Peace be with you.

The reaction around the Bulls right now isn’t about one situation. It’s the accumulation of decisions, and how each one narrowed their margin for error.

Bulls list Josh Giddey, Tre Jones and Nick Richards as “questionable” ahead of their tilt with the Knicks on Friday. Mac McClung, Lachlan Olbrich and Guerschon Yabusele are “probable.”

Since Feb. 5: 
• Bulls: 5–20
• Nets: 5–22
• Grizzlies: 5–22
• Jazz: 5–21
• Mavericks: 5–21 The margins at the bottom are thin. The difference between the 8th- and 9th-worst records is a 29% vs. 20.3% chance at a top-4 pick. A couple of games can shift the math.

Peace be with you.

Ousmane Dieng, a Bull for roughly 24 hours before the trade for Nick Richards, put up 36 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds in 45 minutes for the Bucks tonight. Some trades are obvious misses from the moment they happen. This feels like one.

When Guerschon Yabusele waived his player option to help facilitate a trade to the Bulls, the expectation was he’d play overseas next season. I asked him after the game, and here’s what he said:

Bulls lose, remain one game up on Bucks, who also lost

The Pacers, down to a short rotation, started two former Bulls in Quenton Jackson and Ethan Thompson tonight — and both have produced. Jackson: 8/6/3/1
Thompson: 15 points, 4-for-6 from three

The Bulls trail 83–66 at the half to a 17–58 Pacers team, with 11 available players and multiple two-ways on the floor. The 83 points allowed tie the second-most in a first half in franchise history. If this keeps up, the draft odds will reflect it. (Milwaukee trails Houston 54-44 at the half)

Mac McClung
Yuki Kawamura
Tre Jones
Matas Buzelis
Lachlan Olbrich This is the kind of lineup Karnišovas’s deadline moves were pointing toward. As a bonus, it’s not just competing. It’s woken up the United Center.

The Bulls trail 16-7 at the first break in action. Yabusele, 2/4 Sexton, 0/1 Jones, 0/1, Buzelis, 0/0

As a follow up, I asked Billy Donovan how things are handled internally when a player thinks he’s ready but the medical decision says otherwise:

Third-to-last Bulls home game. Not much on the line in the standings, but plenty underneath them.

Asked Billy Donovan if, with so few games left, there’s any chance of Josh Giddey being shut down this season:

Josh Giddey and Nick Richards are out, Guerschon Yabusele is in, per Billy Donovan.

“…to the spectacularly-out-of-his-depth-as-GM (Google still refers to him as a "Lithuanian basketball player") Artūras Karnišovas.”

The Pacers have ruled out Andrew Nembhard, but list Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin “probable.”

Josh Giddey has been downgraded to “questionable” due to left hamstring tightness.

Jaden Ivey saying he was ready to play while the Bulls shut him down adds another layer to this season. Not just a roster in transition, but an organization where alignment — from front office to locker room — keeps coming into question.

Peace be with you.

As a queer person covering the Bulls, the team’s response to Jaden Ivey's homophobic comments came as a relief. But the guard’s beliefs — and willingness to vocalize them — were not a surprise. If Artūras Karnišovas can’t vet his trades, why should he continue running the Bulls front office?

On media day, I asked Matas Buzelis if he could ever see himself publicly holding the organization accountable if it wasn’t meeting expectations. At the time, his answer reflected full belief in the group. That’s part of what makes this time of year revealing.

Peace be with you.

To be clear, what’s happened with Jaden Ivey isn’t something a front office — much less this one — can realistically predict. But the broader questions about the Bulls’ process — medical clarity, asset management, roster logic — still stand on their own.

The Bulls’ deadline process looks worse by the day. Between incomplete medical clarity, unnecessary roster balancing, and lost draft equity in the Coby White deal, this wasn’t just talent evaluation. It was information. And it’s fair to ask how much they actually had.

Peace be with you.

Nick Richards and Guerschon Yabusele are “questionable” for Bulls/Spurs Monday.

Peace be with you.

Billy Donovan said players might sit once the Bulls were mathematically out. That moment is here. First hint those conversations might’ve actually happened — would’ve liked to see Mac McClung and Yuki Kawamura on the trip.

Peace be with you.

This opens up runway. For a team that’s said this stretch is about evaluation, the opportunity is there — more minutes for younger pieces, even two-way looks. Whether the Bulls treat it that way is the (rhetorical?) question.

Peace be with you.

Billy Donovan asking for clarity on the Bulls’ direction fits a pattern. All season, his comments about talent and identity have felt less like coach speak and more like subtle messages to the front office.

Billy Donovan, like many Bulls fans, wants to hear Artūras Karnišovas’s plan to get out of the middle.

Jaden Ivey not traveling with the Bulls on this four-game trip narrows an already thin evaluation window — seven games remain once they return home.

Isaac Okoro and Guerschon Yabusele have been upgraded to “questionable” for Bulls/Sixers tonight:

Peace be with you.

The Bulls’ win over Houston is being framed as a development night. It wasn’t that clean. Collin Sexton scored 25 and put up 17 in an eight-minute stretch. 27.5 usage. That’s not a hot hand. That’s who the offense ran through when the game swung.

Peace be with you.

The Bulls lead the Rockets, 65-48 at half. Collin Sexton (20) still leads all scorers. Jalen Smith is the only other Bull in double figures. Rob Dillingham has 7 points on 3-of-4 shooting with three assists. Matas Buzelis has 5 points and is 2-of-7 from the field.

The Bulls have outscored the Rockets 33-6 from the arc

Bulls have given up 18 points in the paint and taken five fewer shots than the Rockets. But they’re shooting 7-for-9 from three and have already gotten 15 points from their bench, including a game-high 12 points from Collin Sexton.

Fourth-to-last home game of the season for the Bulls

In speaking about Kevin Durant, Billy Donovan called him a “student of the game” and said he’s never seen Durant step into a gym and not take game shots. “He doesn’t mess around.”

Jalen Smith will “probably” be on a 22-to-24 minute restriction.

Jalen Smith will play tonight, per Billy Donovan.

Jaden Ivey, Anfernee Simons, Isaac Okoro, and Guerschon Yabusele have all been ruled out.

Peace be with you.

Bulls list Jaden Ivey, Anfernee Simons and Jalen Smith “questionable” ahead of their tilt with the Rockets on Monday. Both Isaac Okoro and Guerschon Yabusele are “doubtful.”