The Bulls keep getting buried early, and the pattern is starting to demand a harder look at the rotation.
It happened again Friday in Boston, where Chicago fell behind by 32 in the first half. Josh Giddey wasn’t the only reason for that mess, but he was part of it.
The Bulls were also exposed around the rim, including a clip of Matas Buzelis getting bodied under the basket by a player eight inches shorter than him. And on several possessions, Caleb Wilson was simply caught watching defensively as Boston carved up Chicago inside, going 13/15 from inside the arc in the first quarter.
Wilson’s second-half effort stood out more than his first-half passivity. He did more than the bare minimum, and that mattered in a game where the Bulls were already chasing the night.
That urgency showed up after the game, too. Wilson was one of several players in the locker room speaking directly about the lack of effort in these blowout losses. That’s not much, but it’s at least an acknowledgment of what’s happening.
What’s becoming clearer by the game is that Wilson already looks like the team’s best player. That’s encouraging for the rebuild, but it also says something about how early he’s separated himself from the rest of the group.
Buzelis was supposed to be the next key piece, with Giddey a tier or two below him in importance. But the early-season evidence, with the usual caveat that it’s still very early and the schedule has been tough, is that the three of them together is a problem.
Defensively, it’s been a train wreck.
That doesn’t necessarily decide wins and losses on its own. But it can make games ugly fast, and it can turn too many nights into slog after slog.
It also creates a different kind of risk: a locker room where players start noticing that some guys are getting extended rope just because they’re already in place. Wilson, at least, appears to be earning whatever patience he gets.
He’s doing enough to avoid becoming part of that issue.
The bigger point is that the Bulls’ priorities should be pretty obvious. Wilson’s development is the top one.
Buzelis, in his third season, is next. There’s also some value in keeping veterans like Powell, Smith, and Jones in positions that preserve or raise their trade value.
What is not a priority is trying to “get Josh Giddey going.” The source of the problem isn’t that the Bulls need to build around his strengths.
The problem is that those strengths haven’t been strong enough, for long enough, to justify the way he’s being used. His contract made him untradeable for positive value the moment he signed it, and the Bulls shouldn’t be organizing their lineup around a player like that.
Maybe some of the defensive issues come from other personnel, including Wilson, and maybe Giddey is just the same player he’s always been while being asked to handle a role that doesn’t fit him. Maybe Chicago leaned more on Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu before, with Billy Donovan using a ton of guards, and Giddey was never really meant to be the lone engine anyway.
Still, the answer isn’t to keep forcing the lineup to maximize Giddey’s game. The answer is to reduce the damage he does to it by playing him less.
Tre Jones offers a cleaner fit in the starting group. He gives Chicago better point-of-attack defense and more reliable ball security.
The shooting issue doesn’t disappear with either player, but Jones has looked more capable this season of getting downhill and creating the kind of pressure that forces defenses to react. The Bulls might get different results if the starting and reserve roles were flipped, but there’s no reason to assume either player is so good that the current setup has to stay intact.
The same logic could be applied to Buzelis, but he matters more as a developmental priority, and that changes the equation.
Tiago Splitter and Bryson Graham have been patient so far, which fits the Bulls’ usual approach. With the season still young and the schedule still difficult, a lineup change may not come immediately. There’s also already a chance for one, with Nic Claxton reportedly participating fully at Sunday’s practice.
But benching Giddey wouldn’t be some wild overreaction. The real risk is in leaving things untouched when the results are this obvious.
At some point, the bigger danger is not making the change. And Caleb Wilson may already be asking why.
In Other News...
Bulls Frontcourt Issue Just Got More Urgent Before 76ers Matchup
Chicagos frontcourt picture got a little clearer on the injury report, but not necessarily better. Ahead of the matchup with Philadelphia, the Bulls listed Nic Claxton as doubtful with a hamstring strain, while Jalen Smith and Tobe Awaka were both tagged probable despite minor injuries. With Joel Embiid also questionable for the 76ers because of a foot issue, the game carries a little extra weight in the paint, where Chicago has been trying to sort out its rotation and protect itself from another thin night inside.
Assistant Tiago Splitter said Claxton is not yet ready to go, and the Bulls are monitoring him closely in practice as they wait to see how he responds. For a team already managing frontcourt availability, the timing matters, especially with a Philadelphia opponent that can change the tone of a game quickly if Embiid is available. Chicago does not have much margin to improvise here, so the next update on Claxton will be worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Finally Have A Chance To Prove This Wasn't A Fluke
Nic Claxton is back in full practice after the hamstring injury that slowed him in training camp, and that gives the Bulls a new frontcourt decision to sort through. Jalen Smith has held up well in the early going, giving Chicago a reason to think twice before changing what has worked so far.
The timing makes the choice even more interesting. Smith has played his way into the conversation with steady production through six games, but Claxtons return adds a different look and a longer-term question about how the Bulls want to build their rotation. For a team trying to keep momentum, the next stretch could say plenty about whether this becomes a true competition or just a temporary pause in the status quo. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Face A Brutal Test Against A Contender Showing Cracks
The Bulls are heading into a difficult early-season measuring stick with Philadelphia sitting atop the Eastern Conference at 6-1, even if the 76ers have not looked fully polished on offense. Chicago, off to a 1-5 start, gets a chance to see where it stands against a contender that has still found ways to win, often in tight games, while sorting through its own issues on both ends of the floor.
Philadelphia has leaned on its top-end talent and enough late-game execution to keep stacking wins, but there are signs the attack has not been as clean as the record suggests. For Chicago, the bigger question is how much of a challenge this becomes if the Sixers are missing a key piece, with Joel Embiid listed as questionable as the matchup approaches. [Read more 🡒]