The Chicago Bulls didn’t land in New York with much in the way of expectations. After parting ways with eight players at the NBA trade deadline, this team still is trying to get its bearings.
Playing one of the worst teams in the league should have provided a template for how to build comfort among this newly constructed roster. But for a Bulls team designed to join the Brooklyn Nets at the bottom of that barrel, Monday’s 123-115 loss was nothing more than a lesson in dysfunction.
The Bulls are at risk of entering the All-Star break on a six-game losing streak after dropping eight of their last nine games. The Nets are only slightly worse off. Their main pride this season is committing to the rebuild earlier than the Bulls, which means they sit two slots lower in the Eastern Conference standings. Notably, three of their 15 wins have occurred against the Bulls.
Neither of these teams is set up to succeed — organizationally, the Bulls are attempting to inch their way into better draft-lottery odds — but that doesn’t mean the players are trying any less hard to prove they belong on the roster and in the league. On the hardwood, that translated into chaos.
The Bulls can’t play graceful basketball anymore. That option hasn’t been on the table since the trade deadline. Their frenetic dysfunction was matched by a Nets team equally lost in the post-deadline tumult.
Matas Buzelis tumbled head over heels after accidentally jumping over a teammate to block a shot. Nick Richards took an elbow to the eye socket from teammate Collin Sexton. Minutes later, Sexton earned a foul for nose-diving under the Nets’ Day’Ron Sharpe. Twice the Bulls and Nets traded multiple turnovers in the same possession.
The Bulls are best defined at this point by what they are missing. Their confidence from the 3-point arc imploded with the departures of Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White, resulting in 10-for-36 shooting against Brooklyn. Even worse, they shot 44% from the field overall, missing almost half of their shots in the paint. These players hardly know each other, a fact reflected in their 18 points given up off 18 turnovers.
“Listen, it’s an unprecedented situation we’re in right now,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We’ll have choices to make because if we just think we’re going to have a bunch of guys come together with no training camp and we’re just going to go out there and win basketball games — it doesn’t work that way.”
Win or lose, this game was going to offer more uncertainty than answers — and that likely will remain true for the rest of the season. Here are the top three questions raised by the Bulls in Brooklyn.
1. Can Matas Buzelis lead this offense?
This Bulls team — and, in the larger picture, the future of the franchise — is structured around the 21-year-old forward. Yet Buzelis still is struggling to stamp his presence as the Bulls’ primary scorer and playmaker.
He played only 11 minutes in the first half and shot 1-for-7 while turning the ball over three times. Things improved for Buzelis in the third quarter, when he ripped off 10 points in quick succession on a pair of 3-pointers and two trips to the free-throw line.
But he still hasn’t figured out how to force the issue at the rim — or inside the 3-point arc in general — with the consistency the Bulls need. Buzelis scored 18 points against the Nets, fewer than Anfernee Simons (23 points) and Sexton (21 points).
It’s clear that Buzelis is uncomfortable with his new teammates, something that should fade with more time together on the court. The lack of frontcourt depth with Jalen Smith sidelined has forced him to size back up to the four despite his (and the Bulls’) preference of playing at the three.
And without Josh Giddey on the court, Buzelis is the top scouting assignment for opponents coming into every game, creating a sizable defensive challenge that he simply hasn’t been able to overcome.
Outside of the roster reconstruction, the Bulls’ main priority this season was to facilitate considerable growth in Buzelis. While Donovan and the front office have been pleased with his improvements, he still isn’t standing out as a primary option — especially with the ball in his hands. Whether that changes in the final 28 games ultimately will define the success of the Bulls season.
2. Can the Bulls outplay their lack of size?
No aspect of the trade deadline gutted the Bulls more than the removal of size. With Smith still sidelined by a calf injury, the Bulls only have one true center — new addition Nick Richards — while leaning on undersized Guerschon Yabusele in the frontcourt.
Yabusele started Monday and immediately racked up two blundering fouls in four minutes. Richards fared slightly better, tallying 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. But the game offered a bleak look at the Bulls’ short-term future around the rim.
Despite shrinking considerably at the deadline, the Bulls have found comfort in double-big lineups — and still see a larger roster as a long-term key. But for now, the roster doesn’t reflect that vision.
Yabusele is unlikely to stay in Chicago (or even the NBA) past this season. Richards is making his case for a backup job. Even when Smith returns, those bodies aren’t enough to run double-big looks or outweigh the diminished size of the backcourt.
3. How long will (or can) the Bulls hold out Josh Giddey and Tre Jones?
Both guards missed another game because of left hamstring strains. They scrimmaged together after shootaround Monday morning — a positive step for their availability — but Donovan said neither is likely to play until after the All-Star break.
It’s hard to tell if the Bulls are just being particularly cautious with their two most impactful playmakers or if this is another mechanism in the team’s aggressive downward spiral into lottery territory. Donovan insisted that Giddey never took “a step back” in his recovery after returning for one game against the Miami Heat shortly before the deadline. Yet the Bulls haven’t showed much urgency in trying to hustle either player back into the rotation until after this weekend’s hiatus.
Either way, the Bulls can’t play like themselves (whatever that’s supposed to be now) until Giddey returns to the lineup.
