilding Wizards, as he told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda in a recent interview.

“I haven’t found my total offensive groove,” Kuzma said. “But I’ve been able to be competitive. Defense and rebounding is something that I do really, really well. So that’s what made an impact. It’s just about being able to compete. That’s the best thing for me. And it’s something that I’m very happy to do, especially with this group of people. We’re only going to be better.”

In his 21 contests with Milwaukee so far, the 6’9″ vet is averaging 14.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG. He’s shooting a middling .437/.295/.671, a far cry from the shooting efficacy of beloved former Bucks wing Khris Middleton — although Kuzma provides a major athletic and defensive advantage over Middleton at this stage in their careers.

Kuzma also has a health and availability edge over Middleton, though he continues to be affected by a left ankle sprain he sustained on March 5, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic.

“I’ve been playing on one leg for like the last three weeks,” Kuzma said. “I think the OKC game, I felt pretty good. And then felt much better in Golden State and then felt the best I’ve felt since before that Dallas game where I sprained it.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

  • Floor-spacing veteran Pistons swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. spoke with Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda at length about his new role on a rising young playoff hopeful. “Just being one of the designated shooters for the team really helps the guard play, especially with [Cade Cunningham],” Hardaway told Afseth. “It helps space the floor—not only for myself, but also for [Tobias Harris], [Malik Beasley], and a lot of other guys that came in with that. So just having that positive impact, bringing that maturity, and having multiple guys who understand what it takes to win ball games—guys who’ve been playing at a high level for many years—that’s key.”
  • Two-time All-Star Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton returned to the lineup Saturday against Brooklyn following lingering back issues, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). It was his first action in a week. “I’ve had back issues my whole life,” Haliburton said. “I’ve worked really hard to try to get rid of it and try to do everything we can. Sometimes my body reacts in certain ways. There was a couple of plays in the Bucks game when I got twisted in the air… It felt bad for like a week.” 
  • Bulls guard Coby White has been on a scoring tear of late, averaging 29.4 PPG across his last 10 contests. In a conversation with Afseth of Sportskeeda, the 25-year-old unpacked his breakout season. “It was just about improving on a lot of different things,” White said. “The summer is long, especially since we didn’t make the playoffs, so I had a lot of time to work.” In 64 healthy bouts for the 31-40 Bulls, the UNC alum is averaging a career-high 20.0 PPG, plus 4.4 APG, 3.6 RPG and 1.0 SPG. He has also taken on more of a leadership role while looking to score more regularly since Chicago traded Zach LaVine to Sacramento last month.