When the Bulls traded for then-31-year-old Nikola Vučević, Zach LaVine was 26, Lauri Markkanen was 23, Patrick Williams was 19, and Coby White was 21 The average age of their current core — Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey, Noa Essengue, plus, for now, Ayo Dosunmu and White — is 22.4

The order will change, but, barring injury or a miraculous comeback from one, the postseason landscape in the East feels set. And while the Bulls will feast on the bottom of the conference more often than not, so too will the other nine teams pictured below.

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Bulls (6-5) suffer their fourth loss in a row, will have three days off before a stretch — bookended by back-to-back sets — that’ll see them play five games in seven nights. Josh Giddey will almost certainly be back on Sunday. No gimmes below, in my opinion:

Bulls missing guys, but not best perimeter defenders

Twenty-four-year-old, two-way guard Daniss Jenkins, who scored a season-high 24 points and forced overtime in the Pistons’ win on Monday, has already totaled 17 points on five threes and two unimpeded ventures to the basket.

This strength-in-numbers bowl is all Pistons thus far

Schedule win for the Bulls, losers of three straight, tonight?

Add Jalen Duren to list of downgraded Pistons

Detroit held the Bulls to 47.2% shooting in the restricted area in the season opener. But injuries could take a bite out of the Pistons’ rim protection tonight. www.sportscasting.com/news/detroit...

In addition to his decisiveness with the ball, what stands out to me from these highlights of Noa Essengue is his shot-readiness and, in lieu of the strength to get all the way to the basket at times, his use of the backboard. youtu.be/Pq8dPQVfRLg?...

Cade Cunningham downgraded to “questionable.”

Pistons list Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren “probable” and Isaiah Stewart “doubtful.” Ausar Thompson, Jaden Ivey and Tobias Harris are out.

As expected, Josh Giddey remains questionable ahead of Bulls/Pistons on Wednesday.

Noa Essengue has been assigned to Windy City, who plays the Wisconsin Herd tonight, per Bulls PR.

The Bulls have been 1.8 points per 100 possessions worse without Josh Giddey on the floor, per Cleaning The Glass. Would hope to see the usage for one Matas Buzelis (18.8%) increase tonight.

Noa Essengue and Coby White have been recalled, per PR.

Noa Essengue and Coby White have been assigned to Windy City, Bulls PR says.

Fourth-place Bulls are a ninth-seed by point differential.

Bench Scoring Differential Per Game This looks at how many points a teams bench scores per game minus how many points the opposing bench scores per game. Heat, Grizzlies, & Bulls benches have been outscoring their counterparts (but their starters are getting destroyed as shown in the next post)

The Bulls list Josh Giddey “questionable” and Patrick Williams “probable” ahead of their tilt with the Spurs on Monday.

Welp, Cavs list Darius Garland “out” tonight vs Bulls

Josh Giddey back in Cleveland on Saturday for the first time since his “I wouldn’t play myself if I was Billy” game. Technically, the Cavs played tonight, too. But they beat the Wizards by 34 points, in a game in which none of their starters played more than 28 minutes.

Josh Giddey has attempted just eight fewer free throws than Jalen Brunson, made one more triple on one fewer attempt than Kevin Durant and taken the same amount of shots at the rim as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. All in the same amount of — or, in one case, fewer — games.

The Bulls have been a revelation, what with their brotherly love, wherewithal and unselfishness. But while the scrutinizing eyes on them have begun to soften, the tests will only get harder from here. For @thebigs.bsky.social. www.thebigs.us/single-post/...

This would be a helluva week for Coby White’s return…

Josh Giddey is converting skeptics one game at a time. But, like the Bulls, there’s only so much his crusade can accomplish until spring rolls around. For @thebigs.bsky.social. www.thebigs.us/single-post/...

In a tug-of-war with the Philadelphia 76ers that, for them, began as a comedy of errors, the Bulls walked away with the last laugh. “To gut that one out, and dig ourselves out of the hole like we did, was unbelievable.” For @thebigs.bsky.social. www.thebigs.us/single-post/...

Dalen Terry, an Arizona alum, and Tre Jones, a Duke alum, going back and forth about the Wildcats and Blue Devils in the locker room. Hilarious banter between the two whose exchange began over who was the better player between diaper dandies Koa Pete and Cameron Boozer.

Bulls outscore Sixers 57-36 in the second half, steal a 113-111 victory from the Sixers to move to 6-1 on the season and take sole possession of first-place in the Eastern Conference.

But, no worries, Red Panda’s here to liven up the place

Bulls in a 75-56 point hole as the first half comes to a close. Josh Giddey leads the team with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He’s also taken half of the Bulls’s eight free throws. Tyrese Maxey (22) and Joel Embiid (18) have combined for 40 points so far.

The shorthanded, “strength-in-numbers” Bulls aren’t the “shot-creation-in-numbers” Bulls.

Sixers wallop Bulls with a 45-point first quarter in which they led by as many as 21 points. Hosts face 18-point hole heading into the second.

The Bulls won’t survive with pace alone, as the Sixers have already banked wins against three faster-playing, albeit worse, teams. Still, Nick Nurse said he’s tried to prepare the Sixers for the amount of cross-matching the Bulls’ style of play creates.

The Bulls have one player — Josh Giddey (33.6) — averaging more than 33 minutes a game. In Tyrese Maxey (42.4), VJ Edgecombe (38.9) and Kelly Oubre (38.1), Philly has three.

Billy Donovan said Coby White is sprinting, running, cutting and jumping, but the medical staff wants to give him a longer ramp-up period to ensure he can withstand the basketball activities that’ve caused his calf to tighten up. White will likely be on a minutes restriction when he returns.

Ayo Dosunmu is out, per Billy Donovan. He is still considered day-to-day. As far as Coby White is concerned, “the hope is by next week he’s practicing with us,” Donovan said.

Will the Bulls’ 3-point shooting fall off a cliff or a chair?

On the latest episode of The Zach Lowe Show, @michaelvpina.bsky.social said his favorite fake trade at the moment involves the Grizzlies and Bulls swapping Ja Morant and Coby White. If I’m Artūras Karnišovas, I think I’d rather keep the latter. Roast me? podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Bulls list Ayo Dosunmu “questionable” for their tilt with the Sixers on Tuesday. Coby White, who was to be re-evaluated today, remains “out.”

Bulls list Ayo Dosunmu “questionable” and Julian Phillips “probable” for home-and-home finale with Knicks on Sunday. As expected, Noa Essengue will be “out” as he prepares to make his Windy City Bulls debut a week from today.

The Bulls are the league’s equivalent of Rocky Balboa?

Welcome to November, where the Bulls play four sets of back-to-backs, starting with road dates in Milwaukee and Cleveland next week, and 10 games away from the United Center. The conference’s lone undefeated team has passed every test to date, but there’s more to come.

Bulls off to their best start under Artūras Karnišovas.

These home-and-home series, where teams can pour more time into their game plans, could help shed a new light on the Bulls. They have six in all. In addition to this weekend’s with the Knicks, the ones with the Cavaliers and Heat should be particularly interesting.

Knicks list Mitchell Robinson as “questionable” and both Karl-Anthony Towns and Guerschon Yabusele as “probable” for tilt with Bulls on Friday.

Our guy @drew-h-stevens.bsky.social dropped in on the GoatTalk Hotline and was asked about Billy Donovan's response to it being a correlation between the Bulls pace and opponent's low 3PT% 👀🔴

Was thinking about how Wednesday was the last time the topic of the first half of the 2021-2022 season would be presented to a former Bull. Then I remembered Nikola Vučević, Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White are still here.