Trade talk might be quiet for Bulls but the defense finally made noise
The conversations between executive and coach remain an almost daily ritual.
Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas has never been shy about discussing any relevant topics with Billy Donovan, either.
So on the trade front?
Not a peep.
Not that Karnisovas is one to talk trade possibilities or scenarios with many outside of his own office walls, but Donovan has always been the exception, especially when trade rumors had truth behind them.
That’s why it’s safe to say that not much is currently going on besides the Bulls winning games that actually don’t help the long-term cause like they did on Saturday, beating the Bucks 116-111 led by Josh Giddey’s triple-double.
“We’re capable of beating anybody and we’ve honestly shown we can lose a terrible game as well,” guard Zach LaVine said of the win. “Coming back here, getting a good win, a close win against a good team showed a lot.”
It still didn’t show the plans from the front office, however.
What was even more disconcerting about the trade non-update update from Donovan is the league is currently filled with haves and have nots. A divide that’s been as seemingly wide as it’s been in years.
It’s not like teams should have to wait until the Feb. 6 trade deadline to decide if they are buyers or sellers. They should know who they are already.
“(Karnisovas) will bring something to me, ‘Hey listen, this is real.’ “ Donovan said of the process. “I don’t really press him, and I trust that when there’s something really there to talk about, we’ll talk about it. I think he’s always been respectful that we got games coming and we’re talking about the team, the roster, where we’re at now, how do we get better, how do we improve, those types of things. But there hasn’t been anything of substance of, ‘Hey, this is where things are at.’ “
But Donovan did agree that if playoff-caliber teams feel like they need to add assets, waiting too long is a dangerous game to play from a chemistry standpoint.
“If you have teams that feel like they have to add some things to take another jump, if they feel like they are closer if they do this or this or this, sometimes it’s hard when you make those decisions in February when there’s 25 games left and guys are trying to acclimate,” Donovan said. “But (Karnisovas) has not come to me with anything the last week where he said, ‘Hey listen, this is real, there’s some substance here.’ None of that has happened.”
That hasn’t stopped the rumors from flowing, as the Bulls (14-18) have been linked to Denver, Golden State and the Lakers the last month.
Donovan was almost taking the approach of he’ll believe it when he sees it.
After all, he had enough on his plate dealing with a Milwaukee team again with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the lineup for the second time in a week, and still no pushovers for the Bulls at the United Center.
The good news was Donovan’s crew appeared to quickly put the brutal 50-point fourth quarter suffered in the Atlanta loss on Thursday in the rearview mirror, playing much better defense against the more methodical Bucks.
LaVine tied the game with two free throws with 2:45 left and after some bad possessions by both teams, Bucks veteran Khris Middleton answered with a finger roll with 1:30 left. No problem, as Giddey hit a clutch three from the corner to give the Bulls the lead and Patrick Williams got the steal and layup to put the home team up three with 50 seconds left.
Brook Lopez hit a three out of the timeout, but Coby White had another answer with a 17-footer. After a Middleton miss, Giddey iced the game from the free throw line to finish with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.