As Bulls season dwindles down there are still key personnel questions

It’s still not good enough in the eyes of Josh Giddey.

Not even close.

And the Bulls guard isn’t getting caught up in the excuse game, either. There would be plenty of those to fall back on since February. Injuries, a roster purge at the trade deadline where seven new players were added, a lack of communication on both ends of the floor, ball security, a true go-to player in close moments, the list goes on.

All very real and fair, but so is the 4-16 record in the last 20 games.

“I think the results haven’t been probably what we’ve wanted over the last three or four weeks,” Giddey said recently when discussing the dismal showing of his team. “I do think we’re taking steps in the right direction. We can’t keep banging on the dead horse of learning to play with each other. We’ve had enough time where we should have been able to figure it out by now. Too many turnovers, which I’m a big part of. Rebounding, we’ve got to clean that up. There’s a lot.”

The good news for Giddey is there are games left. He has time to continue getting the ship steered in a better direction, and at the same time helping his coaching staff get a clearer picture of the personnel. For a team where every roster decision matters, that’s key.

Rob Dillingham – The guard has been the team’s fourth leading scorer (14.2 points per game) in the last five contests, shooting 50.8% from the field, 40% from three-point range, and has been a plus-7 total in plus/minus, which hasn’t been easy considering some of the blow-out moments.

Not bad for a guy that was barely playing for the Timberwolves and was going down the path of being a top 10 pick bust.

He’s been far from perfect, and coach Billy Donovan has been openly making sure he understands the improvements he needs to make in his game.

“I think the one thing that’s been hard for him and maybe a little unfair, is we’ve tried to from an inexperienced standpoint of being here, to make sure that Tre (Jones) or Josh is on the floor (with Dillingham),” Donovan said. “And there are sometimes where he’s had to play off the ball a little bit, which for him is a little new. He’s used to having the ball in his hands.

“I do think he is doing some other things that we have asked him to do defensively. Like the Clipper game (last week) he put his body in there a little more. The Laker game (the night before) he didn’t. He was trying to go for steals instead of staying in front of the ball like he needed to. I saw some progress there. I think he’s getting more comfortable.”

Leonard Miller – When teammate Matas Buzelis called Miller “a monster” because of his play, he wasn’t kidding. Like Dillingham, Miller sat the pine most nights for Minnesota, and now that he has been unleashed there is something positive going on.

Miller has scored in double-digits in six consecutive games and only Giddey has averaged more rebounds than Miller (7.2 per game) in that time. In the six games in which Miller has started the Bulls are 3-3. All numbers that fall in Miller’s favor to be a rotation player next season.

Jaden Ivey – The guard only played four games after coming over in the Kevin Huerter trade, sidelined with a sore knee that put him in a strengthening rehab program. This upcoming week could be huge for Ivey, however, as Donovan and the medical staff were hoping he could return to play at some point on the upcoming road trip.

Ivey is a restricted free agent. The more clarity the Bulls can get from him, the easier decision they will have to make.