Bulls embarrassed as trade winds around them blow

MIAMI — In a perfect world, Bulls coach Billy Donovan wouldn’t have to dwell on the trade deadline Thursday or be concerned about up to seven of his players facing free agency in July.

He knows that’s not reality, however.

And while Donovan said he addressed the team again about the topic before the Bulls’ game Sunday against the Heat, it didn’t seem to stick. As a matter of fact, very little seemed to stick in the third game against the Heat in the last four nights as the Bulls lost 134-91 in one of their more embarrassing showings of the season.

‘‘Guys have expiring contracts, but let’s just say . . . [the deadline Thursday] comes and goes, now what?’’ Donovan said. ‘‘You going to sit there and worry about July?

‘‘The reality is, these guys have prepared themselves throughout the summer to play. We’ve also had a lot of guys having the game taken away from them this year with injuries. They’ve got to focus in on doing what they love doing, and as hard as that may be, that’s what we’ve got to do.

‘‘It’s human nature to get distracted by things that you don’t have control over and for me to sit around and wonder what may or may not happen. I get all the situations those guys are in, but the best thing they can do, in my opinion, is help each other. To think that they’re going to block everything out, I know that’s not real. But we have to work to try and do that.’’

Right from the tip, it was apparent the Bulls (24-26) weren’t going to be able to do what Donovan wanted.

The Heat scored the first eight points and ended the first quarter with a 34-13 lead. The teams played on equal terms in the second before the Bulls fell asleep again in the third, being outscored 39-22.

‘‘They definitely came into the game really physical,’’ Bulls center Nikola Vucevic said of the Heat. ‘‘They took it to us. It didn’t help that we couldn’t make a shot and they got it going. We just couldn’t figure out a way to respond.

‘‘They took us out of a lot of our stuff and, as the game went on, they were playing really good basketball. Credit to them.’’

Coby White led the Bulls with 16 points.

Pro influence

The Bulls waiving guard Jevon Carter to make room on their roster for forward Dario Saric, whom they acquired in a three-team trade Saturday, wasn’t easy for anyone — especially for the younger guys he mentored.

‘‘The way he worked was good for me to see, good for a lot of young guys to see,’’ forward Patrick Williams said. ‘‘He would always remind us of why we’re here. That’s to play the game that we love.

‘‘Obviously, there are a lot of ups and downs that come with it; it’s a roller coaster for everybody. It’s always about how you get through it, and that didn’t change for him.”

Air Yuki

Not only did 5-7 guard Yuki Kawamura get his first significant action in crunch time of an NBA game Saturday, but he won the first jump ball of his career. And not just of his NBA career but ever, he said.

‘‘Honestly, I won the jump ball and I was so happy,’’ Kawamura said. ‘‘It was the first win of a jump ball since I started [playing] basketball, yeah.’’