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MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Bulls’ four-game win streak ended Monday night at Fiserv Forum following a 133-129 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Here are 10 observations:

—DeMar DeRozan had a masterful game but struggled down the stretch, finishing with 41 points and 11 assists. After missing his first six shots in the fourth quarter and biting on Damian Lillard’s shot fake with 12 seconds left and fouling him, DeRozan scored with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. But his shots came up short as he logged 40-plus minutes on the front end of a back-to-back set of games. This time, he looked to score and be aggressive with his shot early, which opened up his passing game late. He had one veteran recognition of a Nikola Vucevic mismatch in the fourth quarter in which he called for that side of the floor to clear out before feeding Vucevic, who scored on a goaltended shot. DeRozan assisted on six 3-pointers for teammates. It’s his third game in the last four with double-digit assists.

—Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t reach double figures until almost midway through the third quarter. Obviously, no one defender slows the two-time MVP. And Antetokounmpo did have six assists before he reached double figures. But Patrick Williams took one charge and overall followed his pregame strategy of “putting his body in play.” When asked what it’s like to guard Antetokounmpo, Williams said he couldn’t really explain it, that one just had to experience it.

Down the stretch, Antetokounmpo exerted his will, bullying his way to a huge three-point play with 3 minutes left for a five-point lead. He also sank his free throws, finishing 14-for-18 from the stripe as part of his 32-point, 18-rebound, six-assist night.

—With six 3-pointers, Coby White extended his franchise record of consecutive games with at least three 3-pointers to 11. White has sank 53 3-pointers in that stretch and now ranks in the top-five in the NBA in made 3-pointers. It’s a remarkable rise for a player who struggled from beyond the arc early this season. But the Bulls didn’t utilize White’s hot shooting night down the stretch. White didn’t attempt a 3-pointer from the 1:36 mark of the fourth quarter until the final possession of overtime.

—Alex Caruso’s sprained left ankle is improving enough for him to warm up pregame, but he missed the contest, which is the first of a back-to-back set of games. Losing Caruso and his defensive work against such a talented offensive team was obviously a blow.

—With Caruso out, Ayo Dosunmu drew the start. The Bulls reverted to their slow start ways by trailing by 10 for the seventh double-digit deficit in the opening period this season. But following a Billy Donovan timeout, the Bulls responded with a 10-2 run. This has been more typical of late for the Bulls—a response to adverse moments. Nevertheless, Dosunmu’s slow start continued as he missed his first six shots and didn’t score.

—The Bulls struggled getting properly matched up in defensive transition on multiple occasions, especially early. Jevon Carter was matched against Robin Lopez one time. Ayo Dosunmu landed on Bobby Portis on another possession. The Bucks scored six fast-break points and 14 points in the paint as part of a 37-point first quarter.

—The Bulls also struggled defensively to control the 3-point line. Several of their closeouts were either poor or late and when they did execute them, players often closed out without getting a hand up to contest the shot. Obviously, Antetokounmpo demands so much attention—and often double-teams. But the Bulls were a step slow in allowing 74 first-half points, the highest points total allowed in a half all season.

The rotations became much crisper in the second half, particularly from Torrey Craig, who was everywhere defensively before fouling out. Craig took Caruso’s role in the closing lineup.

—Dalen Terry packed plenty into a seven-minute, first-half rotational turn. He sank a 3-pointer and had an assist, block and foul. He also played solid positional defense on Antetokoumpo once and Khris Middleton another time, although Middleton scored on a tough bank shot to end that possession.

Terry’s strong minutes led Donovan to play him the first 4:39 of the fourth quarter. Terry had a wide-open look on a corner 3-pointer that would’ve given the Bulls their first lead of the game. But he missed it and Malik Beasley dunked it in transition at the other end for a four-point Bucks lead.

—The Bulls, who have been a low-turnover team all season, committed just six against the Bucks.

—At 41.2 percent, the Bulls shot exactly 10 percentage points lower than the Bucks and still had opportunities to steal a victory on the road.

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The Chicago Bulls won their fourth straight game for the first time since February 2022 after they beat the San Antonio Spurs on the road Friday night.

Here are 10 observations from the 121-112 victory:

—With 21 points and 16 rebounds, Nikola Vucevic posted his third double-double over the last four games. Vucevic has talked about having more opportunity because obviously one of the team’s primary scorers in Zach LaVine is out. He had a big third quarter with seven points. Vucevic joined Nikola Jokic and Anthony Davis as the only players this season with at least three games of 20 points and 15 rebounds.

—Already without LaVine, the Bulls suffered a potentially significant blow when Alex Caruso stepped on Coby White’s foot and exited the game for good with a left ankle injury at the 10 minute, 42 second mark of the fourth quarter. Caruso slapped the floor in disgust after he landed and had to be helped to the locker room by the training staff. Caruso has missed time with and also played through a left toe strain. This is a new injury.

—Torrey Craig tied his career-high with five 3-pointers, including four in the fourth quarter alone. Craig scored a season-high 16 points and helped the Bulls finish 13-for-28 from 3-point range after a slow start.

—That the Spurs have lost 16 straight and it’s not even the longest losing streak in the NBA is wild with a capital W. The Detroit Pistons dropped their 19^th straight game on Friday.

—Breaking: Victor Wembanyama is going to be good—really, really good. The Bulls’ first look at the French sensation confirmed the teenager has special skills that range from shotblocking to shooting to ballhandling. On one sequence, he tapped a defensive rebound to himself despite Nikola Vucevic holding inside possession, dribbled the length of the court and drew a foul on a driving layup attempt. Ridiculous.

Wembanyama, who had a double-double in the first half, finished with 21 points, season-high 20 rebounds and four blocks and altered several other shots.

—After winning three straight first quarters, the Bulls’ opening-period woes returned. The Bulls shot just 9-for-31 and managed 24 points in the first 12 minutes. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich broke out a zone at times, which White burned for one 3-pointer. But overall, the Bulls struggled to find any kind of consistent shooting.

—There was one bright spot to the first quarter. Rookie Julian Phillips played early again and threw down an impressive dunk. While the second-round pick remains raw and needs experience, he makes you notice he’s in the game every time.

—Not only did DeMar DeRozan miss nine of 10 first-half shots, he airballed two attempts. That’s something that doesn’t happen often. The 1-for-10 shooting matched the worst shooting half of his illustrious career.

DeRozan’s struggles for two more misses in the second half, making him 1-for-12 before he scored back-to-back baskets. But to DeRozan’s credit, he got to the free-throw line 10 times and also finished with 10 assists for the second time in three games.

DeRozan kept working the game and finished with 20 points despite shooting 7-for–24. He also added three steals.

—Patrick Williams threw down three first-half dunks and tried to dunk one other, drawing a foul. Williams attempting to dunk everything and playing aggressively is a good development for the Bulls. After having his six-game streak of double-figure scoring snapped on Wednesday versus the Charlotte Hornets, Williams started possibly a new streak with a season-high-tying 20 points.

—White sank two 3-pointers as part of a 12-0, third-quarter run that pushed the Bulls, who once trailed by 13, ahead for the first time since 5-4. The first of those 3-pointers extended White’s franchise record to 10 straight games with at least three 3-pointers. The second gave White another franchise record—the most 3-pointers over a 10-game stretch. White’s 46^th 3-pointer in his last 10 games snapped Zach LaVine’s record of 45, which LaVine did on three separate 10-game occasions.

White scored a game-high 24 points and added six assists.

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The Chicago Bulls won their third straight without Zach LaVine by beating the Charlotte Hornets 111-100 on Wednesday night at the United Center.

Here are 10 observations from the victory:

—Coby White made franchise history. He finished 3-of-7 from the 3-point line, his ninth straight game with at least three 3-pointers. That broke the record he shared with Lauri Markkanen entering the night and it extended his NBA-long streak this season. White also drew two charges, pushing his team-high total to eight. That’s tied for third-most in the NBA.

–Alex Caruso returned to the lineup after exiting Saturday’s victory at halftime with a re-aggravation of his left toe strain. Ayo Dosunmu, who started in Caruso’s place for that second half, returned to a reserve role and quickly replaced Caruso at the 8 minute, 9 second mark of the first. Caruso scored in double figures again while playing his typically adhesive defense.

—Torrey Craig was a gametime decision with knee soreness. Not only did he play, he sank two first-quarter 3-pointers as the Bulls emphasized that shot early. Craig scored a season-high 15 points in Saturday’s victory over the Pelicans.

—The Bulls led after the first quarter just four times in their first 19 games. But they’ve now led after the first quarter in three straight games. The Bulls took 13 3-pointers in the first quarter and featured balanced scoring as the ball moved quickly around the perimeter.

—Unfortunately for the Bulls, the second quarter arrived. They scored just three points over the final 5:58 of the first half and watched their 16-point lead drop to four at halftime. They entered the break shooting just 40.9 percent with only 10 assists. They missed their final nine shots of the half, scoring only on free throws.

—For the third straight game, Julian Phillips drew first-quarter minutes. He promptly scored on a transition layup. While praising his energy and athleticism during pregame remarks, coach Billy Donovan also admitted it will be hard for the rookie to find minutes when LaVine returns.

Donovan also played seldom-used Dalen Terry for three first-half minutes. This included Terry playing before Jevon Carter, who didn’t appear until the start of the second quarter.

Phillips then re-entered in the third quarter, which the Bulls opened with a 19-4 run to right matters after their disappointing start to the first half.

—The Bulls had five players with at least six points before they placed their first scorer in double figures. DeMar DeRozan’s layup early in the third quarter pushed him to 11 points—and represented the Bulls’ first field goal in 6 minutes, 44 seconds. DeRozan finished with 29 points, including 12-for-14 from the line.

—The Hornets entered last in the NBA in defensive rating and center Mark Williams sat as a late scratch with a back contusion. Donovan talked about the Hornets’ frontcourt size and rim protection, but losing Williams impacted that. The Hornets, already without leading scorer LaMelo Ball, played several possessions of zone to try to offset their porous defense. Nikola Vucevic took advantage of Williams’ absence to post a double-double.

—Hornets rookie Brandon Miller missed his first six shots and scored just 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting. Charlotte struggled throughout, shooting 27 percent from 3-point range.

—The Bulls finished with 23 assists and 12 3-pointers.

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The Chicago Bulls won their second straight game for the first time this season, downing the New Orleans Pelicans 124-118 on Saturday night at the United Center.

“Now we gotta get back-to-back-to-back wins,” DeMar DeRozan said. “These two games should be a blueprint for us.”

Here are 10 observations:

—DeRozan returned from missing one game with a sprained left ankle. He played a smart, efficient game overall, finishing with a season-high 10 assists to go with 24 points. And in the fourth, he started to look for his shot more, scoring over Herb Jones in the midrange for a huge basket late.

“(Ankle) felt good,” DeRozan said.

—For those wondering if the ball movement that defined the Bulls’ overtime victory over the Bucks would continue with DeRozan return, the answer arrived early. The Bulls assisted on eight of their first 10 baskets and, one game after posting a season-high 32 assists, posted 32 against the Pelicans.

“We’re just being unselfish, moving the ball, pushing the pace,” DeRozan said. “We’re understanding reads, making quick reads, shooting the ball and making plays with confidence.”

–Coby White dominated the fourth quarter. White sank back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth to snap a tie. Both were of the heat-check variety. When White followed with a traditional three-point play, “Coby! Coby!” chants started at the United Center when he went to the free-throw line. He then drove and kicked to a wide-open DeRozan for a 3-pointer with 4 minutes, 25 seconds left that pushed the Bulls’ lead to six points. White then threw a perfect alley-oop pass to Patrick Williams for the dagger dunk with 20.1 seconds remaining. White finished with a season-high 31 points, a season-high nine rebounds and six assists.

—But the Bulls’ injury news wasn’t all good. Not only did Zach LaVine miss the first of at least three more games with his sore right foot, Alex Caruso left the game with 2 minutes, 44 seconds left in the second quarter and didn’t return. Caruso re-aggravated the strained left toe that has moved him in and out of the lineup. Caruso started for LaVine and scored eight points in 12 minutes, with two rebounds and two steals. Ayo Dosunmu, who played another strong game, started the second half for Caruso.

—Saturday night marked the first set of back-to-back games the injury-prone Zion Williamson played. Entering the back-to-back set of games, Williamson had averaged 28.4 points on 64.7 percent shooting. He’s a load offensively, placing great pressure on defenses. “He’s as good as I’ve seen following up his shot when he misses it,” coach Billy Donovan said pregame. Patrick Williams started on Williamson and played textbook defense on one possession when Williamson tried to spin and drive baseline. And in general, the Bulls’ defense kept Williamson quiet until the final stages of the first half. Williamson scored seven points in less than 2 minutes after he re-entered with 2:44 left. Williamson finished with 27 points.

—For the second straight game, Donovan played rookie Julian Phillips in the first quarter. Shortly after entering, Phillips stole a Jose Alvarado pass and ran the floor in transition, dunking home a pass from Torrey Craig.

—Speaking to the urgency of the game, Donovan also altered Caruso’s first-half usage. In games Caruso starts, as he did Saturday, Caruso typically exits near the 6-minute mark of the first quarter and sits until roughly the 6-minute mark of the second. Against the Pelicans, Caruso exited at the 6:54 mark of the first quarter but returned 3 minutes later. He scored five points in the first quarter.

—White extended his streak of games with at least three 3-pointers to eight games, the longest such current streak in the NBA. Over his previous seven games, White led the NBA with 31 made 3-pointers. He tied his career high with eight on Saturday.

“It’s something I’ve looked a lot at because he wasn’t shooting the ball well early in the year,” Donovan said. “Him being at the point, it’s a lot of responsibility not only for Coby but for any point guard in this league. And he’s been a scorer. And we need him to do that.

“If you look at his outings where he has scored well, it’s really been off the ball where the ball has found him and he has been able to get catch-and-shoot opportunities and either shot fake or drive it. I’ve talked to him a lot about at times getting off the ball some. Not in terms of him needing to be off the paint. But if he starts the offense with a pass, it gets him off the ball moving a little bit and he can find those creases and cracks inside of our offense where there is ball movement and the ball sprays to him and now he’s playing against closeouts.”

—Patrick Williams scored in double figures for the sixth straight time, finishing with 14 points. Williams teamed with White and Dosunmu to kick-start a strong start to the second half, erasing a 10-point deficit by the 9:14 mark of the third. The Bulls dominated the third 36-21, taking a seven-point lead into the fourth. The quarter output surpassed two recent first-half totals of 33 points each.

—One game after scoring a season-high 29 points, Nikola Vucevic shot just 3-for-12 but hustled to make a huge save that led to White’s alley-oop to Williams.

“The ball was right there. I picked it up and saw it was a two-on-one,” White said. “I just knew as long as I threw it high enough to where (Jonas) Valanciunas couldn’t get it, I knew Pat is so athletic and bouncy and springy that he could go get it.”

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The Chicago Bulls snapped their five-game losing streak and won for just the second time in 10 games Thursday night at the United Center. They defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 120-113 in overtime.

“It’s only one win. But it’s big for us at this moment,” Nikola Vucevic said. “The way the season has been going, we haven’t played really good basketball. And we have been losing by big margins the last couple games. It was great to do it, especially against a good team like Milwaukee.”

Here are 10 observations:

—Vucevic scored a season-high 29 points with 10 rebounds and six assists. The huge effort came after three straight games in single digits. Perhaps not coincidentally, it came without Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, who both sat with injuries. Vucevic said he looked to be more aggressive with those two main scorers out.

“I just try to be a little more aggressive, whether it’s shooting or creating or trying to make the right plays for the team,” Vucevic said. “I thought the guys did a really good job of finding me on the pops or in the pocket.”

But Vucevic, and others, quickly shot down the notion that the faster pace and better ball movement that created a season-high 32 assists resulted from the loss of more isolation-based players like LaVine and DeRozan.

“That has nothing to do with it,” Vucevic said. “We came together. It’s one game. Those are our two best players. If we want to achieve anything, we need them.”

In fact, Alex Caruso said the Bulls can play this style with LaVine and DeRozan.

“We’ve shown it in spurts this year,” Caruso said. “Sometimes you have that heightened sense of urgency when you have two of your best players out. Guys step up and you have a little more focus. The thing for us is watch the film, see what we did right and continue to try to play at that level. Those two guys are great players. When they’re locked in, we’re a good team.”

The obvious question, then, is: Why hasn’t it happened more consistently with them playing?

“We’re not going to be this speed merchant team on made baskets,” coach Billy Donovan said. “But on missed shots, we have to generate more on transition opportunities.”

Donovan praised the screen-setting of Vucevic and Andre Drummond, saying they sprinted into screens that helped guards get downhill, putting the Bucks into rotation defensively.

“We knew with Zach and DeMar out, there were going to be a handful of shots and minutes to go around. We tried to just talk to each other about not trying to do it all on our own,” Caruso said. “We knew if we got them into rotations and touched the paint, we were going to have open shots. We did that. We did a good job of sharing it when we got downhill.”

—The Bulls opened the fourth quarter with 10 straight points to extend a run that began in the third quarter to 14-0. The Bulls haven’t been the aggressors too often this season. But throughout this one, they played with the force and pace that Donovan has been seeking. This came from several sources, including Ayo Dosunmu, who played well in his first start with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. The Bulls’ reserve unit also played well, with Drummond posting 10 points and 14 rebounds in 13 minutes, Jevon Carter reaching double figures and Torrey Craig doing the same while supplying stout defense. The Bucks dropped a 10-0 run in the final 1 minute, 26 seconds before Caruso beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to force overtime.

But overall, the Bulls placed a season-high eight players in double figures, again reflective of good ball movement.

“We pushed the pace and got down the floor and were pretty aggressive, which was good,” Donovan said. “It was one of those games where everybody in their own way made major contributions to the game.”

—Giannis Antetokounmpo managed just four points before halftime, partly due to three fouls. He finished with 26 points and 14 rebounds, but the Bulls did a better job than in these teams’ first meeting at limiting his drives with full heads of steam. More often than not, the Bulls’ defense turned Antetokounmpo into a jump shooter.

—LaVine sat with his right foot soreness that flared up and forced him to exit Tuesday’s loss in Boston early. It’s the second game LaVine has missed with the injury. He also sat out the Oklahoma City loss.

Asked if it’s a day-to-day situation, Donovan said he didn’t know. On Tuesday, LaVine called his situation “complicated.”

“He’s dealing with the foot soreness,” Donovan said. “That’s all I have at this point.”

—DeRozan also sat with the left ankle sprain he suffered in Boston, which forced him to leave that game early. DeRozan also missed his second game, although his first was for personal reasons.

Neither LaVine nor DeRozan like missing games, but with the Bulls only having two games over the next seven days, sitting out one game could pay dividends.

—With LaVine and DeRozan out, Donovan started Coby White, Dosunmu, Alex Caruso, Patrick Williams and Vucevic. But it’s a safe bet Donovan would’ve started Williams over Caruso anyway if LaVine and DeRozan had played. That’s what Donovan did in Boston, and Williams has played well of late.

“When he has come out in some games and maybe hasn’t been as aggressive as he needs to be, it’s been good to see him respond maybe quicker than he had in the past,” Donovan said before the game.

Williams’ momentum stalled with a 1-for-6 first half, including four straight missed 3-pointers. But he threw down an alley-oop dunk from Caruso for the first basket of the second half and later attacked to score on a drive. This is progress: If his jumpshot isn’t falling, coaches want him attacking.

—Each of LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic are shooting below their career percentages and have struggled at times defensively. The Bulls also are the NBA’s lowest-scoring, first-quarter team.

But Donovan downplayed a question on whether he’d consider not starting any of the three when they’re all healthy.

“I don’t have a problem doing whatever’s best for the team. But I would just say if those guys aren’t playing at elite level, it’s probably not the best thing for our team. So helping those guys play at elite level would be more important,” Donovan said. “I know some of our starts haven’t been great. There’s been an inconsistency. But I wouldn’t place all that on those three guys. And I wouldn’t say taking one of those guys out and putting someone else in is going to necessarily solve that. We need those guys to be who they have been throughout their career. That’s why they’re here.”

—Another game, another slow start. Donovan burned his first timeout with the Bulls trailing 11-2, at which point the Bulls had missed five of six shots and committed three turnovers. Antetokounmpo also blocked two of the misses. The Bulls responded to the timeout by playing with more pace and better ball movement, leading to open 3-point makes from Vucevic and White. By the time Bucks coach Adrian Griffin called his first timeout, the Bulls had clawed back to 16-14. And they actually led after the first quarter for just the fifth time this season, assisting on eight of nine field goals. As the league’s second-best team at taking care of the ball, they uncharacteristically committed six first-quarter turnovers or it could’ve been better. Vucevic scored 10 points in 10 minutes, his first time reaching double figures before the second quarter.

—Julian Phillips drew first-quarter minutes and played 14 minutes overall. He attacked Antetokounmpo at the rim on a driving miss and also switched onto the two-time most valuable player on multiple possessions. Phillips fouled Khris Middleton on a 3-pointer, reminding all of his rookie status. And he drew his third foul in just 9 minutes at the 7:37 mark of the second quarter, prompting Torrey Craig’s return. But the second-round pick continues to show aggressiveness. While he missed all three shots, he finished with three rebounds and three assists.

—Griffin’s ties with the Bulls run deep. He played on playoff teams under Scott Skiles and served as an assistant coach on Tom Thibodeau’s staff.

“We won a lot of games. I built a lot of great relationships here. It’s always special coming into this building and into the city of Chicago,” Griffin said. “My kids grew up here a lot. So there’s always strong ties.”

The Bulls led the NBA in regular-season victories in 2010-11, which was the season that Derrick Rose became the youngest most valuable player winner in NBA history, and in 2011-12. But they never advanced past the Eastern Conference finals.

“DRose was special. His MVP year was just magical. Tom, Coach Thibodeau, was masterful. We had guys who played extremely hard,” Griffin said. “Joakim Noah was one of the smartest defenders that I played with and I also coached him. We had Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer. We fell short of our ultimate goal. But there was a lot of good and a lot of winning in those five years coaching with the Bulls.”

Thursday night marked the first time Griffin served as a head coach inside the United Center since he coached the World team in the Rising Stars Challenge as part of 2020 All-Star weekend. Griffin, who was Nick Nurse’s lead assistant with the NBA champion Toronto Raptors at the time, joked that Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić failed him that night.

“I was mad because he didn’t go hard,” Griffin said. “And I wanted to win.”

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The Chicago Bulls received a gift of sorts when the final two games of their 82-game schedule were set overnight Wednesday.

Thanks to an 0-4 showing in the inaugural In-Season Tournament, the Bulls joined the land of losers, drawing one home and one road game against other non-qualifiers.

They’ll play the Charlotte Hornets, who are without star guard LaMelo Ball, at the United Center on Dec. 6. Then they’ll travel to San Antonio to face Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on Dec. 8.

Although the Bulls currently can’t point to any game on their schedule as a winnable one on paper, these at least offer opportunity.

It doesn’t matter. This season is on the road to nowhere.

The only victories that matter are what returns any trade or trades executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas makes between now and the Feb. 8 trade deadline.

With Karnišovas’ admission that he sees what everyone—fans, broadcasters, writers—sees, change is coming. This roster won’t look the same come late February and into next season. That, not chasing playoff or play-in games, is the main storyline to this season.

This will be Karnišovas’ second roster iteration after inheriting a rebuilding project and blowing it up to trade for Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan—the latter two in sign-and-trade acquisitions—and sign Alex Caruso in free agency. He also drafted Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu, Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips.

Only Zach LaVine and Coby White remain from the roster Karnišovas inherited, and trading LaVine is the main organizational focal point for now. In fact, league sources said that, at least for now, Karnišovas is responding to inquiries on other players by saying he wants to see what the roster looks like post-LaVine trade first.

While many have clamored for change before now, there’s a possible thought process as to why Karnišovas has clung to this core for so long. When he completed his significant roster overhaul in August 2021, this roster iteration centered on a three-year window.

That represented the length of DeRozan’s contract, the length of the fully guaranteed portion of Caruso’s contract and pushed Lonzo Ball to the player option decision portion of his four-year deal.

In many ways, one can see how Ball’s career-threatening knee injury only has intensified Karnišovas’ bet on continuity. By next summer, Ball’s comeback will hit a crossroads. He either will return—in some form or fashion—or his injury will be determined career-ending, taking $21.3 million off the Bulls’ salary cap and luxury tax books.

Add to this LaVine’s likely exit and DeRozan’s extension talks on hold as DeRozan weighs his future, and the potential for real change exists. If Karnišovas really wants to tear his situation down to the studs, trading Caruso and even Andre Drummond—who league sources said would draw interest—would be on the table.

More likely, the Bulls start by trying to trade LaVine and see where the roster stands after that.

Winning, or at least not losing, that deal is the only thing that matters, not whether they beat the Hornets and Spurs next week.

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BOSTON — The Chicago Bulls lost for the fifth straight time and for the eighth time in nine games when the Boston Celtics prevailed 124-97 on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

“This team has had enough conversations,” Zach LaVine said. “We gotta get results.”

Here are 10 observations from the defeat:

—Zach LaVine endured a forgettable night. He missed his first six shots and didn’t score until 17.7 seconds remained in the first half. The Celtics even won a challenge at the 5 minute, 33 second mark of the second quarter when officials overturned a foul call on Jaylen Brown on a driving LaVine. LaVine did have four assists at halftime but then exited the game for good at the 5:32 mark of the third with right foot soreness. LaVine sat out the Oklahoma City loss that started this trip with the same injury. LaVine finished 1-for-9 for two points. Obviously, the Bulls need him to starting finding his shooting form. He entered shooting 45.3 percent overall and 34.4 percent from 3-point range, both below his career percentages.

“It’s sore,” LaVine said of his foot. “I felt it a little bit and it progressively got worse. So it didn’t make sense to continue to risk it.”

LaVine said he’s day-to-day moving forward. The Bulls next play Thursday at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.

—The injury news didn’t stop there. DeMar DeRozan crashed hard to the ground during the third quarter after getting fouled and winced throughout several possessions afterward. He ultimately checked out at the 6:02 mark of the third and didn’t return with a sore left ankle. DeRozan finished with 19 points and six assists.

—Alex Caruso returned after missing one game with a strained left toe. But coach Billy Donovan still started Patrick Williams. The move had several layers to it. For starters, Williams played well in Toronto and Brooklyn and any momentum is good momentum for a player so critical to the franchise’s future. It also allowed Williams to match up with Jayson Tatum initially, placing more size on the Celtics’ 6-foot-8-inch superstar. And it placed Caruso back in a situation where the team can more readily control his minutes. Caruso almost always ends up in closing lineups but only plays one speed.

Donovan said he brought Caruso off the bench because the reserves have struggled some of late and also because he hasn’t loved having to keep Caruso on the bench for a 12-minute stint from the 6-minute mark of the first quarter to the 6-minute mark of the second quarter when he starts. That’s because the Bulls try to control Caruso’s minutes.

“It felt pretty good,” Caruso said. “There were just a couple movements that aggravates it a little bit.”

—The Celtics needed to beat the Bulls by at least 23 points and get some help to win Group C for the In-Season Tournament. Jrue Holiday and Derrick White both were listed as questionable but started, an indication of how focused the Celtics were on winning. DeMar DeRozan took exception to Pascal Siakam taking a late shot in the Bulls’ loss to the Raptors. But point differential, and perhaps some breaches of sportsmanship, will be the new norm with the In-Season Tournament. In fact, Donovan fielded a question about it pregame. And then Donovan had two in-game discussions with Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla when Mazzulla instructed his players to intentionally foul Andre Drummond in the fourth quarter with the Celtics leading by 30 points.

“Andre is a veteran guy. And I told (Mazzulla): ‘What are we doing here?'” Donovan said. “I get it on keeping your guys in, wanting to get in (the quarterfinals). The league has made it a big deal. But for me, it was just the fouling. And Joe was great when I talked to him.”

In fact, Mazzulla not only apologized to Donovan during the game and again in a postgame hallway but also asked to be allowed to apologize to Drummond.

“They’re trying to get to Vegas. It’s just a tough situation. He has to coach his team and do what he feels is right,” Donovan said. “Play (the starters) all the way to the end. I got no problem with that. But I just thought it was putting Andre in a tough spot in a 30-point game. I didn’t like that.

“This is what the league has done with the point differential. And I feel bad for them from this standpoint: God forbid in a game like that (someone gets hurt). When you’re up 30 and there’s 5 minutes to go in the game and you have all your main guys in there and potentially someone gets hurt over the In-Season Tournament because of points? Man. But I understand the league has made a big deal of it. Everybody is trying to take it serious.”

—The Bulls, by the way, finished 0-4 in tournament play.

“You go out there and play, man,” LaVine said, when asked if he thinks this season is salvageable. “You got a lot of season left. You don’t play the scoreboard. You look at the standings, obviously. But you try to win every game you step into and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

—After starting quickly in Brooklyn and leading by 21 points, the Bulls reverted to their first-quarter woes. They trailed by double digits for the fifth time in 19 games and only scored 20 points.

—The Bulls allowed 69 first-half points and 65 percent shooting before halftime. Both represented opponent season-highs. The Bulls entered the game ranked 21^st in defensive rating and the issues are widespread. From poor communication to poor rotations to fouling too much, the Bulls are allowing way too many open shots.

“As a professional player, there should be effort out there. And we’ll deal with those (film) clips,” Donovan said. “There was definitely some of them I saw and those were addressed in timeouts—about the effort we were giving on some of (the closeouts).”

—The Celtics led by as many as 35 points, marking the Bulls’ biggest deficit of the season.

Asked how the Bulls can stay connected through this trying time, Caruso grew animated.

“This is our job, man,” Caruso said. “You show up and do your job. Whether you wear Bulls or Celtics across your chest, there’s a pride that comes with playing in the NBA.”

—After allowing a franchise-record 25 3-pointers on Sunday in Brooklyn, the Bulls allowed 21 3-pointers. Several of the Celtics’ looks were wide open. The communication and rotations are non-existent for a defense that last season finished in the top-five.

“There are two things that are mandatory in the NBA if you want to win games—effort and execution,” Caruso said. “If you miss half that, you’re behind the 8-ball and probably not going to put yourself in a good chance to win. It’s something that’s frustrating. We can only watch it and get back and go at the next one and try to lead by example and lead vocally and pull guys along with you.”

—Earlier Tuesday, executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas expressed his disappointment with the team’s start in brief remarks to the beat writers here.

Asked how much ownership he takes for the Bulls’ struggles, Donovan didn’t run from responsibility.

“I take ownership in this too in terms of what I have to do. I’m not obviously the decisions that Arturas is making or Jerry and Michael (Reinsdorf) are making,” Donovan said. “And I’m not making the decisions on the court that the players are making. But where can I get better and improve and where can I help?

“I’m a big believer that you are what your record says you are. I’m not going to sit here say, ‘Well, a couple tough losses and we could be .500.’ No. This is what we are. What are the issues we have to address? As best as I can, I try to hit those head on and talk about those things and show them on film and maybe go about things in different ways.

“I take responsibility of where we’re at too. I look at myself first in terms of things I can do better to help our group. That’s my main focus. Certainly in conversations with players and our staff and Arturas, we’re all trying to put our heads together to try to figure out how we can help one another. And I think players have been great in terms of open communications in talking about things we have to do better.”

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BOSTON — During the 2021 offseason, executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas and his staff completely revamped the Chicago Bulls in an array of transactions and salary-cap machinations that pushed the franchise into win-now mode.

It worked—for a half season, as the Bulls led the Eastern Conference and Lonzo Ball served as the ultimate connecting piece.

Since then, despite Ball’s knee injuries placing his career in jeopardy, missing the playoffs last season and advanced metrics that don’t factor favorably, Karnišovas has clung to his core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević through thick and thin. Karnišovas has chosen to augment those players with complementary pieces rather than break them up.

Continuity is cratering. The Bulls carry a four-game losing streak and a 5-13 record into Tuesday’s matchup with the NBA-best Boston Celtics and face a daunting schedule moving forward.

“We see what everyone is seeing and are just as frustrated,” Karnišovas said Tuesday in a short conversation with beat writers. “We’re disappointed, but I’m not running from it. It’s my responsibility.”

Indeed, a feeling of imminent change hung over this franchise even before Zach LaVine and his representative made it clear to Karnišovas earlier this month that LaVine for the first time would be open to a change of scenery. And with Karnišovas being given the green light from ownership to address the myriad issues facing this team how he sees fit and with coach Billy Donovan recently extended and internally respected, those changes are coming via personnel—not the lead executive or head coach.

It’s a matter of when, not if, for personnel changes.

That said, the league doesn’t really open for business until Dec. 15, the date most players who signed during the offseason are first eligible to be traded. And even then, particularly with the introduction of the play-in format, most teams are in wait-and-see mode on whether they’re contenders or pretenders until closer to the February trade deadline.

In the case of the Los Angeles Lakers, who are expected to register interest in LaVine, some of their assets aren’t eligible to be traded until Jan. 15. With three more seasons and $138 million left on his deal past this season, LaVine is a tricky contract to move.

But LaVine’s future is the main focus. NBC Sports Chicago reported over the offseason that the Bulls held exploratory trade talks centered on LaVine and that the franchise has fluctuated in its belief in LaVine’s consistency as a lead option—issues that sources now say played a part in LaVine and his representative taking their frustrations to management.

That said, multiple sources said the relationship between management and LaVine and his camp remains cordial and professional.

Then there’s the matter of LaVine’s on-court fit with DeRozan and Vučević. While LaVine and DeRozan are close off the court, their on-court chemistry—or lack thereof—remains a consistent storyline hovering over this team.

As does the question of whether or not LaVine wants to remain with the Bulls.

“I talk to Zach all the time. The good, the bad, the ugly comes with being in this occupation and one of the best players on the team,” DeRozan said. “He understands that.”

As far back as training camp and following the third game of the season, LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević have directly stated they believe this is their last season to make it work. And it’s currently not working.

“We’re still connected for sure. And I think that’s where a lot of the frustration is coming from. We’re connected. Everybody is comfortable having those tough conversations that we didn’t have before,” DeRozan said Tuesday. “It’s just a matter of having it all click. And that comes with winning. Everyone is eager and hungry to win.”

The Bulls entered this season with postseason expectations. The hope was for DeRozan, LaVine and Vučević to continue their scoring efficiency while young players like Coby White and Patrick Williams took a step forward and free-agent additions Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig not only solidified a top-five defense led by Alex Caruso but helped a quicker offensive attack featuring more 3-point shots and paint attacks and less isolation.

Instead, the Bulls enter Tuesday’s game ranked 26^th in offensive rating, 21^st in defensive rating and 23^rd in net rating. They’re last in PACE, last in assists and 27^th in restricted area field-goal percentage. DeRozan, LaVine and Vučević all are shooting well below their career percentages.

And past the numbers, there’s the nuance of familiar themes like Donovan asking his team to play with more force and physicality. Too often during adverse times, the Bulls play with compliance, not competitiveness.

Such moments aren’t lost on management.

“I don’t think it’s from a lack of toughness,” DeRozan said. “I think it’s just from a lack of understanding and IQ so to speak. You kind of get overly scrambled and overthink a situation a lot of times. And that can cause it to be more a little more chaotic. That’s when we have turnovers or missed assignments. You don’t have to overthink the game.

“I don’t ever think it’s from a lack of toughness. It’s just a lack of understanding and IQ in certain points of the game that becomes critical. And that kind of just steamrolls us. We miss shots or make mistakes defensively, turn the ball over. Next thing you know, we’re down 10 when we just got back in the game.”

While it’s too early to know if a LaVine trade can be made or whether that’s the only major move, it’s important to remember that Karnišovas inherited a rebuilding situation and pushed his chips into win-now mode first with the Vučević trade. So undertaking a full rebuild may be too painful a path to choose.

Stay tuned on that. For now, the Bulls are merely trying to right the ship before this season careens completely out of control. Playing better and winning more also could help restore some players’ trade value.

“When you get in a hole or face any type of challenge in your life, it’s how you step up to it,” DeRozan said. “Of course it’s going to be frustrating because we all want to win. . . . You can’t carry all the negative stuff that happened prior. Worry about the next game and hopefully you get a rhythm game-by-game.

“We have a good week, good two weeks, the whole narrative changes. It’s on us to control what we can control. And that’s why we come to work every day.”

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BOSTON — When a team is 5-13 with four straight losses and seven of eight, it’s obviously a shared blame situation.

From management’s roster vision to coaches’ schemes and messaging to players’ execution, there’s plenty of blame to divvy up among the Chicago Bulls.

The odd part is: Typically in such circumstances, a coach may be on the hot seat or perhaps management could be in trouble. But with Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf’s history of employing Jerry Krause for 18 years and John Paxson for 17 until Paxson initiated his exit plan, not to mention Artūras Karnišovas’ contract extension, Karnišovas has been given the green light to try to fix the current mess.

Same goes for Billy Donovan, who is liked and respected by both ownership and management and also has multiple years left on his extension. While it has happened in recent situations like Fred Hoiberg and Jim Boylen, the Reinsdorfs typically don’t like paying coaches not to work for them. So Donovan is safe, although it wouldn’t be a surprise to see his staff tweaked moving forward.

That leaves the burden of change falling on the players. And they know it.

“We don’t think about whatever is going to happen if it keeps going this way,” Nikola Vučević said. “Our only focus is to try to turn this thing around.

“Rumors come with the territory. If you’re playing well, everything is great. Everybody is talking positive about you. If you’re losing, you get criticized and rumors start. We have to deal with that. The only way to deal with it is for us to play better. That’s the only way for that to stop.”

From Vučević to Zach LaVine to DeMar DeRozan, each member of the core three has acknowledged in the recent past that this likely is their last attempt to achieve success together. Heck, the subject dominated the postgame line of questioning as far back as Oct. 28, following the mere third game of the season, a road loss to the Detroit Pistons.

“From Day One, I’ve said it’s time to put pen to paper. It’s our third year here together. We know how this business is,” LaVine said that night in Detroit. “We all love each other. DeMar is one of my best friends. We talk all the time. But we have to figure out how to make this thing work.”

Add in LaVine and his representative making clear to the Bulls—for the first time—that LaVine would be open to a change of scenery and the feeling of when, not if, change is coming permeates the locker room on a daily basis. DeRozan also is without a contract past this season, with no recent progress on extension talks.

Not to mention that the feeling of imminent change is intensified by the consistent losing.

“It doesn’t bother me. It hasn’t in the past. I go out there and try to do my job and try to help us win,” LaVine said. “If it doesn’t happen, you understand what comes with it.

“But it doesn’t bother me. I don’t think it bothers anybody else in the room. We’re all grown men here. We all care about each other here. And that’s all that matters.”

The players insist they’re remaining connected off the court despite their on-court disconnect. LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević have shared the court for 370 minutes, the 11th-most minutes of any NBA trio. Their net rating is minus-13.9.

“When we do practice, we’re still locked in. We try to find ways and talk and everything. It’s just not happening on the court for us for whatever reason,” Vučević said. “We’re going to stick together and keep trying to find a way to do it.

“Throughout games we’ve showed signs of what it can be. But we’re not consistent with it at all. That’s why we have huge gaps in games where we play really well and then we fall off and try to make a push. We do fight and don’t give up. But it’s only results that matter. So we have to play better.”

It’s not merely lip service that the players have remained connected through the losing. During Sunday’s loss to the Nets, LaVine smiled at DeRozan as he ran downcourt following a made turnaround jumper on the baseline. Following Saturday’s practice in New York, DeRozan and LaVine worked together on footwork that DeRozan has been employing for years and LaVine utilized on that shot.

“We all get along,” LaVine said. “Nobody wants to be 5-13 or lose multiple games in a row. It doesn’t feel good. It didn’t feel like we’d be at this point now. But that’s our reality. So we have to figure out how to get out of that hole.

“Try to get a win. That’s all we try to worry about.”

That task won’t be easy Tuesday night, or beyond. The Bulls face the NBA-best Boston Celtics, followed by a home matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. After a home game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Bulls face the Bucks on the road, the Denver Nuggets at home, a three-game trip where they face the Miami Heat twice and the Philadelphia 76ers and then return home to face the Los Angeles Lakers.

Yikes. On paper, that looks like more shared blame to share.

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NEW YORK — The Chicago Bulls lost their fourth straight and seventh in eight games when the Brooklyn Nets stormed back to prevail 118-109 Sunday night at Barclays Center.

“It is tough when you’re 5-13. It’s not what we expected. But it’s the reality of it and we have to face it,” Nikola Vucevic said. “The only way out of it is we stick together and try to find a way to turn it around. It’s not going to be easy. Our schedule doesn’t get any easier either ahead of us. But we just have to find a way. We put ourselves in this position and we’re the only ones who can get us out of it.”

Here are 10 observations from the loss:

—The Bulls won the first quarter for just the fifth time in 18 games. They also overcame their recent habit of falling behind by double digits in the first quarter. In fact, they opened with a 7-0 run to force a timeout from Nets coach Jacque Vaughn. They extended the run to 13-0, 22-3 and 30-9 as their largest lead of the first. That included 8-of-10 start from 3-point range.

“It felt great,” Zach LaVine said.

—Here was coach Billy Donovan pregame about the slow starts.

“We’re coming into games sometimes seeing how the game is going. And I don’t think that’s a good thing,” he said. “We have to come out with more force than we have.

“Vooch and DeMar (DeRozan) aren’t going to be these speed merchants up and down the floor. But there can be more force to us. It’s not so much that we have to play this racehorse basketball. But there has to be more force and physicality at the basket. There has to be more physicality at the point of screen. There has to be more physicality running offense instead of, ‘OK.’ We have to go with force. When we get down, that’s when we come back and play with a level of force.”

—Alex Caruso missed his third game of the season with the strained left toe he re-aggravated on Friday night in Toronto when Coby White inadvertently stepped on Caruso’s foot. Caruso warmed up trying to play but Patrick Williams drew the start in Caruso’s absence.

—Williams helped the Bulls’ impressive start by scoring 11 points in the first quarter without missing a shot. That included three 3-pointers. Williams stepped into each shot with confidence and without hesitation. In general, the Bulls did a good job of getting the ball inside either by pass or penetration and then kicking out to open shooters. Williams finished with 20 points.

—But the Bulls’ poor quarter came later this time. The Nets opened the second quarter on an 11-1 that featured Donovan burning two timeouts in 10 seconds. After the second, Donovan chastised Ayo Dosunmu, who had committed a turnover, as the guard walked to the bench.

“We made everything. They missed everything. We knew it was going to balance out,” Vucevic said. “We just didn’t react well when that happened.”

—The Nets erased all of their 21-point, first-quarter deficit by opening the second quarter with a 27-5 spurt. And they were finishing a back-to-back set of games, although they also played at home in a Saturday night victory over the Miami Heat. Still, the Bulls fell into poor habits by not getting back in transition and not rotating to open 3-point shooters. Overall, the Nets outscored the Bulls 44-19 in the second. It marked only the second time since 1996-97 that an NBA team led by 20 or more in the first quarter and trailed by 10 or more by the second quarter.

“They went into that zone,” LaVine said. “They were hitting shots. When we were taking the ball out of the net, it slowed the game down.”

—With a second-quarter 3-pointer, Coby White became the first player in franchise history to make four or more 3-pointers in five straight games. White has been on fire from beyond the arc of late, raising his season average to 37 percent entering the game after languishing at 25 percent early in the season. White had sank 19-of-37 3-pointers over his last four games and finished 5-for-12 on Sunday.

—The Nets surpassed the Bulls’ opponent-season-high for 3-pointers with their 21^st—at the 2 minute, 56 second mark of the third. The Nets entered seventh in the league in 3-point attempts and fourth in made 3-pointers. It’s a big part of their offensive identity. The jarring aspect was how open many of the Nets’ attempts were following Bulls’ defensive breakdowns.

“We got hurt on the communication piece on a lot of their slip-outs,’’ Donovan said of the changing of momentum in that first half. “There were clearly a bunch of threes that rotation-wise they were left wide open and they knocked them down.’’

Zach LaVine left Mikal Bridges wide open when he rotated to provide help that Torrey Craig didn’t need. Nikola Vucevic left Spencer Dinwiddie wide open. LaVine and Dosunmu failed to communicate and rotate properly.

“A lot of it is communication. We don’t do a good enough job communicating to each other or honoring the call when somebody calls (coverage),” Vucevic said. “Even if it’s wrong, we have to honor the person who feels that that’s the right call. We have to do a better job of being on the same page.”

LaVine said sometimes the overhelping comes from a good place because players are trying to support each other.

“We go to the bench and we talk all the time,” LaVine said. “We talk it out. Look at things on film.”

—In fact, the Nets sank the most 3-pointers allowed by the Bulls in franchise history. The Nets finished 25-for-53 from 3-point range. Royce O’Neal and Lonnie Walker IV each sank six. Vaughn utilized a small lineup for most of the game and the four-guard lineups often put the Bulls in scramble mode with their drive-and-kick and passing on the perimeter.

—The Bulls shot 4-for-22 from 3-point range after their hot start from beyond the arc of 8-for-10. DeMar DeRozan led the Bulls with 27 points. White finished with 23 points and five 3-pointers.

“Guys are professional here. We have high spirits. Obviously everybody is frustrated because we’re losing. But we support each other. We’re in the gym working every day, encouraging one another, trying to keep spirits high. You just have to get through it,” LaVine said. “Nobody is going to help us do it. We understand that.

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The Chicago Bulls dropped to 5-11 following Wednesday night’s 116-102 road loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Here are 10 observations from the defeat:

—The losses began before tipoff when Zach LaVine sat with right foot soreness. LaVine landed on the injury report for the first time Tuesday night, but the team listed him as probable. Given that LaVine typically plays through injuries, he warmed up with the expectation to play. But LaVine still missed his first game of the season.

“As he continued through his workout, it started to bother him,” Donovan told reporters in Oklahoma City following the game. “He was trying to work his way through it.”

—Coach Billy Donovan slipped Patrick Williams back into the starting lineup in LaVine’s absence. With DeMar DeRozan missing one game for personal reasons, LaVine sitting with injury for the first time and Donovan trying Williams, Torrey Craig and Alex Caruso as starting power forwards, it marked the fifth different lineup in Game No. 16.

—The new look couldn’t prevent an old look—a slow start offensively. The Bulls missed their first six shots and took 2 minutes, 9 seconds to score on a Nikola Vucevic putback. The Bulls, who are the NBA’s lowest-scoring, first-quarter team with an average of 24.7 points, managed just 14 points on 4-for-23 shooting in the opening period. That included 2-for-11 and two airballs from 3-point range. Fittingly, the Bulls’ lone first-quarter turnover came on a shotclock violation.

—The Bulls failed to crack 40 first-half points for the fourth time in the last five games. DeRozan missed his first seven shots. The Bulls somehow shot only 4-for-22 on 2-pointers in the first half. That’s 18.2 percent. That’s hard to do. If not for Coby White’s six first-half 3-pointers, it would’ve been even uglier.

—White followed his first 20-point game of the season with 23 points, including 7-for-12 from 3-point range. White has had plenty on his plate in his role as starting point guard, including more defensive responsibility. He struggled to shoot in the early stages of the season, but him heating up from beyond the arc could be an offensive boon.

—Caruso lengthened his longest stretch of consecutive double-figure scoring games to seven with 12 points. Caruso has talked about the work he put in this offseason to work on his 3-point shot. But he’s also been much better at not passing up shots and stepping into shots with confidence.

—Unfortunately at the defensive end, Caruso, nor anybody else, had an answer for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The superstar slithered his way to 40 points and 12 assists, often just simply solving solid defense. He’s that good. He also shot 17-for-18 from the free-throw line as the Bulls put the Thunder there 38 times. It’s hard to win with such a free-throw disparity. The Thunder shot 31-for-38, while the Bulls didn’t miss but only got to the line 17 times.

—The Bulls, who trailed by as many as 18, did their usual comeback rush and tied the game twice in the third quarter. But they faded down the stretch of another winnable game and committed a costly 24-second shotclock violation with 3:39 left following Nikola Vucevic’s offensive rebound of a Patrick Williams miss. Gilgeous-Alexander followed with a hoop for a seven-point Thunder lead.

—DeRozan overcame his slow start to finish with 25 points, including 13-for-13 from the free-throw line. In the process, DeRozan became the 36^th player in NBA history to score 22,000 or more points. He also shot 6-for-10 after his 0-for-7 start.

—After the loss, Donovan told reporters in Oklahoma City: “Our guys are really trying. It’s hard to overcome 4-for-23. But they’re fighting and trying and competing. They’re down a scorer in Zach. But I give them credit for staying in and battling their way back in the game.”

Defensively, Donovan said he wants the Bulls to improve their communication in defensive transition and to show hands without fouling. He also said, while acknowledging Gilgeous-Alexander’s starpower, that the rotations were a bit slow.

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The Chicago Bulls overcame a 21-point, first-quarter deficit Saturday night to defeat the Miami Heat 102-97 at the United Center.

Here are 10 observations:

—Dennis Rodman presented the game ball and drew a loud ovation. That was probably the highlight of the night until the fourth-quarter rally.

—Slow starts have plagued the Bulls of late. But they took matters to a new level this time, missing their first 10 shots and committing three turnovers before Zach Lavine’s running bank shot at the 4 minute, 48 second mark. They trailed 22-1 at the time, drawing boos from the less-than-capacity crowd. Coach Billy Donovan burned two timeouts in this stretch, although one came to challenge an offensive foul on DeMar DeRozan. Fittingly, the Bulls lost the challenge.

—Donovan talked about the slow starts pregame. “Either you’re going to come out of the ring like Mike Tyson or you’re going to come out just kind of bobbing and weaving,” he said. “We’ve got to come out like (Tyson). And we have to be able to sustain it.” Instead, the Bulls got punched in the mouth early again.

“The feeling we all have when we look up and see that, it’s definitely frustrating,” DeRozan said.

—The full reserve unit of Ayo Dosunmu, Jevon Carter, Torrey Craig, Patrick Williams and Andre Drummond injected some energy into the game. Dosunmu attacked with a full head of steam on a transition layup attempt, drawing a foul. Drummond dunked with authority. Craig and Carter provided defensive stops and quick decisions. The Bulls ripped off an 11-0 run.

—Overall, the Bulls shot 5-for-20 in the first quarter with three turnovers. They scored 14 points, worsening their league-worst, first-quarter scoring average of 25.3 points. But the reserve unit continued its roll, sprinkled in with some starters returning. The Bulls actually pulled to within two points just over midway through the second quarter. But a poor close to the first half pushed their deficit back to 10 points at the break.

—Carter attempted six 3-pointers in eight first-half minutes. Between his quick decision-making, ability to let it fly from beyond the arc (particularly in transition) and his defensive energy, Carter is making a case to play more. But that’s one issue with the roster: It’s guard-heavy, so at whose expense does Carter play more? Coby White has struggled some of late, but he played well early. Dosunmu remains fearless in attacking. And obviously, LaVine and Caruso will log important minutes.

“Just coming in and trying to provide energy, keep the game simple,” Carter said. “I just try to stay warm and be ready when my name is called. Just try to make a difference.”

—It took until the final minute of the third quarter for one of DeRozan or LaVine to hit double figures. DeRozan arrived via free throws. And while he had attempted nine free throws and LaVine had posted four assists through three quarters, neither had taken more than eight shots. Overall, DeRozan shot 6-for-12 for 23 points, while LaVine shot 5-for-10 for 13 points. To LaVine’s credit, he took what the defense gave him and finished with eight rebounds and six assists while playing competitive defense.

“Just trying to do everything else,” LaVine said. “They were pretty much taking away pick-and-rolls, blitzing it and rotating. The game was slow too. I was able to create, rebound and try to find my opportunities in the third and fourth quarters, which I was able to. But just try to do everything I could to help us get a win.”

—The Bulls shot 44.4 percent overall. The Heat played plenty of zone, daring the Bulls to beat them from outside. The Bulls attempted a season-high 45 3-pointers, making 16. And their commitment to this is what ultimately propelled their comeback. In fact, they tied the game for the first time on a DeRozan 3-pointer with 1:39 left. And they took their first lead of the night on a Caruso 3-pointer with 51.8 left.

“We’ve been turning down open shots, especially looking at film,” DeRozan said. “We put trust in one another making the right play. If somebody has an open shot, just take it.”

—DeRozan scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth, including the go-ahead midrange jumper with 21.9 seconds left. Like LaVine, he let the game come to him. But he exerted his will in the final quarter.

“It was a grind-it-out game,” LaVine said. “We’ve been playing hard but playing from behind the last three or four games. To finally come up with one was good.”

—This being the Bulls’ current state, even a victory created a stir. Social media erupted over a video showing LaVine brushing past a team’s public relations official who was set to feature him in the postgame walkoff interview that’s broadcast throughout the arena. Instead, when LaVine made his quick exit to the locker room, DeRozan filled the role.

“It was just a miscommunication for us and our PR team. We’re all fine. I’m not ticked at all. I’m happy we got a win,” LaVine said. “We play these guys in a couple days. You don’t want to just sit around and celebrate. I’d rather celebrate in the locker room.”

The move was out of character for LaVine, who is typically extremely accommodating with the media and a professional representative of the franchise. And set against the backdrop of his recent openness to being moved, it’s another example of how scrutinized every move he makes will be, particularly since the move didn’t register well with some important figures within the organization.

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Zach LaVine’s future with the Chicago Bulls has been the source of consistent speculation, from the time he signed an offer sheet with the Sacramento Kings in 2018 restricted free agency that the Bulls matched to even after he signed a maximum five-year, $215 million deal in 2022.

So on the one hand, not much changed on Tuesday when The Athletic first reported—and NBC Sports Chicago confirmed—that the trade market will be explored yet again for LaVine.

But on the other hand, one significant wrinkle did change: For the first time ever, LaVine could be open to a change of scenery, sources said.

That’s not to say LaVine won’t remain professional and committed to trying to right this sluggish start to the season, both for him and the Bulls. After all, the team committed maximum dollars to him. But LaVine, who has been extremely loyal to the Bulls and served as the face of the franchise during a difficult rebuilding process, could be open to exploring the right situation if it presents.

Multiple things are important to remember here:

—Just because a player is open to change doesn’t mean the Bulls will make a bad deal or move him just to move him. After all, management began this season fully committed to returning to the playoffs with this group.

—The trade market opens far more widely come Dec. 15, when players who signed deals during the offseason are eligible to be traded.

—Playing winning basketball between now and the Feb. 8 trade deadline could change this story. A 4-7 start, during which LaVine is shooting well below his career percentage, is testing everybody’s patience.

—The Bulls held exploratory trade talks centered on LaVine last offseason. Their asking price remained consistently high. The unanswerable question for now is: Does that asking price drop in light of the Bulls’ struggles?

LaVine was loosely tied to Damian Lillard and James Harden, two players who have moved on to the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers, respectively. As LaVine himself put it during a conversation with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole over the offseason as LaVine prepared to play in the American Century Championship golf pro-am, he always seems to land in rumors.

“It is always rumors,” LaVine told Poole. “But I heard this: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Every once in awhile, you see a little too much smoke.”

Even with the 76ers finally trading Harden to the Clippers, there’s more smoke now. The package Philadelphia received, flush with draft capital that includes two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a pick swap, is the type of assets routed to acquire another star.

And according to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, LaVine and Toronto Raptors defensive ace OG Anunoby are two of the “names to watch.”

It’s all speculation for now. The Bulls play their 12th game of the season on Wednesday night at home. And most teams are still in the feel-it-out stage of their season. The time to separate contenders from pretenders is well down the road.

And the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey indicated the 76ers are seeking two-way players and could preserve their assets for next summer, when they also project to have significant salary cap space.

As recently as last month in Detroit, LaVine fielded questions in the postgame locker room about the future of the Bulls’ Big Three following a dispiriting loss to the Pistons.

“From Day One, I’ve said it’s time to put pen to paper. It’s our third year here together. We know how this business is,” LaVine said then. “We all love each other. DeMar (DeRozan) is one of my best friends. We talk all the time. But we have to figure out how to make this thing work.

“We’ve been here for long enough. Shoot, Vooch (Nikola Vucevic) has been traded. I’ve been traded. DeMar has been traded. We understand the business.”

Executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas re-signed Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu this past offseason and augmented his core by the free-agent additions of Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig. These are the moves of a franchise aiming for postseason relevance, not retooling.

Especially because Karnišovas said publicly the team is having extension discussions with DeRozan, who’s on an expiring contract. Those talks have led nowhere for now.

But what happens if the Bulls’ season continues to head south? The players themselves have talked about how changes are likely.

And NBC Sports Chicago explored the consistent speculation surrounding LaVine as far back as July in this piece linked here. Two details haven’t changed: LaVine still remembers Billy Donovan’s high-profile benching of him. And some members of the organization fluctuate in their belief in LaVine’s consistency as a lead option on a championship-contending team, questions that only intensified following LaVine’s up-and-down performances in the play-in games.

Win games, shoot better and perhaps this story goes away. But it seemingly never does.

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MILWAUKEE — The Chicago Bulls dropped to 4-7 following their 118-109 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night at FiServ Forum.

Here are 10 observations from the loss:

—Alex Caruso missed his second straight game with a left toe sprain suffered last week in practice. Both Caruso and coach Billy Donovan said it’s likely Caruso plays later this week, either Wednesday or Friday at home against the Orlando Magic. “I’m just bored,” Caruso said. And the Bulls’ defense is challenged without him.

—For the second straight night, the Bulls missed their first eight shots. On Sunday night, the Bulls took 3 minutes, 27 seconds after tipoff to score. Monday night, Torrey Craig’s putback came 3:04 following tipoff.

—The woes continued. The Bulls finished the first quarter just 6-for-23 and trailed 35-18 after the opening period. Giannis Antetokounmpo posted 13 points and seven rebounds in the first period alone and finished with 35 points and 11 rebounds.

—The NBA is often called “a game of runs” and that certainly played out Monday. The Bucks opened the game on a 9-0 run, followed by the Bulls scoring eight straight points and then the Bucks opening up another 11-0 run. Then the Bulls opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run capped by Jevon Carter stealing the ball from Antetokounmpo and sinking a 3-pointer in transition. But the Bucks answered with a 10-0 run late in the second to take a 10-point halftime lead. The Bulls opened the second half with a 7-0 run and later took their first lead, only to be followed by the Bucks ripping off a 12-0 run.

—The Bulls had to be thankful only to be down 59-49 at halftime. Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan combined to miss their first nine shots. LaVine finally sank a shot at the 6:20 mark of the second quarter on a midrange jumper. DeRozan followed with a short bank shot at the 3:34 mark. They were a combined 2-for-16 at halftime.

“Zach did a really good job of getting downhill. He had stuff around the basket (he missed) and that’s just a little bit uncharacteristic,” Donovan said. “He’s such an elite finisher.

“And I thought DeMar got to his spots like he normally has. I don’t think they’re necessarily getting different kind of shots. They’re elite scorers and you always feel good when those guys shoot the ball.”

—The Bulls scored 22 points off turnovers, continuing a season-long strength. They entered second in the NBA with 21.8 points per game scored off turnovers. And their elite ball security continued. They lead the NBA in fewest turnovers and committed just eight against the Bucks.

—DeRozan registered the assist of the season when he somehow found Coby White for a corner 3-pointer on a pass in which DeRozan spun almost completely around in air. It capped a wild sequence in which the Bulls missed three layups but kept pounding the offensive boards. It also came during a run in which the Bulls fully erased their first-half, 17-point deficit and took their first lead.

—The Bulls continue to shoot poorly to open this season. They finished third for third in the NBA last season by shooting 49 percent. They entered 25^th at just 45 percent and finished at 38 percent against the Bucks. DeRozan and LaVine are well below their career percentages.

“I’m not concerned about it at well. Of course you want to be shooting well and right now, we’re not. But we’re getting a lot of great looks,” DeRozan said. “We’re getting more confident moving the ball, finding guys, getting open shots, getting aggressive going to the basket. We can’t stop that and get frustrated.

“I’m confident because we’re generating the shots we want. . . . I know it’s going to turn for me and Zach, for everybody.”

To LaVine’s credit, he filled the box score with eight rebounds, five assists and 8-for-8 from the line. But obviously, both players need to shoot better for the Bulls to succeed. DeRozan finished 3-for-14, while LaVine shot 5-for-19. LaVine is an elite finisher and missed all five attempts in the restricted area.

“It’s not like we’re getting good ones,” LaVine said. “We got to stick with it, trust our work. It’s frustrating because you expect yourself to do better.

“I didn’t make any damn layups. They’ll start dropping. I trust what I do.”

DeRozan even broke out a guarantee.

“It won’t happen again,” he said. “Simple as that. I don’t make too many guarantees. But when I do, it tends to work in my favor.”

—For the second straight game, Donovan closed with Patrick Williams. This despite an extremely active game from Craig, who finished with eight points and 12 rebounds and kept alive several possessions with offensive rebounds. Williams played aggressively after a quiet night on Sunday, finishing with 13 points and three rebounds. He also played strong defense down the stretch. Donovan said closing with Williams was largely a result of Caruso’s absence and because he liked how Williams defended Antetokounmpo.

—The loss wasted a strong night from Nikola Vucevic, who finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Vucevic has six double-doubles on the young season.

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The Chicago Bulls improved to 4-6 with Sunday’s home victory over the Detroit Pistons at the United Center, avenging a road loss last month.

Here are 10 observations from the victory:

—The Bulls absorbed a blow pregame when Alex Caruso sat with a left toe strain. Caruso suffered the injury, which isn’t believed to be serious, during Thursday’s practice. Caruso has been the team’s most impactful player by a considerable margin; the net rating is 13.3 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor than off.

—The Bulls started slowly again. They missed their first eight shots, took 3 minutes, 23 seconds to score on a DeMar DeRozan driving layup and generally looked flat. This is a poor response for a team coming off three off days and facing a young, rebuilding Pistons team that beat them last month. Donovan already has changed the starting lineup once. It’s unlikely he does so again unless Caruso enters it. It’s on the starters, particularly, DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic to come out with more urgency.

—Caruso’s absence obviously upended the rotation. Ayo Dosunmu logged first-quarter minutes for the first time this season. But the reserves did what they’ve done several times with Caruso; they changed the energy of the game. Andre Drummond had four points and six rebounds in his first rotational turn (and finished with a double-double in 15 minutes). And Dosunmu supplied excellent defense and push-the-pace offensive energy throughout a game-changing, 20-2 run in the second quarter.

—The Bulls prioritized improving offensive rebounding, but in the early stages of this season, it has come at a cost to their defensive rebounding. They entered 28^th in that department and, even though the Pistons played without athletic center Jalen Duren, struggled in the early going to limit second-chance opportunities. Duren, who sat with an ankle injury, killed the Bulls in Detroit with 26 points, 15 rebounds and five assists. But Donovan said the Bulls need to consistently fill in holes created by defensive rotations and chase long rebounds off 3-pointers better no matter the opposing personnel.

—What the Bulls have done well consistently all season—and did so again on Sunday—is score points off turnovers. They entered second in the NBA with 21.4 points per game off turnovers and had 19 by halftime. Dosunmu converted one possession with a nifty alley-oop lob to LaVine for a transition dunk. They finished with 25 points scored off turnovers.

–Coby White continued his strong season with 16 points and seven assists. Making the performance even more impressive was that White started off cold from the field. But it didn’t impact his defense and, eventually, that energy transferred to the offensive end. White fouled out in the final minute.

—Patrick Williams continues to endure a nightmarish shooting start to his season. He missed both his field-goal attempts, including one from 3-point range. He’s now 7-for-31 from beyond the arc this season. To his credit, Williams attacked the rim, getting to the line six times. That included two off a steal and transition attempt.

—DeRozan finished with a game-high 29 points and victimized Kevin Knox III with one of his patented pump-fake and ripthrough moves early in the fourth quarter. DeRozan sank the free throw for a traditional three-point play and five-point lead at the time. He also tied his career-high with four blocks.

—Dosunmu finished a game-high plus-19. He also played double the minutes of Jevon Carter.

—The Bulls continue taking care of the ball, finishing with just seven turnovers. It has been a strong suit all season.

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Eight games in 15 days. No airplane rides. Seven of them at the United Center.

Save the one-game-at-a-time cliches for the teams that either have championship aspirations or haven’t dug a considerable hole. The Chicago Bulls belong to neither category.

It’s why this schedule stretch is so crucial to their season’s fortunes. Navigate it well, and the ability to right the ship following a teetering start is possible. Continue to lurch forward in the on-again, off-again pattern that has defined the season to this point and the belief that personnel changes are coming will only intensify.

After opening with the best offensive performance of the season to take care of Lauri Markkanen and the Utah Jazz, the Bulls wasted a golden opportunity—and Alex Caruso’s defensive wizardry—to begin the stretch with two straight victories, instead dropping Wednesday’s game to the Phoenix Suns in overtime.

In another schedule rarity, the Bulls are enjoying three off days between that game and Sunday’s home matchup with the Detroit Pistons. The same Pistons team that handled the Bulls easily in Detroit on October 28 despite Zach LaVine’s 51 points.

The Bulls took Thursday off, practiced at the Advocate Center on Friday and are scheduled to do so again on Saturday. With Sunday’s tip time one hour earlier than usual at 6 p.m., they are scheduled to hold a walkthrough rather than a shootaround.

That they can bus to Milwaukee following that game for one of only two sets of back-to-back games in the eight-game stretch is equally important. The Bulls last flew following their Nov. 4 road loss in Denver. They aren’t scheduled to do so again until Nov. 21, the day before they open a four-game trip in Oklahoma City. The same Thunder team that easily handled the Bulls in the Oct. 25 season opener.

It’s rare when a team doesn’t have to fly for over two weeks during any regular season. Couple that with the fact the Bulls have consecutive home-and-home series with the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat—two teams with whom they ultimately could be competing for late playoff or play-in spots—-and this stretch only grows in importance.

Wednesday’s first of two matchups with the Magic also features Orlando finishing a back-to-back with travel; Orlando plays in Brooklyn the previous night. This is the type of schedule situation that good teams, or teams needing to climb out of early-season holes, take advantage of and do so decisively.

The Magic also are without Wendell Carter Jr. The former Bull, who loves facing his old team and has had posted numerous loud stat lines while doing so, has a fractured bone in his left hand.

As for the Heat, Miami is without Tyler Herro, who was off to a strong start with averages of 22.9 points per game on 41 percent 3-point shooting. He has a badly sprained ankle. That’s another situation the Bulls need to exploit.

“Every game is tough, regardless of who you’re playing,” LaVine told reporters on Friday. “It can be the No. 1 seed in the East or the bottom seed. Every team can win. It’s us worrying about what we can do instead of worrying about the future.”

The Bulls opened this eight-game stretch with a 2-5 mark and currently sit 3-6, 12th in the Eastern Conference. Asking a team with a current net rating of minus-5.1 to run the table and navigate this stretch with a 7-1 mark is probably unrealistic. But realistically for any lasting impact, the Bulls probably need to go 6-2, maybe 5-3.

Especially because the Bulls, to this point, have enjoyed perfect health save for, obviously, Lonzo Ball. It’s time.

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The Chicago Bulls dropped to 2-3 following a 114-105 loss to the Mavericks in Dallas Wednesday night. Here are 10 observations from the loss:

—The Bulls’ defensive game plan on Luka Dončić was simple—make somebody else beat them. The Bulls trapped Dončić at almost every opportunity, sometimes as soon as he crossed midcourt, trying to force him into becoming a passer. Obviously, Dončić is very good at that. But given that Dončić entered averaging 39 points per game for the league’s highest-scoring offense, it was a smart plan.

—The issue was: The Mavericks’ role players came through. Dončić finished with 18 points on 5-for-16 shooting, adding 10 assists and seven rebounds. But Grant Williams and Tim Hardaway Jr. each sank seven 3-pointers as the Mavericks enjoyed a 27-point advantage from beyond the arc. Dallas shot 20-48 from 3-point range, while the Bulls finished 11-30 in a familiar math problem.

—The Mavericks also posted 24 second-chance points and the three biggest came in the final minute. The Bulls failed to corral two defensive rebounds before Josh Green buried a 3-pointer for the biggest lead of the night, nine points.

—Patrick Williams continues to struggle. He finished scoreless for the second time in three games and missed all six shots, including 0-5 from 3-point range. He’s now shooting 26.7 percent on the young season, including 12.5 percent from 3-point range.

—With 16 points, DeRozan passed Larry Bird on the all-time scoring list. On Monday in Indianapolis, DeRozan talked about what that would mean to him, among other topics, in a sitdown with NBC Sports Chicago.

—The Bulls continue to get strong minutes from Ayo Dosunmu in his limited role as the fifth guard. Jevon Carter also scored in double figures for the second straight game. The issue here is both are providing solid, two-way minutes. But with LaVine, Coby White and Alex Caruso in front of them, minutes are scarce.

—In his second straight big game, Nikola Vucevic posted his first 20-20 game in a Bulls uniform and the eighth of his career. He finished with 21 points and 20 rebounds, shooting 10-for-17.

—Old friend Derrick Jones Jr. scored the Mavericks’ first seven points of the second half and finished with 17. Jones Jr., who spent the last two seasons with the Bulls before declining his player opton, starts for the Mavericks. And his role is a good one for him—run the floor in transition and space the floor for Dončić with corner 3-point shooting.

—The Bulls finished 28th in offensive rebounding and 30th in second-chance points last season and they continue to try to flip that script. They finished with 12 offensive rebounds but only converted 11 second-chance points this time. and one first-half possession summed up their futility; they grabbed four offensive rebounds and missed five shots.

—After coming up on the short end of some high-profile misses confirmed by the league’s Last Two-Minute Reports last season, perhaps the Bulls’ karma is turning this season. Not only did they benefit from two missed calls in their overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors last week, now they’re benefitting from star players sitting against them. Kyrie Irving missed his second straight game with a sprained left foot.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Chicago Bulls improved to 2-2 with a 112-105 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Here are 10 observations from the victory:

—The Bulls are now 17-9 when Nikola Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine each score 20 or more points in the same game. Unlike the overtime victory over Toronto, in which DeRozan played hero ball offensively and Alex Caruso used his defensive magic, this victory had the feel of more staying power. Though the Bulls attempted a season-low 17 3-pointers, coach Billy Donovan said he saw improvements in what he wants to see stylistically from the Bulls’ offense—quick decisions, getting downhill and more paint attacks.

“I think we tried to play to that identity for the whole game,” Donovan said. “In the last six to eight minutes, you’re going to start really looking at matchups. But I thought we tried to move the ball.”

—Vucevic finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds and three assists on 10-for-19 shooting and could’ve scored more if he hadn’t uncharacteristically missed some close-in looks.

“My teammates did a really good job of trying to find me,” Vucevic said.

—Donovan felt the game was the best example to date on the young season of quick decision-making and equal-opportunity offense.

“There’s enough for everybody to eat,” Donovan said.

—The Bulls only assisted on 19 of 40 field goals but that mostly was a result of missed shots after a several-pass possession.

“I didn’t feel like the ball stuck. Even if there was a possession where there wasn’t a lot of passes, it was decisive. The minute we start holding the ball and start sizing guys up, the floor shrinks, everybody is in help and it’s really hard to play like that,” Donovan said. “You can have possessions like that but can’t maintain it.”

DeRozan took 19 shots and LaVine finished with 17. The Bulls also repeatedly attacked the basket down the stretch, with DeRozan taking advantage of a matchup with Tyrese Haliburton to either score of drive and dish to Vucevic for a layup. LaVine also had a driving layup in this stretch.

“We were more patient reading what they were doing defensively,” Vucevic said. “We attacked certain matchups and attacked the paint. We didn’t shoot the ball extremely well but we stuck with it and kept attacking the paint. Now it’s: Are we going to do it consistently?”

—The Bulls continue to produce on the offensive glass, a weakness last season. They finished with 10 offensive rebounds and 18 second-chance points. Vucevic did the most damage, with Andre Drummond and Torrey Craig chipping in as well. Before the game, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who coached Craig, called him “an elite offensive rebounder.” Craig took a blow to his face and eye from Bennedict Mathurin and wore an ice pack down the stretch of the extremely physical game, which also featured a minor skirmish between Zach LaVine and several Pacers when they trapped LaVine physically late. LaVine drew a technical foul.

—Coby White recorded a steal and sank a 3-pointer just 19 seconds after tipoff after not scoring last game. He also briefly left the game and bench area in the third quarter after taking a strong blow from Aaron Nesmith on a drive while trying to take a charge. White had taken a charge earlier in the game and has played well defensively in the early going of this season.

—Donovan played Jevon Carter a season-high 18 minutes and Carter responded with his first double-digit scoring output of the young season. He also teamed with Ayo Dosunmu to make a huge defensive play early in the fourth. First, Dosunmu blocked Myles Turner as he rose for an apparent dunk. After Turner gathered the loose ball, Carter stripped him on his way up for his next attempt, leading to a LaVine layup in transition.

—Donovan kept Patrick Williams on longer for his first rotational stint. After going scoreless last game and barely playing in the fourth quarter of the last two games, Williams played the first 8 minutes, 55 seconds. He packed plenty into that first stint. The good? Two strong drives, including one make, with two rebounds, a steal and a block. The bad? Gave up an offensive rebound to Obi Toppin, had a shot blocked and allowed two straight line drives, although one came when he slipped on a wet spot.

Williams finished with nine points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. Alex Caruso closed again.

“I thought he played well. His energy was much better. He was aggressive. He tried to get downhill. He was active on the glass,” Donovan said. “As the game was unfolding, probably right now I’m closing with Alex experience-wise.”

—Donovan went back to using DeRozan as the starter “staggered” to play with the second unit. He has done it now twice with LaVine and twice with DeRozan. Donovan said he may continue alternating throughout the upcoming games.

—DeRozan and Craig shared a laugh following the morning shootaround when DeRozan lightheartedly tried to recreate the one-legged, game-winning 3-pointer he sank over Craig on 2021 New Year’s Eve in this building. Craig had hounded DeRozan much of the game and DeRozan shot 7-for-23 before his heroics. “What’d you shoot that game?” Craig asked. “We won,” DeRozan countered with a smile.

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DETROIT — An underwhelming and disjointed 1-2 start to the Bulls’ season has laid bare potential foundational issues.

In short, if matters don’t improve, the future of the Big 3 is in question, either by the Bulls’ choosing or perhaps even by the players themselves.

From the Bulls failing to recognize Nikola Vucevic’s favorable matchup in the opener and Vucevic getting into a heated exchange with coach Billy Donovan about offensive stagnation to DeMar DeRozan needing to play hero ball in the lone victory to Zach LaVine’s career-high 51 points coming in a loss on Saturday night to the rebuilding Detroit Pistons, the core has failed to find collective chemistry.

“Obviously we’re all frustrated on why it’s not clicking the way it should be. But that’s the position that we’re in. We’re going to have to figure it out,” LaVine said. “Lonzo (Ball) was a big part of that. It looked really good when Lonzo was here.

“From Day One, I’ve said it’s time to put pen to paper. It’s our third year here together. We know how this business is. We all love each other. DeMar is one of my best friends. We talk all the time. But we have to figure out how to make this thing work.”

The players know what’s at stake if it doesn’t.

“We’ve been here for long enough. Shoot, Vooch has been traded. I’ve been traded. DeMar has been traded. We understand the business,” LaVine said. “We care for each other. You understand what’s on the other side of that.”

Vucevic made similar remarks first in an offseason interview with Yahoo Sports as he starred for Montenegro at the World Cup and then during the preseason, emphasizing that management could break up the core if success doesn’t come this season.

Remember: DeRozan is a pending unrestricted free agent after this season unless he and the Bulls reach terms on an extension. And the initial talks have led nowhere. At this point, if the losing continues, it wouldn’t surprise if DeRozan opted to wait and see the future direction of the franchise.

Just like management may wait to see how this season plays out in advance of the February 2024 trade deadline. Talks are dormant for now.

All that’s for certain is this: The days of leading the Eastern Conference when Ball ran the show are getting further in the rearview mirror.

“You can’t really compare Year One. We had Lonzo Ball. He made a helluva big difference running the show. Without that, we’ve been constantly trying to figure out what works for us,” DeRozan said. “Nights we show individual ways of it working but as a collective, we’re still working to find a balance for not just us but for the team.

“We’ve showed spurts here and there but it hasn’t been as consistent as we want it to be. None of us are selfish. We’re always trying to figure out how we can make it easier on one another for the team. We just haven’t been consistent with it.

“I think we’re going to get it. It’s frustrating because so much time went by that you think it should be second nature. But it’s one of those things I think we at times maybe overcompensate for one another because we want it to click so bad at the same time for us.”

That overcompensation is perhaps also being exacerbated by Donovan’s desire to feature less isolation and stagnation and more off-ball actions and ball and player movement. The Bulls finished 24^th in offense last season despite LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic all having strong individual seasons. Donovan wanted to address that.

Three games in, it’s very much a work in progress.

“We’re trying this new thing out to have a complete, cohesive offense with equal opportunity. It’s going to take some figuring out. Preseason looked good. But preseason is preseason,” LaVine said. “We got a lot of our stuff in transition. Throughout the first couple of games, me and DeMar were in the corner a lot. Now we’re trying to figure out how to get involved with more touches.

“The first game, Vooch had Chet Holmgren on him. I told Vooch I have to recognize that. We all have to recognize him and Dre (Andre Drummond) were dominating. That has to be a Vooch game. We all have to figure out how to help each other. It can’t be a 50-point game from me or a 20-point fourth quarter from DeMar every game. Can’t live that way. We need everybody else. But it has to work like a well-oiled machine.”

It’s not. The halfcourt offense is extremely clunky through three games.

Asked if the new offensive philosophy hamstrings him individually, LaVine said: “It’s something we have to figure out. We each have been the main option of a team before. This is something new we have to figure out. Through the first three games, we haven’t got 100 percent of it.”

Told that sounded like a yes, LaVine said: “It’s tough when you’re trying to figure something out that’s not working. We’re going to stick with it. That’s what we have to do.”

For now, the Bulls have no other choice. But if it doesn’t change, other changes could be coming.

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DETROIT — The Chicago Bulls dropped to 1-2 with a 118-102 loss to the Detroit Pistons in the Pistons’ home opener on Saturday night.

Here are 10 observations from the loss:

—The Bulls’ 15-game win streak in the series ended. The Bulls hadn’t loss to the Pistons since March 2019.

—The halfcourt offense struggles continued. In the first two games, the Bulls enjoyed some success scoring either off turnovers or offensive rebounds. They did neither in the first half against the Pistons, placing extreme pressure on halfcourt offensive execution. And it continues to be lackluster, with players walking into sets and little of the ball and player movement promised throughout training camp. Add to that shooting woes—the Bulls finished at 41.9 percent—and the offensive slog continued. The Bulls only had 16 assists.

—The defense wasn’t much better. The Bulls allowed 58 points in the paint and 20 second-chance points. Cade Cunningham was brilliant at recognizing matchups inside and finished with 25 points and 10 assists. Jalen Duren scored 23 points with 15 rebounds, tying the Bulls’ starters total.

—Zach LaVine snapped out of his two-game slump with a career-high 51 points. He sank his first five shots, scored 19 points in the first quarter and 20 in the third. In LaVine’s 20 games vs. Pistons as a member of the Bulls, he’s averaging 23.8 points. That includes three 40- and one 30-point game in his last five meetings.

—Patrick Williams and Coby White failed to score in a combined 49 shots, going 0-for-7. White’s first assist didn’t come until the 5 minute, 33 second mark of the third quarter on a feed to Nikola Vucevic. This came shortly after Cade Cunningham crossed White over with a nasty move for a bucket. Williams checked in for the final 1:11 of mop-up time, avoiding getting benched for the second straight game in the fourth quarter.

—The Pistons outrebounded the Bulls 53-32. No starter grabbed more than four.

—The Bulls’ first back-to-back set of games this season prompted Donovan to play back-end rotational players like Andre Drummond and Ayo Dosunmu a bit more. In fact, Saturday marked the first time Donovan played 10 players at least 10 minutes each.

—During his pregame news conference, Donovan said LaVine’s availability would be a gametime decision. And LaVine admitted before his pregame activation and shooting routine that his back felt stiff. He had been listed on the injury report as probable with low back spasms. But LaVine felt his back loosen up during his pregame shooting routine. “You know me,” he said. “I always play.” LaVine consistently talks about not wanting to miss any time because he endured a torn ACL early in his career.

—Whether it was because of a desire to keep his back warm or his hot hand, Donovan altered his first-quarter rotation and played LaVine the entire 12 minutes. This meant DeMar DeRozan was the early starter to sit for Torrey Craig and “stagger” his minutes to play some with the second unit. Also, Jevon Carter replaced Coby White and Alex Caruso replaced Patrick Williams later than usual in the first quarter.

—For the second straight day, Donovan fielded a question about Williams’ status as a starter. While Donovan admitted the lineup could be fluid moving forward, he said it’s too early to make a change. “I wouldn’t do it from the standpoint of, ‘Oh I’m just taking him out of the starting lineup because he’s got to do this, this, and this, and he’s not doing it,’ ‘’ Donovan said. “I think it would be more of, ‘What’s the best thing for our team?’ And then making the decision on that.’’

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The Chicago Bulls evened their record at 1-1 with a wild, 104-103 overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors Friday night at the United Center.

“We had lulls but we never gave in,” DeMar DeRozan said. “We stuck with it and fought to end and gave ourselves an opportunity to win. And that’s what we did.”

Here are 10 observations from the victory:

—DeRozan and Alex Caurso played heroes. DeRozan scored 18 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and Caruso made multiple defensive plays down the stretch before sinking the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in transition on a nice feed from Zach LaVine after Caruso blocked Pascal Siakam at the other end.

“I give Zach a lot of credit. He kept his head in the game and made an unbelievable pass to Alex. He could’ve tried to force his way in there and gone to the rim,” coach Billy Donovan said. “For him to trust Alex with the pass was good.”

—Everything is a slog offensively through two games, particularly in the halfcourt. The Bulls had multiple possessions where they had trouble even completing passes. Add poor shooting and you get an ugly result. The Bulls scored six points in the first 7:12 of the fourth quarter and shot 37.4 percent overall, including 20 percent from 3-point range.

—DeRozan singlehandedly willed the Bulls back to life. DeRozan worked his pump fake magic to repeatedly go to the free-throw line, but missed the third of three free throws with 12.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game—as well as putback in traffic on the ensuing scramble—and a go-ahead free throw in regulation with 0.7 seconds left after Caruso took a Siakam charge on an inbounds.

“Win by any means. That’s my mindset every fourth quarter,” DeRozan said. “Be aggressive. Don’t matter what happened the previous three quarters. It’s go time.”

—The Raptors opened the second half with an 11-0 run to extend a run that began in the second quarter to 23-0. The slow starts to both halves, not to mention Wednesday’s slow start, immediately draws into focus the fit of the starting lineup. While it would be a major surprise if Donovan makes a change this early in the season on Saturday night in Detroit, it’s a storyline to monitor moving forward.

—LaVine endured his second straight rough night. After shooting 4-for-16 in the opener, LaVine shot 3-for-14 and finished minus-23 on the night. LaVine also took the floor for second-half warmups wearing a wrap and pad on his lower back.

“It just got a little stiff,” LaVine said. “Playing against Toronto, you have to guard different positions. You’re guarding the 4 and the 5 with the 3 and the 4. So it got a little tight. But we were able to figure it out.”

Asked if he plans to play in Saturday’s back-to-back vs. the Pistons, LaVine said the team will assess it and figure it out on Saturday.

If LaVine does play, he’ll need to right his shooting woes to start the season.

“We’re all just trying to find a rhythm, me included obviously,” LaVine said. “You work on a lot of things throughout the season. You try to find things that will get you in the game. I just haven’t found that the first couple of games. I haven’t wanted to force anything either.

“But obviously, I gotta start getting things clicking. This is not the way I should be performing.”

—Williams exited at the 8 minute, 29 second mark of the third quarter and didn’t play again. Williams played just 13 minutes and shot 1-for-5, adding three rebounds and two steals. His backup, Torrey Craig, played 23 minutes.

“It’s probably a hard game for him from the perspective we got off to such a slow start that I felt like I ended to mix it up a little bit. And the same thing happened at the start of the third,” Donovan said. “I don’t think that was at all all on Patrick. It was just that group wasn’t great to start.”

—Craig arrived at the United Center in a Dennis Rodman T-shirt and then did his best Worm impersonation by creating extra possessions and attacking the offensive glass. The Bulls finished 28^th in offensive rebounds and 30^th in second-chance points last season. Craig grabbed three offensive rebounds as the Bulls finished with 24 second-chance points.

—Nikola Vucevic matched his eight field-goal attempts from last game in the first half alone. He finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds on 4-for-15 shooting. He obviously became the main story from Wednesday’s season opener when he and Donovan had a heated third-quarter exchange over Vucevic’s frustration with the offense. But it wasn’t about shots or even touches, more so just about offensive stagnation. Still, the Bulls made a concerted effort to exploit Vucevic’s mismatches more often, particularly when Jakob Poeltl only played 10 first-half minutes with three fouls.

—About that rough start, the Bulls missed their first five shots, including two 3-point attempts apiece from Coby White and Williams, and committed two turnovers. Worse, they failed to get out in transition after forcing two Raptors turnovers, stagnating in the halfcourt. Donovan burned his first timeout just 3 minutes after tipoff with the Raptors ahead 8-0. DeRozan scored out of the timeout on a drive. But that didn’t stop the bleeding. The Raptors jumped ahead 16-4 and Donovan went to Craig and Caruso early, staggering LaVine with the second group again. Those moves, along with White drawing a charge as part of a strong stretch, completely flipped the script. Until an OG Anunoby dunk narrowly beat the first-quarter buzzer, the Bulls enjoyed a dominant 20-0 run. Caruso took two charges. Craig created three extra possessions with offensive rebounds or tips, one leading to his own 3-pointer. White also scored four points and fed Vucevic for a traditional three-point play during the run.

DeRozan guaranteed a better effort. It didn’t come early. The Bulls endured an abysmal start before clamping down defensively and posting a dominant 20-0 run to right matters. DeRozan isn’t one to use idle words or make empty promises. He said the Bulls would have a better effort because he saw their workmanlike response to Wednesday’s disastrous season-opening loss. Effort wasn’t the problem, especially at the defense end. Execution was. The Bulls committed 17 turnovers.

—Both coaches won challenges and thus received a second challenge. In Donovan’s case, the Bulls got White’s charge on Poeltl overturned into a three-point play because White scored on the play. Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic used his second challenge unsuccessfully. Just to use the second challenge cost a timeout under new rules. Donovan followed suit in the fourth quarter, winning his second challenge and keeping the Raptors off the free-throw line and helping LaVine avoid his fourth foul.

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The Chicago Bulls opened their season with a 124-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night at the United Center.

It’s not a good sign when this is heard after the first game.

“I don’t feel like we played with enough heart. And that’s on us. It’s a terrible way to come out to start the season,” Zach LaVine said. “It’s unacceptable. I don’t think it’s a thing people do on purpose either. We gotta come together during those (opponent) runs.”

Here are 10 observations from the loss:

—LaVine endured a rough night. He shot 4-for-16 with four turnovers and three fouls. He also attempted six first-quarter free throws in an attempt to get going offensively, making all six, but didn’t travel to the line again. As explosive as LaVine looked in the preseason, he struggled with his decision-making and ball security in a debut he’d like to forget.

“I missed a couple shots,” LaVine said. “I didn’t feel like I struggled. I got to the foul line pretty easily and then got in some foul trouble and didn’t get to play in the second quarter.”

—Nikola Vucevic finished with 11 points and nine rebounds but took just eight shots and expressed frustration on the bench after getting pulled in the third quarter for rest. This followed a stretch in which Vucevic didn’t attempt a shot for a full quarter bridging the second and third quarters, as well as receiving a technical foul for throwing the ball against the basket stanchion in frustration following a defensive breakdown by the team. Vucevic and coach Billy Donovan exchanged strong words on the bench as Vucevic expressed his frustration.

—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a star who will terrorize many opposing defenses this season. And the Bulls struggled to control him, particularly in the first half when he posted 17 points and four assists in 18 minutes. Donovan has talked about needing to guard teams and players collectively, which the Bulls did to great success last season in posting a top-five defense. But Gilgeous-Alexander consistently exploited screen-and-roll situations to create odd-man advantages for the Thunder. Patrick Williams started on Gilgeous-Alexander. But Alex Caruso took turns on him, as did Coby White. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points and 10 assists.

“We didn’t help enough,” Vucevic said.

—The Bulls finished 12-for-42 from 3-point range for 28.6 percent. They shot just 6-for-23 in the first half and perhaps one shot symbolized their futility. Torrey Craig, who was otherwise very solid and all over the court, caught a swing pass and lined up a wide-open corner 3-pointer only to hit the side of the backboard. That marked Craig’s only first-half miss as he accounted for half the Bulls’ first-half 3-pointers. Meanwhile, the Thunder connected on 19-for-39 from beyond the arc. Overall, the Bulls shot just 41.5 percent.

—LaVine struggled particularly in the first half other than getting to the free-throw line. He missed his first five shots, including four 3-pointers, and committed four turnovers with three fouls in his first 10 minutes. One of these fouls came following a successful challenge from Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. LaVine originally thought he was going to the line for two free throws but instead got called for an offensive foul on Isaiah Joe following video review. LaVine sat the final 10 minutes of the first half with three fouls.

“I asked (Donovan) and he said it was about the foul trouble. He didn’t want me to get my fourth,” LaVine said. “You understand that. You just want to be on the floor.”

—Andre Drummond did Andre Drummond things during an eventful six-minute, first-half stint. He dunked home a nifty Patrick Williams pass off a well-executed, out-of-bounds play drawn up by Donovan—but drew a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Later, he stole the ball from Chet Holmgren, making his NBA debut, near the top of the key and lumbered down the court to break Holmgren’s ankles with a crossover dribble and layup.

—In fact, the game featured a trio of rarely-seen technical fouls. Drummond received his for hanging on the rim. Thunder’s Lu Dort drew one for flopping under the new NBA rule. And Vucevic received one for throwing the ball against the basket stanchion in frustration following a blown defensive coverage by the Bulls.

—White picked up two quick fouls by the 9 minute, 47 second mark of the first quarter. Donovan often rolls the dice when a player does this. And this time, it worked. White played an additional 3:37 without picking up his third until Jevon Carter entered along with Alex Caruso as the first substitutes. Caruso entered for LaVine, who returned as the “staggered” starter to play against some of the Thunder reserves.

—Donovan did use a 10-man rotation. But with LaVine staggered to draw some minutes against reserves, Ayo Dosunmu landed as the odd man out. He played just six minutes until mop-up time. In the second half, Donovan switched to DeRozan as the starter who staggered to play some minutes against Thunder reserves.

—Last season, keeping Caruso healthy served as a primary organizational goal because of the reckless abandon with which Caruso plays. In fact, he sprawled on the floor in pursuit of a loose ball on his first possession after entering the game. Last season, he appeared in a career-high 67 games while averaging 23.5 minutes. Donovan said while there’s no set minutes limit, a similar plan is in place for this season. “I think when he certainly gets up into the high 20s, low 30s on a consistent basis, that’s where generally there can be some issues,” Donovan said. “Certainly you’re going to have games that go into overtime and he’s going to need to part of it. But you want to try to keep him in that mid-20 range to protect him and have him available for games.”

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During a recent practice, DeMar DeRozan said an instance occurred that mirrored a situation from last season where the Bulls failed to execute and it cost them a game.

And several players stepped in to correct it and emphasize not to repeat it.

“Everyone has allowed themselves to be held accountable. And we’re not afraid to get on each other,” Coby White said, adding to DeRozan’s point. “I think we took a big step communicating with ourselves individually. Not just having Coach or the coaching staff say something. When we mess up or something goes wrong, in training camp we’ve been solving it ourselves.”

The Bulls want to begin establishing their identity on both sides of the ball Wednesday night when they open their season against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

On defense, that means guarding as a group with all five players engaged and connected and finishing the possession with strong rebounding. On offense, that means solid spacing, quick decision-making and getting downhill for paint penetration.

The Bulls finished fifth in defense last season. They’ve proven they can handle that end. But offensively, even with Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic having strong seasons, the Bulls finished 24^th.

So Donovan and his staff have emphasized ball and player movement, playing faster with quicker decisions and less isolation.

But what happens when adversity hits, as it does for every team in every season? Will players resort to old habits?

“That’s everything right there,” Donovan said. “Everything sounds good when you have a plan. And then all of a sudden you’re being tested on your beliefs, your values, how the game needs to be played.

“I do think we’ve got enough of a body of work last year to see if we want to revert back to that, we’re going to get the same result. It’s all about how we handle the adversity. Are we going to be OK if we have five straight possessions where we really moved the ball well and Patrick (Williams), Ayo (Dosunmu), Coby (White) and Jevon (Carter) all missed open shots? Are we going to still stay with it? Because that’s the right way to play and the right decisions to make. And what you do is you bet on playing the right way over the long haul.

“Does that mean that Zach and DeMar and Vooch aren’t going to have opportunities to do what they do extremely well? No. Of course they are. But we have to OK in the flow of the game to handle adversity. We have to go through that together.”

White insists the team is better equipped to handle such adverse moments.

“Us with another year together and the way we’ve been holding each other accountable throughout this training camp and we added JC (Carter) and Torrey (Craig), we all want to win,” he said.

What about DeRozan? He’s the player who, on paper, looks to perhaps need to sacrifice the most. If Donovan is emphasizing spacing and attacking the paint either for layups or foul shots or kick-out passes for 3-pointers, DeRozan’s midrange magic and tendency to play in isolation could be de-emphasized.

“I don’t worry about it just for the simple fact it’s basketball at the end of the day,” DeRozan said. “You can ask what we’re looking for, what’s needed. And as a basketball player, you try to do that to the best of your abilities. We all have God-gifted talent that we play on. That’s going to stick out regardless. Balancing that with how we’re trying to play is going to be beneficial.

“Worst-case scenario, you got a guy like Zach. There are going to be nights where he gets hot. That kind of negates a lot of the stuff we may be working on. That’s just the NBA. Everybody has a set foundation of how they want to play. But you have those nights where your best players get it rolling and carry you to victory. Those nights may be needed.

“Overall, I think we’re all comfortable and don’t look at it like we’re reverting if something doesn’t work. We understand that it’s a journey and the foundation we laid out simplifies everything that we’re capable of doing individually.”

The tests begin for real on Wednesday.

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When a team finishes close to .500 at 40-42 and returns 12 of 14 players, it’s hard to make any bold proclamations or predictions about it.

So in lieu of our annual bold predictions, consider these more practical ones for the 2023-24 Chicago Bulls season. And they all, of course, assume good health.

The Bulls will finish 43-39 and make the playoffs

In 2021-22, the Bulls won 46 games and finished 25-16 in clutch games, defined as any contest within five points with 5 minutes to play or less. That marked the third-most such victories in the NBA.

In 2022-23, the Bulls won 40 games and finished 15-23 in clutch games, tying for the second-fewest such victories.

The law of averages, not to mention the additions of tough-minded players like Torrey Craig and Jevon Carter, would seem to suggest the Bulls won’t be as as poor as they were last season. But it may be hard to top DeMar DeRozan’s heroics from 2021-22.

Thus, this season’s victory total will land directly in the middle of the last two seasons at 43. That projects to be enough to qualify them for at least the play-in tournament or perhaps even the sixth seed.

Regardless, even if it’s the former, the Bulls will advance to a first-round matchup with a higher seed in a parity-filled but tough Eastern Conference. Alas, a more full-formed prediction for their playoff fortunes will land on this website at that point. But at first blush, this season has a one-and-done feel to it.

Zach LaVine will join the vaunted 50/40/90 shooting club

This is rare air, indeed. Only eight players in NBA history have shot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line during a season.

They are Larry Bird (twice), Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash (four times), Kevin Durant (twice), Stephen Curry, Malcolm Brogdon and Kyrie Irving.

So go ahead: File this prediction under bold.

LaVine’s career highs in the respective categories are 50.7 percent in 2020-21, 41.9 percent in the same season and 85.3 percent in 2021-22. So he’ll need to take a substantial jump in free-throw percentage while flirting with career-bests in the first two categories.

LaVine enters this season looking lively and athletic and talking about how good his body feels. Coach Billy Donovan has talked about the desire to place LaVine in more catch-and-shoot opportunities, where he’s elite, rather than late-clock shots off the dribble.

Everything lines up for LaVine to join this vaunted club.

Coby White will keep his starting point guard spot

Remember, these are practical, not bold, predictions. And while this one may not seem like that big a deal, it is given how much White’s role has fluctuated throughout his young NBA career and how, well, he’s not a true point guard.

White is a combo guard with a gift for scoring who has put the work in to become a better ball-handler and decision-maker. He’s always been about the team, so passing never has been an issue.

But learning how to control tempo, make reads, get guys in their preferred spots, ride hot hands, prop up cold ones . . . there’s a lot for a starting point guard to do. And not only has the organization showed faith in White by signing him to a long-term deal, the coaching staff gave him first shot at starting.

And White displayed continued growth in his ability to run a team during the preseason. He got into the lane frequently, an organizational emphasis. He took care of the ball well in the first three games before faltering in this department in the final two.

So look for White to keep his stranglehold on this position throughout the season.

The Bulls will have a top-10 defense and top-15 offense

Last season, the Bulls finished fifth in defense and 24^th in offense. The latter, of course, played a huge role in the Bulls not making the playoffs. And it flew in the face of LaVine, DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic each authoring strong individual seasons.

The additions of Craig and Carter should bolster the Bulls’ defense. And Donovan, dating to his days with the Oklahoma City Thunder, consistently has maxed out his team’s potential at that end. Still, plenty broke right for the Bulls to finish top-five last season and it’s not like a top-10 finish is bad.

Offensively is where the Bulls need to take a jump. And they will but not enough to crack the top 10.

The Bulls showed some preseason potential to get in the paint more, which can lead to more free-throw attempts and kick-out passes for open 3-pointers. They also want to offensive rebound more than last season and have better spacing.

All will be critical since they still lagged in 3-point attempts during the practice games. Another offseason talking point—playing through Vucevic—didn’t occur much, at least not yet.

But with White starting and Carter not afraid to let it fly from the reserve unit, the Bulls have a more offensive-minded rotation.

Alex Caruso will repeat as an All-Defense first-team member

This one doesn’t need much in the way of explanation. Caruso is a savant at this end who plays with such attention to detail and anticipation that if he’s healthy, he’ll land on this team for years to come.

The Bulls won’t make any major trades at the February deadline

Whether this is a good or bad thing is in the eye of the beholder.

There’s a large portion of the fan base that wants to see a reset. And LaVine consistently lands in rumors for a reason; his road to full acceptance as the lead player on a championship-contending team has been a struggle.

But with management re-signing Vucevic this offseason and the Bulls headed to a competitive season, look for the core to remain intact past the February deadline. This is regardless of whether or not DeRozan reaches terms on an extension, something that can happen at any point in the season.

Clip and save. We’ll revisit these later in the season to see how right or wrong they are. I’ll say this: Predictions are one of the sillier aspects to this business.

It’s why they play the games.

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It sometimes can be difficult to accurately analyze preseason basketball, particularly with a veteran roster that is as focused on health as anything.

For instance, the Bulls finished 1-4 during the preseason, Zach LaVine only appeared in three games and never saw the fourth quarter and Nikola Vučević and DeMar DeRozan only logged limited fourth-quarter action.

Still, for a team that is trying to move off isolation offense and maintain last season’s top-five defense, enough evidence exists to assess the following.

And it’s not like there’s much at stake this season or anything—sarcasm font—except perhaps the future of the franchise. With DeRozan’s contract expiring after this season unless an extension is reached and an expensive core coming off a non-playoff season, the players know what’s at stake.

“I think this is our last shot to make something happen,” Vučević said. “We’re aware of that. It’s on us to deliver.”

The lineup is set

Barring anything funky happening between now and the Oct. 25 regular-season opener against the Oklahoma City, Coby White and Patrick Williams will start alongside the Bulls’ “Big Three.”

“I felt like the last year, there was so much changing position for him. I felt like he’d mature back there and he could handle it,” coach Billy Donovan said of White. “We’ve been together awhile and we have a good relationship. He understands what I want. I’ve got a good understanding of him as player where he’s at his best.”

White downplayed winning the position battle.

“I haven’t done nothing yet. If I am the starting point guard, I have to keep growing obviously. I want to be a leader of this team,” he said. “Being vocal, contolling the team, getting teammates in spots where they like the ball and picking my times to be aggressive and get to the paint and force kickouts and just continue to create. I feel like the main thing for me coming into training camp was expanding on my leadership role.”

As for Williams, he closed the preseason in strong fashion with two aggressive games sandwiched around an early hook and challenge from Donovan. Even though he didn’t shoot the ball well in the preseason finale, he grabbed a preseason-high five rebounds and tried to dunk over Rudy Gobert.

“I think Patrick continues to evolve. He has played well,” Donovan said. “I think you also look at a fact of bringing Jevon (Carter), Alex (Caruso) and Torrey (Craig), there’s a good defensive mentality and energy there.”

Indeed, this trio coming off the bench together is as much a part of Donovan’s decision as anything. And it certainly won’t surprise to see at least Caruso and perhaps Craig play in closing lineups.

Offense is a mixed bag

Donovan said he liked the way the team tried to play as far as making quicker decisions and not stagnating and relying on isolation play as much in the halfcourt. He also liked the improvement in paint attacks and offensive rebounding. The Bulls rank third in offensive rebounding percentage during the preseason.

But limiting turnovers, which the Bulls have done well with in recent seasons, needs to improve. And for all the talk about increasing 3-point volume, the Bulls ranked 28^th with just 32.8 per game.

“I think we’ve taken some good steps in areas we’ve talked about, playing with more pace and having more ball movement and not being as stagnant, not a lot of ball-watching,” Vučević said.

Utilizing Vučević as an offensive hub with more off-ball actions served as a popular theme during the Bulls’ week of training camp in Nashville. But it didn’t materialize itself as much during the preseason games, although Vučević was in more dribble handoff situations in the final two games.

“I think it helps our offense. We don’t have to be so pick-and-roll dominated,” Vučević said. “We can run different actions and we have guys who are really good cutters on this team. I think also for them it’s learning to manipulate those two- and three-man actions when I have the ball up top or at the elbows. Just have to continue to work at it.”

The Bulls ranked 20^th with an offensive rating of 105.6.

LaVine looks elite

Despite resting one game and missing the finale with an illness that the team doesn’t think is a long-term issue, LaVine looks springy and athletic.

“I feel like myself,” LaVine said recently.

LaVine has talked about using this summer to work out rather than rehab, which he did during the 2022 offseason following a left knee scope. He also became a father that summer for the first time.

It’s showing in his finishing, where he shot 13-for-17 at the rim. Once his 3-point shot rounds into form—he shot just 31.6 percent during the preseason—he’s on track to be a lethal, three-level scorer again. In fact, Donovan wants LaVine taking upwards of the seven to eight attempts he has averaged over the past four seasons.

“I think he knows—and one of the things he spent a lot of time on this summer—is maybe missed opportunities last year on some catch-and-shoot opportunities,” Donovan said. “I think he’s trying to find ways that he can create more of those for our team because we’re a team that hasn’t taken a lot of 3s. And he’s the one guy who shoots it so effortlessly.

“I always think he’s working on things to try to get better. I think him and Vooch in pick-and-roll is something we need to keep getting better at as a team. Those two guys are invested. He definitely doesn’t have the attitude of, ‘Hey, I am who I am. I’ve arrived. I’m going to show up and get 25 a night.’ He’s trying to take another jump as a player.”

DeRozan’s scoring could drop

At first, DeRozan downplayed a question about his role changing.

“Nah, not at all,” he said. “For me, it’s just feeling it out.”

But it’s clear from Donovan’s desire to play faster that DeRozan’s isolation chances could drop.

“I think there has to be a balance,” Donovan said. “DeMar, I love working with him because he’s always about the team. And I think if we become so iso-heavy, I think he even knows, that’s only going to take us so far. In play-calling situations, I think we can go to him. But we have to get the ball downhill and spray the ball out.

“The numbers are pretty drastic. Those three guys [DeRozan, LaVine, Vučević] had either the first or second-best years of their long careers in terms of offensive efficiency and we were 24^th on offense. So our spacing has to be better. We have to get downhill and generate more offensive rebounds. We’re not going to solve everything. And DeMar has been great in understanding the bigger picture. There will be plenty of time for him. He has played in plenty of systems. He’s an elite offensive player. He has an incredibly high basketball IQ. As he says, I’ll find my way.”

In fact, that’s exactly what DeRozan said.

“You got to be ready to adjust for whenever. At the end of the day, it’s basketball. All my career, whatever is asked from me personally, I try to do that to the best of my ability and use my basketball IQ to heighten that. So it’s not a concern of mine,” DeRozan said. “I don’t overthink it. I do what’s asked of me from a team perspective.”

Stay tuned.

Defense needs to improve

The Bulls ranked 21^st with a defensive rating of 109.3.

Despite adding defensive-minded players in Carter and Craig, Donovan said he doesn’t know if the Bulls can repeat a top-five defense. But he knows he can play better at that end than what they’ve shown to this point.

“I think Torrey and Jevon are learning new terminology. And those two guys are not the problem. They’ve always been very good defenders,” Donovan said. “But last year, we got really, really good defending with five people. We’re not helping each other enough. We’re not in gaps. We’re not where we should be. We’re not protecting the rim. We’re not there for each other on a consistent enough basis. We’re getting spread out.

“For our team, we have to be in the right gaps at the right time. Alex and Lonzo (Ball), those guys blew up half the stuff that took place on the perimeter. We’re not that type of team anymore. We have to do it collectively with five. And they all have to be willing to help each other.”

For the Bulls to reach their full potential this season, helping each other at both ends will be crucial. The preseason is over. The Bulls took Friday off and then start preparing for next week’s opener. That’s when the games get real.

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The Chicago Bulls lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-105 Thursday night at the United Center in their last preseason game.

Here are 10 observations from the defeat:

—Zach LaVine sat with an illness and Andre Drummond missed the contest for personal reasons. LaVine’s absence robbed coach Billy Donovan the opportunity to play the regular rotational minutes that he had planned for his starters. In fact, LaVine, who appeared in three of the five preseason games, never logged fourth-quarter minutes. But Donovan didn’t think the illness would be a long-term affair. And LaVine played well in his limited action, especially in attacking the rim. He shot 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) and averaged 17 points in 23.7 minutes. “It would’ve been nice to have a full complement of guys to move pieces around,” Donovan said. “But it’s not going to be that way so other guys will get some opportunity too.”

—One of those guys was Alex Caruso, who returned after missing two games with a minor right ankle injury. Caruso said he could’ve played either game if it had landed in the regular season and is enjoying the defensive chemistry he’s forming with Torrey Craig and Jevon Carter in the second unit. In fact, Donovan started Ayo Dosunmu for LaVine in a clear attempt to keep that trio together in the second unit. Caruso finished with seven points and four assists in 18 minutes.

—During a first-quarter, 10-1 run, the Bulls looked as good as they have all preseason offensively. Patrick Williams soared for an emphatic baseline dunk. DeMar DeRozan passed up a good look on a 3-pointer to feed Nikola Vucevic for a better one. In general, the Bulls were more committed to increasing their 3-point attempts. They took 10 in the first quarter alone. That’s the good news. The bad news is they only made two, including Williams missing all five.

—Donovan used Williams and DeRozan as the starters to stagger with the second unit. The Timberwolves have been good offensively all preseason and feasted on the smaller unit that featured Craig as a small-ball center. Andre Drummond missed the game for personal reasons. The Timberwolves outscored the Bulls’ second unit 16-9 in close to a 6-minute stretch spanning the first and second quarters. This was despite playing without Karl Anthony-Towns, who sat for precautionary reasons. Minnesota still features plenty of size with Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid.

—The second unit fared better in its following stints. Carter and Caruso routinely picked up fullcourt, often at the same time, and you can see how much havoc they have the potential to cause. Especially when Dosunmu plays with Caruso, Craig and Carter.

—DeRozan didn’t score until the second quarter and then scored nine straight points on two traditional three-point plays and a 3-pointer off Craig’s assist. DeRozan has largely been quiet offensively during the preseason. But he exploited this stretch where the Timberwolves largely played zone. He finished with 11 points in 30 minutes.

—Williams, who was pulled early from the last game and challenged by Donovan, tried to dunk over Rudy Gobert in the final minute of the first half. That’s one way to answer questions about aggressiveness. Williams drew a foul on the play and sank both free throws. Williams entered having attempted four free throws through the first four preseason games. He shot 4-for-4 from the line against Minnesota. He didn’t fare as well from the field, finishing 3-for-12, including 0-7 from 3-point range.

“He shot the ball really poorly and everyone still felt his presence in the game,” Donovan said. “He made some great passes. He got to the glass. He rebounded. I give him credit.”

Donovan even joked that it was good to see Williams cramp up late in the game because he exerted so much energy.

—The Timberwolves didn’t play Anthony Edwards or Gobert in the second half. Edwards scored 19 in just 20 first-half minutes, continuing his ascension as a star. The Bulls took turns defending Edwards, sending multiple bodies against him. He shot 8-for-13, running defenders off multiple screens.

—Vucevic posted his second straight 20-point, 10-rebound double-double and appeared in the fourth quarter for the first time this preseason. The Bulls opened the fourth with four starters and Carter against the back end of the Timberwolves’ roster. They didn’t take advantage, playing them even in a 4-minute stretch.

—The Bulls took over 30 3-pointers for only the second time in regulation during the five preseason games. (They took 38 in the double-overtime victory over the Nuggets but attempted only 29 in regulation.) They had shot well in low volume but flipped the script this time, taking more but shooting a poor percentage.

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The Chicago Bulls lost to the Toronto Raptors 106-102 Tuesday night at the United Center in their next-to-last preseason game.

Here are 10 observations from the defeat:

—You know it’s getting closer to the regular season when one of the “Big Three” makes a fourth-quarter appearance. DeMar DeRozan logged fourth-quarter minutes for the first time this preseason. Pregame, coach Billy Donovan said Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic likely would too, but they both sat after the third quarter. Each of the three played at least 28 minutes. Donovan said the plan is for those players to play regular rotational minutes in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

—The Bulls aren’t saying it publicly or officially yet, but it’s fairly obvious that Coby White is trending towards starting the Oct. 25 regular-season opener versus Oklahoma City. White got off to another strong start at both ends, scoring on two nifty stop-and-go drives and hitting LaVine on a go-ahead pass for a fast-break dunk. He had six of his 11 points and three of his four assists in his opening rotational turn. White, who has exhibited solid ball security throughout preseason, did finish with five turnovers in a tough matchup with Dennis Schroder. The two exchanged words and shoves and received double technical fouls with a third-quarter minor kerfuffle. White also briefly left the bench in the second half and wore a wrap on his left thigh but returned.

—Patrick Williams, on the other hand, struggled mightily in the first half. He got his shot blocked on the opening possession and got pulled immediately after a turnover at the 9 minute, 15 second mark of the first. Donovan likes staggering Williams to play with the second unit as well, so Torrey Craig replacing him early isn’t atypical. But it came far more quickly this time.

—Donovan burned a timeout just 94 seconds into the second quarter after two defensive breakdowns and offensive stagnation. The group of LaVine, Williams, Ayo Dosunmu, Jevon Carter and Andre Drummond hasn’t logged much time together this preseason and responded better after the stoppage. Dosunmu drove and kicked to Williams for a 3-pointer. LaVine kept attacking the rim before burying his first 3-pointer. But Williams’ struggles quickly resurfaced. He committed an unforced turnover and fouled a 3-point shooter. Craig played 14 minutes to Williams’ 10 in the first half.

—LaVine scored 16 points in 20 first-half minutes before finishing with 25 points in 30 minutes. He has talked about the benefit of using his offseason to work on his game rather than rehabilitate from knee surgery, as he did in 2022. It’s showing. LaVine is scoring at all three levels and looking particularly spry attacking the rim. He’s also forming some nice halfcourt chemistry with White.

—For all the talk about increasing 3-point volume, the Bulls, after attempting 35 in the preseason opener, are starting to more resemble last season. That’s when they represented the only NBA team not to attempt at least 30 3-pointers per game. They finished with 26 versus the Raptors. That’s the third straight game in regulation they’ve failed to attempt at least 30. They ultimately attempted 38 in the double overtime victory over the Nuggets but sat at 29 following regulation.

—Craig and Carter flipped the script and supplied energy with a third-quarter run predicated on defense. Carter had two steals, one of which he turned into points at the other end with a jumper. And Craig spectacularly blocked a Gary Trent Jr. dunk attempt in transition. Craig logged 27 minutes to Williams’ 21. Williams closed but committed a critical turnover with 37.8 seconds left, stepping on the sideline as he caught a pass. It marked the Bulls’ 23rd turnover.

—Drummond and Vucevic both reached double figures in rebounds, with Vucevic posting a 20-10 double-double. Drummond had eight points and 13 rebounds and missed a double-double because he missed a breakaway dunk in the fourth quarter. Yes, a breakaway dunk.

—Alex Caruso sat out his second straight game, the first since Donovan revealed he tweaked his ankle in practice when he stepped on a teammate’s foot. Donovan said the injury isn’t serious and that the goal is for him to play on Thursday. “Nothing major,” Donovan said, adding that the team sat him as a precaution.

—First-year Raptors coach Darko Rajaković spent four seasons as an assistant coach for Donovan in Oklahoma City. He also owns a condominium in the same building as Vucevic in Belgrade, Serbia. But he spoke at length about Donovan’s influence in his pregame remarks. “I learned so much from Billy. He’s a very close friend of mine, my mentor. He was amazing in the process when I was interviewing for the job. We talked several times. And he was able to give me his insights and help and support. Those four years are invaluable and made me a better man and a better coach.”

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The Chicago Bulls defeated the Denver Nuggets 133-124 in double overtime at the United Center on Thursday night in the home preseason opener.

Here are 10 observations from the victory:

—Billy Donovan started Coby White, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic for the second straight game. Donovan is still working through his rotation. For instance, he took LaVine off early along with Williams this time to stagger LaVine for some minutes against second-unit players. He used Jevon Carter with White some in the first quarter. And he started Ayo Dosunmu for White in the second half. But White and Williams starting the first two games is notable.

—Donovan has used the phrase “paint attacks” so often that he could get an endorsement deal with Glidden or Behr. The Bulls obliged early and often, with 14 of the first 16 points coming in the restricted area. This ultimately led to open 3-pointers off kickouts. And through two games, the Bulls are showing positive signs of improving this area.

—LaVine moved into attack mode early. Eight of his first 10 points came inside the restricted area. This included a putback of his own missed breakaway layup and a dunk off a 2-on-0 fast break with DeRozan. On that play, DeRozan and LaVine traded passes as they streaked downcourt before LaVine decided to dunk.

—This unselfishness extended to perimeter halfcourt passing as well. Torrey Craig passed a good look on a corner 3-pointer to swing it to Carter for an even better 3-point look. Carter buried the shot. This is the type of ball movement Donovan has preached all training camp.

—Dosunmu took advantage of his second-half start, packing plenty into his first rotational turn of 7 minutes, 29 seconds. That included three offensive rebounds, good defensive energy and a nifty assist for a LaVine layup.

—Nikola Jokic remains good at the basketball thing. The two-time most valuable player posted 17 points, six rebounds and four assists into his 18 first-half minutes, outplaying good friend Nikola Vucevic, who got the better of him the last time they met in Denver during last season. Vucevic started slowly but closed the first half with two strong moves over Jokic.

—Unlike the Nuggets, who didn’t play Jokic, Jamal Murray and other starters in the second half, the Bulls played their starters for the first 6 or 7 minutes of the second half. DeRozan and LaVine finished with 19 and 17 points, respectively. And DeRozan’s game featured something familiar with eight trips to the free-throw line—he made all eight—and something different with four 3-point attempts.

—For the second straight game, the Bulls attempted at least 30 3-pointers, which is a low bar to clear but one they set as the only team in the NBA not to attempt at least that many per game last season. Alex Caruso shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Caruso said during the Bulls’ week in Nashville that the coaches have asked him to be more “selfish” this season, as in not passing up open shots.

—That’s five rebounds in 41 minutes for Patrick Williams through two games. Management and the coaching staff have placed the onus on Williams to be more aggressive on the glass. Thus far, it hasn’t translated. Williams had a forgettable night overall, finishing with two points and just four shots in 14 minutes.

—The Bulls offered a mixed bag defensively. They turned defense into offense, scoring 30 points off 28 turnovers. They also defended without fouling, not sending the Nuggets to the free-throw line until the second half. And they controlled the glass; the Nuggets didn’t have any second-chance points. But they allowed 50 percent shooting to, obviously, the defending NBA champions. And Donovan called two timeouts simply to clean up defensive mistakes.

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The Chicago Bulls fell to the Milwaukee Bucks 105-102 at FiServ Forum on Sunday afternoon in both teams’ preseason opener.

Here are 10 observations from the defeat:

—The teams took different approaches to the matinee affair. In his NBA head coaching debut, former Bulls player and assistant coach Adrian Griffin sat Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton. Meanwhile, Bulls coach Billy Donovan followed a familiar script, playing veterans who don’t like taking games off and starting Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic.

—As expected, Coby White and Patrick Williams joined the starting lineup. While Donovan told reporters in Milwaukee that no point guard has separated himself in the competition for the starting job between White, Jevon Carter and Ayo Dosunmu, it could be White’s job to lose. Keeping White and Williams paired makes sense after the chemistry they displayed last season after Williams moved to a reserve role. Plus, developing White and Williams is crucial for the future of the franchise.

—As Donovan hinted at on media day last week, he “staggered” Williams and brought Torrey Craig in as the first reserve at the 7 minute, 28 second mark of the first quarter. Williams then started the second quarter with the rest of the reserve unit—Dosunmu, Carter, Alex Caruso and Andre Drummond.

—Donovan has said multiple times that his rotation will be a work in progress throughout the preseason—and could feature tweaks during the regular season. But a second unit of Carter, Dosunmu, Caruso, Craig and Drummond has massive potential defensively and entered for the final 3:06 of the first. Caruso, who talked about the unit’s potential in this sitdown with NBC Sports Chicago, followed with a steal in the first minute together.

—The Bulls took 12 of their 35 3-pointers in the opening quarter. Several attempts came either in transition or off drive-and-kick after “paint attacks,” a major talking point and point of emphasis during training camp. It’s well documented that the Bulls were the only team in the NBA not to attempt at least 30 3-point attempts per game last season. Overall, the Bulls finished 13-for-35 from 3-point range.

—Carter, Drummond and Craig started the second half as LaVine (nine points, three assists), DeRozan (seven points, one block) and Vucevic (four points, four rebounds) only played the first half. Vucevic only took one 3-pointer among his three shots as the Bulls tried to utilize Vucevic more as an offensive hub and in the mid-post.

—The offense will be a work in progress, however. The starters returned for a second-quarter stretch in which stagnation prevailed for several possessions. Overall, though, it’s clear the Bulls are trying to play faster, both in transition and in the halfcourt with paint attacks and drive-and-kicks. The Bulls outscored the Bucks 25-17 in fast-break points.

—Williams logged 22 minutes and took two shots off sequences where he grabbed a defensive rebound, dribbled upcourt and let it fly. Along with a dunk attempt in traffic, Williams played with notable aggressiveness. He finished with 13 points and two rebounds. Williams still needs to improve his rebounds; Donovan has talked about wanting to see him average more. But he did take a team-high six 3-pointers, making three.

—Craig has talked about adding a competitive edge and toughness to a team that he felt lacked a little in those departments when he played against the Bulls as an opponent. He made an immediate impact with his first-quarter minutes with the starters, playing with energy and force at both ends. Craig finished with seven points, four rebounds and two steals in 19 minutes.

—White logged a team-high 23 minutes and finished with 14 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals. He truly shined at both ends, particularly by consistently pushing pace and trying to attack the paint. White finished with two turnovers but displayed his poise with a jump pass in traffic to Williams for one hoop.

“I noticed this summer when I went out in June to see him. He physically looked different. The ball looked to be a little bit more on a string for him,” Donovan told reporters in Milwaukee after the game. “I think his confidence with the ball has really grown.”

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In case you’re wondering, Alex Caruso doesn’t do defense during the offseason.

“That’s my joke with everybody too,” Caruso said in an interview following Thursday’s practice at Belmont University. “I don’t play defense until I have to.”

In May, Caruso earned his first nod to the NBA’s All-Defense team, a first-team selection to boot. He sat down with NBC Sports Chicago to discuss that honor, what’s next and why he’s going to try to be more “selfish” this season.

This interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity.

NBC Sports Chicago: What did that All-Defense honor mean to you?

Alex Caruso: That was pretty cool. It definitely was a goal. The first team is tough. You can’t luck into that. That’s a real accomplishment in this league, especially the way the game is played now where there’s so much emphasis on offense and space. I was pretty proud of that. And it was just cool because to get on one of those teams, you have to sacrifice a lot, mentally and physically. Show up every night and take on the challenge of guarding the best players in the league. And I thought it was pretty gratifying because the year before I felt like I was on the way to having consideration for one of those teams. And obviously, I missed half the season so that was out the window. So it was great.

So what’s next when you hit a goal like that? Is it just repeating?

You gotta do it again, yeah.

Defensive Player of the Year?

The way DPOY is kind of voted on and based off of now is the interior has the upper hand on that just because of blocks and rebounds. I probably don’t have enough of those to be under consideration. But you never know. I might have an incredible year.

How do you work on defense in the offseason?

I don’t. I don’t play defense until I have to. That’s my joke with everybody too. I’ll work out. I guess conditioning and lifting are kind of geared toward defense. But I don’t do closeouts, slides, any of that in the offseason. Even when I play pickup, I’m not playing any defense. It takes a lot of mental concentration to do that for 82 games.

What about film work?

A lot of that is in-season stuff. If guys make adjustments to their game, you can’t see it until they start playing again. I still remember everything as far as what guys like to do. That’s not stuff that leaves you when you care about your craft and care about the game and are trying to win. I watch the playoffs. But once that’s over, offseason is clearing the slate and getting ready to go again.

Do you like how the NBA instituted a minimum game requirement of 65 games to be considered for postseason awards?

Yeah, I guess so. I think they pretty much factor that in (voting) anyway. You gotta put yourself out there to garner the awards.

Last season, keeping you healthy was such a franchise priority and you played a career-high in games. Obviously, you need some luck to stay healthy. But how confident are you that you again can stay vital for this season?

You talk about progressions and routines a lot. And I think one thing for me is I’m always trying to get better. I think every year I’ve played in the league, I’ve gotten better. And that’s something I pride myself on and I have to put that goal out there for myself to chase. So this year, I’m trying to chase that again—play more minutes, play more games, work on my prep before practices and games, recovery, nutrition, sleep. Just being dedicated to that and improve that as much as I want to improve my 3-point percentage or my minutes-per-game or my assists percentage.

You’ll be out there a lot regardless and likely in most closing lineups. But why is there no talk of you starting at either point guard or power forward since you’ve played both?

The power forward one is not my favorite. It took a toll on me the second half. It was rough. That’s one of the added benefits I think I bring to a team. I feel I’m pretty unselfish. And I’ve talked to Billy (Donovan) and some of the assistants about being more selfish at times. It’s almost putting a burden on the team when I’m not selfish at times, when I pass up shots or pass up opportunities to be aggressive or to speak up. So this starting stuff is what it is. I’d rather play late in the game than early in the game. When it counts, I want to be on the court.

Who are your toughest covers?

I get that question all the time from people I meet or guys I work out with randomly who I see for the first time. There are literally 20 names I could give you. This is how I describe it: If I follow the game plan and play really good defense, the best guys in the league—the 1-2 punches like DeMar (DeRozan) and Zach (LaVIne) for us—are still going to get their average. There’s just that much volume, transition, switches, so many opportunities. If I don’t do my job, they’ll go for 40 or 50. So you take your pick any night for toughest cover. Anybody who’s an All-Star and there are even some guys who come off the bench and average 20 a night. Jordan Clarkson is a good example. Jordan Clarkson is one of the harder guys to guard in the league because he can shoot from outside, he can shoot from midrange, he can get fouled. Makes good reads off counters. There are just so many guys in the league these days who are so skilled. There’s not one answer. There are the obvious ones, Steph (Curry), KD (Kevin Durant), LeBron (James), Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell. Those two last year, I thought Book and Donovan Mitchell were really motivated because of the situations the teams had. It’s a really long list.

I’m curious: How did the play-in loss to Miami sit with you as you watched the playoffs unfold?

The playoffs are so matchup-based and Jimmy (Butler) was going crazy in that first round against the Bucks. That propelled them. Who knows what would’ve happened if we had won that game? I thought we played so well. It was almost the opposite of Toronto where I thought Toronto played better than us for 2 ½, 3 quarters and then we kind of won the game late. I thought we played better than Miami for the majority of that game and it was a better matchup for us. We had won the season series. And then they just made more plays and more shots down the stretch. Basketball is a make-or-miss league. But I don’t think back to that game as much as I do to four or five games during the season that we should’ve won. We should beat the teams that are under .500, definitely at home. And then you’re not even in the play-in game. And that didn’t sit well with me as I tried to sleep at night.

What do you think the additions of Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig can do for you?

We’ve already seen it. There was one play in practice today where me and Ayo (Dosunmu) got a stop and then Torrey got a block and Jevon got a strip and we got another stop. If we have me and Ayo and Drum (Andre Drummond) on that second unit and we add those two pieces, it’s going to be hard to get a good shot off against that second unit if we’re locked in. Once we do, we have multiple ballhandlers and can break out and run a little bit. I’m excited. They fit really well for the mentality that me and Ayo and Drum have played with the last couple years.

I have to ask: What’s the golf handicap these days?

It’s a 6 probably right now. I got it down to a 3 or a 2.9 in July. I was playing a lot.

Do I have to refer to you as first-team All-Defense selection Alex Caruso every time I write about you now?

If you’d like to, yeah, that’d be nice. (laughs)

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Count Ayo Dosunmu out and watch what happens.

That rookie season where it looked like, on paper, he might be headed to the G League? First, he cracked the rotation. Then, he seized the starting point guard position when Lonzo Ball suffered his first knee injury.

It’s happening again.

Dosunmu’s role decreased last season following Patrick Beverley’s arrival. And on paper at least, he looks like the odd man out of a crowded guard picture that features newcomer and main free-agent signing Jevon Carter along with holdovers Zach LaVine, Coby White and Alex Caruso.

That crowded rotation didn’t stop Dosunmu from re-signing with his hometown Chicago Bulls on a three-year, $21 million deal.

“I want to play so hard and be so able at both ends that Coach (Billy) Donovan, he can’t not have me on the court,” Dosunmu said in an interview with NBC Sports Chicago following Wednesday’s training camp practice at Belmont University.

Management and Donovan have declared the starting point guard position to be an open competition between Carter, White and Dosunmu. And Donovan added that whichever player emerges to start the regular-season opener on Oct. 25 against Oklahoma City may not be the permanent starter.

That’s how much the position is in flux. Which is why Dosunmu is so focused on rebounding from his up-and-down second season.

“I think someone’s progress is not always particularly a direct path upward. Ayo probably in a lot of ways exceeded expectations. When Lonzo went down and we were in a jam there, he really stepped in and played incredible basketball the second half of his rookie year,” Donovan said. “But with that opportunity comes more film and more preparation from opposing teams. And there were things that for him that he probably wasn’t ready to see quite honestly. And I think he had a really good summer. He was in here the whole summer. He put the work in.

“Offensively, he can see the way he was being guarded. I think he knows the things that he needs to get better at as it relates to finishing at the rim, decision-making, shooting the basketball—him being efficient and confident. That’s the biggest thing for young guys. I think for Ayo, even though it was challenging at times for him last year, it may end up being the best thing for his growth to actually have to go through some adversity and challenges like he did. Because he handled it great not only in the season but in the offseason as well.”

Indeed, Dosunmu discussed how he attacked the offseason, his decision to re-sign with the Bulls and his expectations for himself and the Bulls during his interview, which has been edited slightly for length and clarity

NBC Sports Chicago: How many times have you been asked for a loan this summer?

Ayo Dosunmu: Ha, not a lot. Keep the circle tight.

Free agency was a drawn-out process. Was there ever a moment you thought you might not be re-signing with the Chicago Bulls?

I mean, you’ve been doing this business for a long time. You pretty much know how the business works. Of course, it’s always a possibility in free agency that anything can happen just with the nature of how the league is going. I came into free agency with an open mind that I could be playing anywhere. Put my feelings aside and basically try to secure what’s best for me and my game and my family for the future. Ultimately with praying, leaving it up to God, that was my path, to sign back with the Bulls.

Why did you want to re-sign?

Of course just playing with the team for two years and building up that camaraderie and knowing we had a lot of unfinished business, that was a big reason.

It’s a crowded guard picture on paper. But it seems like every time whenever you’re counted out, you keep coming. So what’s your approach to this competition?

Basically just going out there and trying to incorporate everything I learned this summer. It definitely feels different going into my third year of training camp, just having more knowledge. And knowledge is key. Going through the war wounds, being in big playoff games against the Bucks and play-in experience against the Raptors and Heat, that elevates you as a player. That experience makes you grow. I’m eager to show the growth I’ve had and the trials and tribulations I’ve had.

We’ve been told by management and the coaching staff there’s an open competition in training camp for the starting point guard position. How are you approaching that?

I’m a competitor. I’m going to try my best. Ultimately, I think that competition is going to help our team in the long run. We go at each other and try to kill each other in practice. When we’re on the court together, it’s going to make our team much more smooth. Me going into my third year and our core group being together pretty much the same time, it’s getting time for us to turn the corner.

You took a big jump from your sophomore year to your junior year at Illinois. So what do we have in store for Year 3 of Ayo in the NBA?

That’s been my path, even back to high school. I pretty much took my jump my junior year. The first two years I’m pretty much learning. And my sophomore year is always the year where I pretty much hit the little roadblock. And my junior year is the year I come over. I’m excited. I put a lot of work into my game, watched a lot of film. Playing over 150 games against the top players in the league. Guarding the top players in the league, I learned so much. Me going into Year 3, I’m eager to take that next jump.

What specifically did you work on this offseason?

You know, I worked No. 1 on being in tip-top shape to be able to physically sustain the whole season at a high level. I think first acknowledging that, being in the best shape, being able to run and put more time on the clock, I think that will be able to elevate my game in the best ways. And then of course, just my jumpshot, being more confident on the unders [when defenders go under screens], taking what the defense is giving me. And then controlling pace. I think the more the game slows down, the more I’m able to make the right reads. I work on the reads every day, two or three hours a day. Once I allow myself to slow down and read the game, I’m able to make the best decisions.

Is that read on you right, that whenever you’re counted out you seem to rise up and butt into the picture?

For sure. I’m a competitor. Ultimately, I want to win. I put so much work into my game this summer—two-a-days, three-a-days, waking up at 5 or 6 am throughout the whole contract process still. I tried to progress. I want to play so hard and be so able at both ends that Coach Donovan, he can’t not have me on the court. That’s I want to have this year. I want to have that presence where my teammates know that when Ayo is on the court, good things happen.

Last season is weird because, statistically, it’s very similar to your first season. But it just looked different. You’ve been up front with some struggles and hitting some speedbumps. When you look back on your second season, how do you assess it?

I assess it as it was what was destined for me. It was a part of the map. From my first year to my second year, I missed a lot of open shots. I think that’s probably why people may say that it dropped. But I’m capable of making those shots. And then like I said, just slowing the game down, taking the next step. Just reading the defense better. Once they go under, stop behind and shoot it. When they go over, come off, make the right read. Playing in transition. Get to the free-throw line. Rebound. That’s the next step that people were expecting me to make last year that I’m going to take this year. Those little things and using that experience and those trials and tribulations to elevate and keep going.

From a team perspective, last year was obviously a disappointment. And there just seems like quite a bit of talent in this gym. So what do you think you can accomplish as a team?

I mean, if you look at our team, I think we’re pretty deep. One through 10, one through 12, we got a lot of talented players. And now it’s all about trusting each other. It’s all about having that that fun and camaraderie together at both ends. If you look at all the teams that go far or have won the previous years, their depth was a key factor. It was guys who stepped up that people may not have thought were capable of doing that. I think we have the team to do that with our Big Three and then quality, talented young players who are eager to put their footprint in the league and eager to get better. I think there’s going to be a time this season—quote me—where we’re all going to turn that corner. And every time you look up, it’s going to be just good basketball played at both ends. Because we got a lot of hungry and talented players.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Monday night featured casual conversation following a team dinner, talk that stretched deep into the night.

Tuesday night, following the Chicago Bulls’ first training camp practice of the season at Belmont University, a team outing to Topgolf loomed.

The Bulls are holding remote training camp for the first time since visiting Beloit (Wis.) College in 1985, Michael Jordan’s second season. And not to get too deep on the decision, but coach Billy Donovan said the genesis stemmed in part from how the world mostly communicates now.

“I don’t think this is necessarily just our team. I think it’s in general with society. These guys have really good relationships. But I think there’s a deeper connection that you’ve gotta have and establish. In today’s society, where everything is done with your phone and there’s Facebook and all these social media platforms, they don’t really connect like you think they’d connect. And the connection part is the communication piece,” Donovan said. “And I thought this was an opportunity for us to get away and connect.

“In a lot of ways, we don’t have to communicate as much as we did in the past because everything can be done by phone or email or text. In talking to those guys, the players really thought it would be a great idea.”

DeMar DeRozan, for one.

“I was all for it,” DeRozan said. “I’m going to be honest: I always hated training camp in the city you played in. We’re going to be in Chicago half the year. So why not just get away going into the season to try to lock in?”

DeRozan is a veteran of remote training camps, having visited various Canadian stops like Vancouver and Montreal when he played for the Toronto Raptors.

“That was a big part of our success, quite honestly,” DeRozan said. “On those trips, we did a lot of stuff that we probably wouldn’t do if we were at home just practicing. And that carried over to the season as far as having each other’s backs.”

During exit meetings last April after a disappointing, 40-42 season and play-in loss to the Miami Heat failed to produce a playoff berth, management heard from enough players to worry about a cohesion problem. It’s not that the players didn’t get along. It’s more that sometimes communication, the ability to have really hard conversations, didn’t always happen to the level of accountability needed.

Losing Patrick Beverley, who Donovan called “the ringleader” for such activities as going to watch NFL games together, added to the equation. And when management largely returned the same team, swapping out Beverley for Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig for Derrick Jones Jr., the decision to practice remotely crystallized.

With input from many, the principal decision-makers settled on Nashville as opposed to somewhere like, say, Las Vegas, another city considered.

“This was convenient,” Donovan said. “Belmont has a great facility; we appreciate them opening it up. It was a one-hour flight from Chicago. The travel just made a lot of sense.

“One of the things we talked about is we’re bringing back the same group. We have to do something different. We can’t just do the same thing and expect everything to be fine.

“It’s not just about going to dinner. It’s about having conversations about really what they need from each other as teammates, how they can help one another. We have to communicate well on the stuff that matters.

“Sometimes they’re not always going to be easy. They’ll be difficult. It’s not personal. They all want to win and come together and figure out ways to do that. But the more they can connect with one another to have those conversations, I think the easier it is.”

And for the first day, when everybody is 0-0 and no issues or injuries have crept into the picture, the returns were positive.

“Today was good, very productive just from a standpoint of everybody being very vocal, on one another, holding each other accountable,” DeRozan said. “As soon as a mistake was made, offensively or defensively, guys were on one another.”

DeRozan said Alex Caruso consistently has been the most vocal over the last two seasons in terms of holding teammates accountable. But Coby White started growing into the role more last season. And Beverley may be gone, but Carter doesn’t plan to sit idly on the sidelines.

“I am,” Carter said, when asked if he’s a vocal leader. “I think I just need to do a better job of learning how to deliver the message. Because everybody’s different, not everybody takes everything the same way. So it’s just learning the guys and seeing what they like, don’t like. But I can say I’m going to voice my opinion.”

This desire to improve cohesion and communication also featured September outings. The Bulls held a softball game at Guaranteed Rate Field and also visited Topgolf in Chicago.

These may seem like small things or rah-rah college stuff. But if the focus to improve the dynamic is coming from the players and from within the organization, perhaps it can lead to on-the-court improvement.

“They’re really good guys and all have good relationships. But there’s a different kind of connection that you have to have in your job to be really, really good,” Donovan said. “I think that was something they all felt they needed to be better at.

“I just think it’s everybody just understanding it. I think I’ve got to do a better job of maybe creating opportunities where we have more discussions. Where it’s not just go to practice and leave practice. Where it’s, ‘Hey, Alex, who did you need more from today? Why did you need more from this guy? Hey, Ayo (Dosunmu), who did a really great job for you today? Hey, DeMar, who in your opinion sacrificed?’ I think those are things where you start the conversation.”

A conversation that leads to the next conversation and the next one, and the one after that.

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The days leading up to the start of NBA training camp featured the Milwaukee Bucks adding Damian Lillard and the Boston Celtics nabbing Jrue Holiday, making the Eastern Conference race top-heavy.

But don’t tell that to Chicago Bulls newcomer Jevon Carter.

“Thoughts on Milwaukee and Boston? I don’t really care. I’m a Chicago Bull,” Carter said Monday at the Advocate Center. “I’m not really thinking about Boston or Milwaukee.”

That was the pervading mantra from Bulls’ media day. Following an offseason in which management tripled down on its core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls are focused on internal improvement and believe they have what it takes to make some noise.

“Everybody’s 0-0 right now,” LaVine said. “Obviously, they made some big trade acquisitions, added high-level guards. Obviously, everything looks good on paper. But we put the work in. If you don’t believe in your group or your guys, you shouldn’t show up.

“I’m looking very much forward to this training camp, us getting off to a good start. Because it’s a big season for a lot of people.”

Indeed, executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas even talked about this core’s performance impacting whether or not ownership moving forward enters luxury tax territory, a penalty that Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf only have paid once in franchise history.

“I think we’re at the point where we’re going to go into the luxury tax if we’re confirming this is the group. I think this is just giving more time for this group to figure it out. And I think once you have consistent success, you can go for it,” Karnišovas said. “In all my conversations with Jerry and Michael, obviously they have no problem going into it. But we have to make sure it’s the right group. I believe in them. I have faith in them going into this season. We’ll see how the season plays out.”

To improve on last season’s underwhelming 40-42 season which featured the Bulls beating the Toronto Raptors but losing to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in the play-in tournament, the Bulls must improve their 24th-ranked offense. Adding Carter, who, coincidentally, arrived from the Bucks, and Torrey Craig should help the Bulls’ 3-point attack, which ranked last in the NBA last season.

But the Bulls’ offensive goals move beyond just improving their 3-point shooting.

“We’re looking to play faster,” Karnišovas said. “We’re going to try and move the ball better.”

And so playing in transition and utilizing quick decision-making with more paint attacks in halfcourt settings are focal points.

LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic each had strong seasons individually last season, but it didn’t translate to a high-powered offense or victories.

“How do you have three guys at that level offensively and look at the fact that we’re 24^th on offense? We shot the ball 11^th best of anyone in the league, our effective field goal percentage was good. The key for us was we did not get to the free-throw line. We were 24^th or 25^th there. And the other part of it was we didn’t have many opportunities to offensive rebound,” coach Billy Donovan said. “And the shot profile, to me it’s less about taking more 3s as much as it is how you generate them. Our biggest challenge with this group is we’ve got to get into the paint.

“We’ve got to do a better job spacing, a better job attacking the paint. Because about 85 percent of your fouls are taking place inside the paint. It’s the best opportunity to offensive rebound on those shots. And then the third thing is those are where you get kick-out 3s. I think that’s got to be a real focus for us.”

Another offensive wrinkle could be utilizing Vucevic as an offensive hub, taking full advantage of his passing skills.

“That was a big thing for me. It was finding ways to utilize me more,” Vucevic said about conversations that informed his decision to re-sign before hitting free agency. “Not so much only for me shooting the ball and scoring but using my playmaking ability to help the team in different ways.

“I think we can see a lot more teams do it and do it at a high level. Obviously you have Denver with (Nikola) Jokić. You have Miami with Bam (Adebayo). Teams like that that use their big man a lot as a playmaker. And I think we also have a team that can function that way, obviously with me and all the guards that we have who can play off the ball. It could make life a lot easier for a lot of our guys.

“I think last year also we were thinking, ‘When Lonzo (Ball) comes back, it’ll be different.’ I think this year we have a clear picture obviously he’s not going to be back and we have to find other ways to run our offense without putting so much pressure on Zach and DeMar handling the ball and scoring, doing everything. So it’s a lot of conversations I had with Billy before I signed and after I signed about what they were thinking and how I could be utilized and where we could do a lot of stuff I like. I think there’s a lot of different options we could do where I could become a playmaker. That could help a lot.”

DeRozan played for a Raptors franchise that advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with a team that largely stayed intact. So he has seen the continuity route pay dividends. And as the Bulls head to Nashville, Tenn., for the start of training, he is excited for the potential.

“I hate dwelling about the past about anything, but that continuity goes so, so far. You know, sometimes you’ve got to fail as a group to understand what it takes to even win as a group,” he said. “Sometimes you gotta hit the wall hard with a group to understand we are all going to help one another back up.

“And for me, even going out to Nashville and just locking in, getting away from being in the city, where it’s just us, really gaining that camaraderie, the chemistry, the understanding of what it takes, what we need to do by knowing how much we failed last year and the things  that put us in a place that, you know, we have to play for a play-in game. We got to go into training camp with that on our heart and we can leave out of there with much more continuity than we had before. That’s the one thing that always put me in a position to have success with a team was that continuity.”

The Bucks adding Lillard to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Celtics transforming their team with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis complementing Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown make them the prohibitive Eastern Conference favorites. DeRozan is ready.

“I love it. I love it. The competition level should want to bring the best out of you and want to compete against that. That’s how I look at it,” he said. “And that’s one thing I express to the guys. When you see that, you gotta get more hungry, understanding you want to go against those big teams like that and compete. That should bring the best out of you every single night.”

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The Chicago Bulls gather for media day on Monday before flying to Nashville, Tenn., for their first week of training camp.

Plenty of questions and storylines surround any NBA team. The Bulls are no exception.

Here are four related to on-the-court matters and not, say, whether or not DeMar DeRozan will be extended:

Will the offense improve?

If followers of the team had a dollar for every time somebody said “how can a team with Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vučević finish 24^th in offensive rating?” then those people might be as rich as those highly-paid players. Who command their salaries in large part for their ability to put the ball in the basket.

So how did the Bulls finish 24^th in offense? And how can they be better?

It’s well documented the Bulls represented the only NBA team that didn’t attempt at least 30 3-pointers per game last season. So part of the offensive issue is a simple math problem. In too many games, the Bulls made a similar amount of field goals as their opponent, only to lose the 3-point battle.

But it won’t just be adding Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig via free agency and letting 3-pointers fly. In general, look for the offensive philosophy to be tweaked. Sure, there will be moments where hero ball is needed, particularly in crunch time when the game slows. DeRozan’s midrange magic will still have a role.

But look for the Bulls to try to play faster in transition and attack the paint in the halfcourt, leading to spray-out passes for 3-point shots.

Beyond that, Vučević’s passing and shooting ability likely will be used more as an offensive hub, where he works at the elbow with players cutting off him. Sacramento utilizes Domantas Sabonis in similar sets.

And don’t be surprised to see DeRozan’s scoring take a small dip and his assists average rise, a la his San Antonio Spurs days.

The Bulls also ranked 26^th in free-throw attempts and must get to the line more. This is tied into the desire by the coaching staff to see more paint attacks.

Can the defense hold steady?

When a team desires to play faster offensively and attempt to take more 3-pointers, one potentially negative byproduct can be placing more pressure on the defense.

Beyond a solid coaching scheme and effort and execution from the players, one reason the Bulls fielded a top-five defense last season is they had the opportunity to set their defense so frequently. Their offensive attack and lack of offensive rebounding often led to strong floor balance and solid defensive transition.

Can they keep that up in light of their new desired offensive approach?

Carter and Craig arrive with stellar defensive reputations. Caruso, who earned his first All-Defensive spot, isn’t going anywhere. Billy Donovan never seems to get enough credit for his defensive acumen. He now has coached five top-10 defenses in his eight years in the NBA.

If the Bulls can improve their offense and have their defense either even or only slightly below last season, good things could be in store.

Is this the season Patrick Williams breaks out?

If followers of the team had a dollar for every time somebody said, “is this the season Patrick Williams . . .” Oh wait, we already used that cliché.

But Williams’ potential contrasted with his bouts with passiveness stretch all the adjectives. On a guard-heavy roster, Williams must produce.

It’s telling that, in separate interviews, management figures essentially placed the onus for this season on Williams.

“I think it’s a really important year for Patrick, one as a player and two in our locker room to kind of complement (the core),” general manager Marc Eversley said in August during an appearance on the Bulls Talk Podcast. “We’ve talked a lot about people fitting in with (LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic). I think Patrick is going to be challenged with the same thing. But I think this year is the year where he really needs to step it up and figure it out.

“You talked about his 3-point shooting, up over 40 percent. He has shown flashes over the first three years. I want to see him show more instances of flashes, more consistency. He’s got it in him. A lot of that comes with growth off the court. And he’s starting to grow. He’s starting to get it. It’s starting to click. And when he puts it together, we might have something special.”

Williams played well in a reserve role after Donovan inserted Patrick Beverley and Caruso into the starting lineup after the All-Star break. Regardless his role, Williams needs to continue his growth as a two-way player and improve his rebounding.

Who will start?

In an appearance on WSCR-AM 670, Eversley and Artūras Karnišovas said point guard will be an open competition between Carter, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu.

LaVine, DeRozan and Vučević are locks.

At power forward, Williams, Craig and Caruso are in the mix.

Assuming health, all of these players save for perhaps Dosunmu project to log heavy rotational minutes. The thing about Dosunmu is: Every time he seems to be counted out, he keeps coming at you. He’s relentless.

But Donovan and his coaching staff are loaded at guard and must find minutes for Carter, White, LaVine and Caruso, although the Bulls have used Caruso at power forward in the past.

The closing lineup may be more intriguing than the starting lineup. The Bulls possess a solid, 10-man rotation in Carter, LaVine, DeRozan, Williams, Vučević, Caruso, White, Craig, Dosunmu and Andre Drummond.

A big reason why the Bulls dropped from 46 to 40 wins last season is because of their poor record in clutch games, a contest that’s within five points with 5 minutes to play. They dropped from a 25-16 mark in 2021-22 in such games to 15-23 last season.

So Donovan’s closing lineup beyond LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic will be intriguing.

Every season is intriguing in its own fashion. Let the storylines begin to play out on Monday.

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Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Jrue Holiday makes any NBA team that he’s on better, and the Chicago Bulls would be no exception.

In some ways, one can envision the two-time All-Star guard and two-way threat sliding into the role previously held by Lonzo Ball. Someone who can create defensive havoc on the perimeter, hit open shots to help space the floor as a career 36.6 percent 3-point shooter and serve as a respected connecting piece for the core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic.

The Milwaukee Bucks don’t win the 2021 NBA title without Holiday, who now is likely to be traded by the Portland Trail Blazers after they acquired him in the Damian Lillard trade. Players around the league know: Holiday is one of the most underrated, winning players around.

Now let’s get to the reality: It’s a longshot.

The Bulls spent their offseason preaching continuity and team bonding while adding Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig to their core and like their roster as they prepare to enter training camp next week. Even if the Bulls wanted to add Holiday, and there are no signs that they’ve entered the sweepstakes, it’s hard to find the most enticing avenue to do so.

Holiday is due to make $34.9 million this season and owns a player option of $37.3 million for next season. The Bulls, who are hard capped at $172.3 million, would have to send out around $35 million of salary in a trade.

Multiple outlets, including NBC Sports Chicago, have reported that the Trail Blazers never showed much interest in acquiring LaVine. (As an aside, making a bold move to acquire Holiday truly only makes sense if LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic remain in a win-now mode.) So that’s likely a non-starter.

The same logic of only adding Holiday if LaVine is around applies to DeRozan, who would have to have players added to him to even make the financials of a deal work. And remember: Since Carter and players like Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu signed this offseason, they’re not yet eligible to be traded until into the season.

So the Bulls would have to build a package likely centered around Ball’s $20 million deal, a piece like Patrick Williams or Alex Caruso or possibly both and possibly two first-round picks. Ball is expected to miss the entire 2023-24 season following his third knee surgery and has a player option that he surely will exercise for 2024-25.

The Bulls could conceivably give back the first-round pick the Trail Blazers owe them from the Lauri Markkanen three-team trade. But other teams will be building packages likely with more attractive draft capital.

Indeed, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers are among the bidders for Holiday.

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On the same day that Bulls management talked about a training camp competition to decide the starting point guard, their Central Division rivals traded one All-Star point guard for another.

The full impact on the Bulls of the Milwaukee Bucks’ bold acquisition of Damian Lillard won’t be fully known until Jrue Holiday’s ultimate landing spot is determined. But suffice to say, the Bucks took a huge swing at appeasing superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo by trading Holiday—so instrumental to their 2021 NBA championship—to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.

The Bucks, with or without Holiday, were going to be a serious contender for the Eastern Conference championship, assuming decent health. So from their perspective, acquiring Lillard is as much for Antetokounmpo’s future as this season.

But unless Holiday lands with the Miami Heat, this trade could have some minor positive benefits for the Bulls, who failed to exit the play-in tournament last season and are banking on continuity and the additions of Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig to help them ascend.

The Heat and Toronto Raptors both had designs on acquiring Lillard, a seven-time All-Star. Those are the teams the Bulls faced in the play-in tournament last season.

Obviously, the Heat’s rally in the waning minutes to beat the Bulls helped propel them to the NBA Finals, placing them in a different tier. But the Heat lost Max Strus and Gabe Vincent from that team and now didn’t land Lillard, although early speculation has them pursuing Holiday.

The Raptors—again—miss out on a potential game-changing talent via trade, which could help the Bulls’ playoff chances.

This view, obviously, is small-time and short-term stuff. The Bucks are making moves to keep their franchise centerpiece and generational talent happy and chase championships, while the Bulls are merely hoping to return to the playoffs.

The Bulls report to training camp next week with the same core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic and, again, without Lonzo Ball. He is expected to miss his second straight full season following his third left knee surgery, creating the current point guard battle between Carter, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu.

The Bulls held preliminary conversations with the Trail Blazers in July on Lillard, though sources at that time indicated they didn’t gain traction. While LaVine’s future continues to land in speculation, the Bulls don’t possess much draft capital and still owe the San Antonio Spurs a protected first-round pick in 2025 from the DeRozan acquisition.

The Bulls won’t have to wait long to view the new iteration of these new-look Bucks. They open preseason play in Milwaukee on Oct. 8.

Following the 2021-22 season, the Bucks showed how wide the gap between the two Central Division rivals stood with a five-game, first-round playoff victory. Holiday averaged 16.4 points, 6.8 assists and 5 rebounds along with his stellar perimeter defense in that series.

Should the teams meet again in the 2024 NBA playoffs, it’s notable that Lillard has averaged 25.7 points and 6.2 assists over 12 career playoff series. In a league filled with starpower, the Bucks took a big swing on Wednesday.

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Chicago Bulls executives Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley visited the WSCR-AM 670 studio on Wednesday and said the starting point guard will be determined by a training camp competition.

“I think it’s going to be competition, fierce competition. It’s going to be a lot of good guards,” Karnišovas told The Score hosts Dan Bernstein, Laurence Holmes and Leila Rahimi. “That’s mentality we’re going into training camp (with.) I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be hard for (coach) Billy (Donovan).”

Management received a verbal commitment from Jevon Carter and re-signed White on the opening night of free agency. Later in the offseason, Dosunmu, who held the position last season until Patrick Beverley arrived via the buyout market, re-signed.

The Bulls have said Lonzo Ball will miss his second straight season as he attempts a comeback from his troublesome left knee, leaving the position open.

Earlier this summer, in an appearance on NBC Sports Chicago’s Bulls Talk Podcast, Eversley detailed what made Carter attractive to the Bulls.

“He brings toughness, grit, a competitive spirit to our group that we felt we needed to address. And we’ve done that,” Eversley told NBC Sports Chicago. “Not to mention, he’s a 40 percent 3-point shooter. We’ve talked a lot about adding shooting.”

Indeed, shooting and having a more cohesive group served as central themes of management’s appearance on The Score. The Bulls were the only team in the NBA last season not to attempt at least 30 3-point attempts per game.

“We were lowest 3-point rate, lowest 3-pointers made last year. We’re trying to change our shooting profile and play a little faster, move the ball better,” Karnišovas said on The Score. “Playing a little faster is going to create more 3-point attempts because a lot of 3-point attempts created in our league are on the fast break. Those are open 3s. The way you create 3s is you gotta run or you gotta get to the paint. We didn’t do a very good job last year getting to the paint.”

Adding Torrey Craig in free agency as well as Carter also could help the Bulls’ 3-point shooting. Those and second-round pick Julian Phillips are the only two additions to a team that will be headed to Nashville, Tenn., next week for training camp.

The Bulls haven’t held training camp outside of Chicago since Jerry Krause’s first season as general manager when the franchise traveled to Beloit College in Wisconsin.

“Everybody’s together,” Eversley said on The Score. “We’re going to go to practice together. We’re going to eat together. We’re going to have team functions together. We’re going to program the week so they do everything together. From Day One, find a common purpose and build up from that.

“I thought we had a pretty good run last year from the All-Star break. We were 14-9, incredible comeback against Toronto in the play-in game, up five late against Miami. And we all saw what Miami did. And so it kind of speaks to the parity that Artūras is talking about.

“But what we learned from our team when we had our exit interviews was they were a team but they didn’t really feel like a team. It’s almost like you just show up, you go to work, you go home and you show up the next day. They love to play. And our coaches love to coach. We were a team, but they didn’t feel like they were really a team. That is something to us that was important to us in the offseason to address. And we’re addressing it from Day One when we get to Nashville.”

With a point guard competition beginning then as well.

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Even with less than two weeks until training camp, the Zach LaVine rumors won’t die. On to your questions.

Are the Bulls in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes? — Brian H.

In July, the teams at least engaged in preliminary conversations, which is detailed in this piece. And the sentiment of that piece regarding Zach LaVine still applies. Essentially, there always seems to be internal hurdles for LaVine to clear to be widely accepted as the lead option on a championship contending team. And thus, he consistently lands in trade rumors.

Or, as LaVine himself put it in a July interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Monte Poole before he played in the American Century Championship golf tournament: “When there’s smoke, there’s fire. Every once in awhile, you see a little bit too much smoke. I’ve been with the Bulls for seven years. I’ve had my name in trade talks. You don’t love it, but you understand the business. I’ve been traded before.”

PHLY_Sports’ Kyle Neubeck upped the ante late Wednesday by saying on his outlet’s podcast that the Bulls “might be trying to move LaVine as part of a multi-team deal just to see if they can get into the Lillard sweepstakes.” Multiple league sources indicated throughout the offseason that the Trail Blazers showed little interest in acquiring LaVine directly, mostly because he doesn’t match their rebuilding path and commitment to a young backcourt of Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons.

With the quiet weeks of August and early September in the rearview mirror and training camp fast approaching, the Lillard situation is intensifying. And the Trail Blazers are under no obligation to trade Lillard to his preferred destination of Miami. If the Bulls were to trade for Lillard, a contract extension for DeMar DeRozan, who shares Lillard’s agent, would certainly follow. (It may happen anyway, obviously.)

That would mean the Bulls would be tied to roughly $115 million for three players in Lillard, DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic once Lillard’s two-year, $121.8 million extension kicks in for the 2025-26 season. Trading LaVine to clear the decks for Lillard might also cost at least another asset in the form of a young player like Patrick Williams or Coby White or first-round picks. So you’d have to be all in on the idea of that Big Three, particularly since the Bulls still owe the Spurs a first-round pick from the DeRozan acquisition.

The next two weeks will be telling regarding how much the Bulls value LaVine.

With the overall depressing Chicago sports landscape these days and on a gloomy rainy day, I figured why not buy some stock in Team #Continuity and try to cheer up Bulls nation. There are plenty of reasons for optimism toward this team. They addressed their biggest weaknesses this summer with good value free agency signings and continued to work the early part of the second round for potential diamonds in the rough.  For the first time since Ball went down, the Bulls have depth at PG (if not an elite option), on the wing and at center.  Maybe this is the season that Donovan and Co. finally put together an above average offense and defense at the same time with the Big 3, and maybe the team can maintain its stellar health from last year. Maybe Pat, Coby, or Ayo make the jump this season; heck, maybe all of them do! If all of the stars align completely, is it totally impossible to see them improve by 10 games? 50-32 seems like a lofty goal and, sure, a more modest improvement (if any) is much more likely. But at the dawn of the 10th season since we last won a second-round playoff game, why not raise our collective hopes to insanely high levels? — Nick P.

I’ve made this point on our Bulls Talk Podcast. I feel like the 2021-22 Bulls won some wild “clutch” games—defined as within five points or less with 5 minutes to play—and the 2022-23 Bulls lost some wild clutch games. So I’m firmly in the camp of this team falling somewhere between those 46 and 40 victories. Since I’m generally an optimist, I’m going with 44-38. That’s assuming good health.

The Eastern Conference is filled with parity. The division got tougher, too. (I love what Indiana is building, and they have one of the most overlooked elite coaches in the game IMO.) I do agree with you that, on paper, the Bulls possess a ton of depth. Donovan and his staff possess myriad lineup options and combinations.

Which player are you most intrigued by early in the season and why? — Matt A.

Coby White. I think he’s poised to have an extremely solid season, and I’m intrigued to see his continued growth as a two-way player. By most all accounts, he had his best season last season despite posting his lowest-scoring average. He put in his offseason work. And between the organization making re-signing him a priority and his off-court personality blossoming last season, him taking another jump wouldn’t surprise.

What are the odds of Billy Donovan involving more movement in his offensive schemes? — Jason

High. How many times did you hear Donovan talk about less isolation during training camp last season? The word he opted for at the time, and later refined, was “randomness.”

All coaches seek ball and player movement. And Donovan loves playing up-tempo, too, which is why he sometimes opts for small ball. You’ll hear a lot about playing with pace during training camp this season. But also: Players resort to their strengths. And when the Bulls really need a hoop, DeRozan prefers to play slower, get to his spots and score in the midrage. So there has to be a balance.

Why not trade DeMar DeRozan and see what Patrick Williams can do with a bigger role? He will never develop as the fourth option on a team. I know DeMar provides value in a lot of ways, but his game is outdated. He’s a midrange shooter in a 3-point shooting league and he plays no defense. We need to see what Patrick can do before we give up on him too early and watch him flourish like Lauri Markkanen is now doing in Utah. Your thoughts? — Emir M.

I’m not a believer that these scenarios fall in the either/or department. Some do. I don’t.

I thought Williams developed quite a bit last season, which, essentially, was his second season given the significant injury which clouded his second season. He can develop with DeRozan on the roster. And, in fact, DeRozan helps with his development by taking him under his wing for offseason workouts and the like.

Now, whether to trade DeRozan or not is a separate discussion to me. And if the Bulls are faltering at the February 2024 deadline, I have to believe this iteration of the roster will finally be tweaked.

Do you think it’s better for Patrick Williams’ development if he plays mostly with the second unit where he has more offensive freedom? I see Torrey Craig being a perfect fit with the first unit and he knows how to navigate not being the main option and playing his role.  I believe Patrick’s preferred play style his him on ball more. — Victor D.

This, to me, is one of the biggest storylines of training camp. I thought Billy Donovan and his staff expertly managed Williams’ move to the second unit last season, and I think it benefitted Williams and the team.

I agree with you that Craig is one of those “seamless fit” players who would serve as a wonderful complementary piece with the first unit. But he also will be solid no matter what role he fills.

Is it important for Williams’ confidence and growth to have the prestige of starting? This is a question I’m sure the coaching staff has asked and answered in advance of camp. One possible scenario would be to start Williams but stagger his minutes so that he’s also playing a solid portion of his minutes with the second unit and against opposing second units. Stay tuned.

Can the Bulls trade Lonzo Ball this season? Will they even consider it? — Dan G.

Before answering this intriguing question, let’s make sure to acknowledge the obligatory fact that everybody is pulling for Ball to make a comeback. Injuries are the worst.

With that out of the way, from a business perspective, let’s say that Ball is unfortunately unable to return. He has a $21.4 million player option for 2024-25 that he surely will exercise. But if his injury is declared career-ending, the Bulls can apply to have that salary wiped from their salary cap and luxury tax sheets. Do they utilize this to their advantage or look to use his soon-to-be-expired contract as an asset in a trade, almost like salary cap relief? My sense is nothing happens this season because Ball is working hard to try to return.

The Bulls still don’t have a true point guard and we know the significance of Lonzo Ball for this team when he was healthy. They were one of the top teams in the league. I love Coby White and think he’s going to have a breakout year. I also like the Jevon Carter signing. But they aren’t true point guards. Do you think the Bulls would consider using the $10 million exception they have available from Lonzo’s injury on Kyle Lowly should he become available once Miami trades for Damian Lillard? Does that $10 million count against the cap? I feel like Lowry would be a great fit playing 25 minutes a game on this team that is guard-heavy but light on point guards. — Muly S.

Lowry is due $29.7 million this season. So several steps, including a buyout, would have to happen for this scenario even to be considered.

Separately, that the $10 million indeed counts against the salary cap isn’t the issue because it’s called a disabled player exception for a reason. You can use exceptions to surpass the cap, which the Bulls have. But the salary of whatever player is potentially added counts for luxury tax purposes, and therein lies the rub. The Bulls, by virtue of using a portion of their midlevel exception to sign Carter, are hard capped at $172.3 million. Currently, they have roughly $165.5 million of committed salary. So as currently constructed, they only can use a shade under $7 million of the disabled player exception, which is just above the remaining portion of the midlevel exception they possess.

What is Billy Donovan’s biggest challenge, maintaining good defensive performance or improving attacking production? — Bulls Nation Brasil

I think it’s the latter. The Bulls finished fifth in defensive rating last season and added tough-minded defenders in Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig. They finished 24th in offensive rating, which shouldn’t happen for a team with such gifted offensive players. Carter and Craig, on paper, add shooting and smart, quick decision-making offensively. But it obviously doesn’t fall on just them. The offense needs to score off defense and not become so predictable in the halfcourt setting.

What are the “stakes” of this season? What outcomes would be considered a success and what would be considered a failure—both in your eyes and the organization’s? — Steve P.

I dislike disappointing you, but my stakes are centered on mundane things like flights running on time and the like. But obviously you mean from a team performance standpoint, so here goes.

In my eyes, a successful season would be a top-six playoff seed and winning a playoff series. This isn’t a championship team. So while that may seem like modest expectations, they represent this team reaching its full potential to me. A failure would be another non-playoff season.

I look forward to hearing what the organization’s goals are on Media Day. Last season, management said it expected improvement over the previous season. That didn’t happen. So how does management frame this season? We’ll find out soon enough.

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The annual ranking considers a team’s top players and “estimates the potential trade returns based on recent market trends and comparable player trades,” and also takes into account a team’s overall draft capital. The Bulls landed at No. 30 on this year’s list.

Yossi Gozlan, HoopsHype contributor and NBA salary cap expert for USA Today Sports Wire Media Group, said there are “no veterans with premium trade value or blue-chip prospects” in the Bulls organization.

“They lost a ton of value in the Nikola Vucevic trade, where they gave up Wendell Carter Jr. and the picks that became Franz Wagner and Anthony Black,” Gozlan said. “Zach LaVine’s value might not be very strong due to his maximum contract. DeMar DeRozan has been fantastic for them, but his return in a deal might be limited given his age. And Lonzo Ball has lost a lot of time with a knee injury.”

On Tuesday’s episode of the “Bulls Talk Podcast,” Bulls Insider K.C. Johnson agreed that the Bulls’ are asset-deprived due to a lack of draft capital but objected to the assertion that the players under contract don’t have trade value.

“They forgot two words: Alex Caruso,” Johnson said. “I mean, that would be a first-round pick guaranteed minimum.

“The other thing is, in this day and age with the salary cap going up, Zach [Lavine]’s contract is eventually going to look like a bargain. And people are sleeping on how good Zach LaVine is.”

LaVine got off to a slow start last year, beginning the season on an injury maintenance plan after having knee surgery in the offseason. If not for that, Johnson believes he would have made his third-straight All-Star team last year.

“I mean, the dude is an elite scorer on, to me, what’s going to be ultimately a value contract as the salary cap goes up,” Johnson said. “So I would argue that he has value.”

Johnson then argued that DeRozan will have some value at the trade deadline if the Bulls choose not to extend his contract.

Listen to the full episode of the “Bulls Talk Podcast” here.

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The NBA Board of Governors on Wednesday passed a Player Participation Policy, aimed to limit excessive load management and ensure star players appear in nationally televised and in-season tournament games.

To which Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic collectively shrugged—symbolically, of course. The Bulls’ current and former All-Stars, collectively, long have yawned at the idea of load management.

“I hate missing games,” DeRozan said during the 2021-22 season after a late-season game in which, indeed, the coaching staff finally convinced him to take off one game.

Vucevic is coming off playing all 82 games for the first time in his 12-year career but has played 73 or more games six times.

DeRozan has two 82-game seasons, one 80-game and 10 seasons of at least 74 games over his 14-game career.

And LaVine not only played through a knee injury during a contract season in 2021-22 but played a career-high 2,768 minutes over 77 games last season and didn’t miss a game from November to April following an early-season maintenance plan to address his offseason left knee surgery.

You can dissect the pros and cons of the Bulls’ Big Three from sunup to sundown. But the trio scores unassailably high marks for availability and desire to play.

“I’ve missed enough games already,” LaVine said early in his Bulls’ tenure.

This is a nod to LaVine overcoming a February 2017 left ACL tear, which made his decision to play through his nagging left knee pain—during a 2021-22 contract season—as the Bulls chased their first playoff berth in five years all the more admirable.

DeRozan, who turned 34 last month, actually qualifies for one exception and almost two because of his age and career workload. While he by one year misses the exception of being 35 on opening night, his 1,031 career games and 35.471 career minutes allow him to receive a pre-approved miss of a back-to-back game as long as the Bulls apply a week prior to the game.

But given how much DeRozan resisted the organization’s attempts to get him to take one game off late in the 2021-22 season until he finally acquiesced, it’s a safe bet this loophole goes unused. DeRozan also played through a nagging thigh injury last season.

The NBA already had instituted a minimum games played requirement for players to be eligible for most valuable player, All-NBA, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player or All-Defensive team honors. Players need to appear in at least 65 games or have played in at least 62 and 85 percent of his team’s games before suffering a season-ending injury.

So participation and curbing the practice of star players missing games is top of mind in the league offices.

Last season, Luka Dončić missed the Dallas Mavericks’ lone trip to the United Center with a strained right quadriceps, leaving a wake of crestfallen fans wearing his jersey disappointed. While Dončić’s minor injury would’ve precluded this new policy from applying to him, seeing those disappointed fans is a reminder of the impact these stars can have.

It’s what made Michael Jordan’s awareness so great. He wouldn’t even take off preseason games, some played in remote, neutral sites, because he understood the obligation of appearing for fans.

That was a different era, one where star players routinely logged 82-game seasons. In this era of load management, the approach of LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic should be lauded.

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In a departure, the Chicago Bulls will hold their first week of training camp at a remote site, Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

The team announced on Wednesday plans that have been in the works for months. Following Media Day at the Advocate Center on Oct. 2, the team will hold five days of practice in Nashville, a destination picked with input from players and coaches and finalized by management.

Other NBA teams choose this route of holding a portion of training camp remotely. Previous executive vice president John Paxson flirted with the idea several times back when the Bulls practiced at the Berto Center in suburban Deerfield, Ill., coming close to holding camp in Colorado one time.

In 1985, under Jerry Krause and with reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Jordan, the Bulls trained at Beloit College in Beloit, Wis.

Current executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas, head coach Billy Donovan and select players will address the media in Chicago on Oct. 2 before the team flies to Tennessee.

Following the fifth day of practice in Nashville, the Bulls will fly back to the Midwest for their preseason opener on Oct. 8 in Milwaukee against the Bucks.

The Bulls will then hold the remainder of their training camp at the Advocate Center, including the home preseason opener against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets on Oct. 12. The Bulls have a five-game preseason schedule.

Training camp will feature two intriguing position battles at point guard and power forward. Newcomers Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig are in the mix to start at both positions, battling Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Alex Caruso and Patrick Williams.

Depth projects to be a strong suit for the 2023-24 Bulls, with Donovan and his staff owning myriad opportunities with a potential 10-player rotation of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Caruso, White, Williams, Carter, Craig, Dosunmu and Andre Drummond.

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Training camp begins next month. Barring an unexpected move, the Chicago Bulls’ roster is set.

But management’s work never ends.

And DeMar DeRozan is eligible for a contract extension.

“His first two years here, he’s been terrific. He’s been probably one or two of our best players, All-NBA. He continues to work at a rate that you would want a veteran to work at,” general manager Marc Eversley said last month during an appearance on the Bulls Talk Podcast. “We talked to him (in August)—(coach) Billy (Donovan), AK (executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas) and I—just about the season, the outlook, what are our goals and what we’re looking to accomplish. He’s completely aligned with what we want to do.

“He’s the ultimate leader, the ultimate teammate. He takes all the young guys under his wing. He’s been terrific.”

So how much is that worth? And is re-signing DeRozan the most prudent path forward for the organization?

Whether or not the Bulls overpaid to acquire DeRozan, parting with draft capital on top of signing him to a three-year, $82 million deal, it’s indisputable that DeRozan’s play has made the financial part of the contract reasonable.

DeRozan has averaged 26.2 points, 5 assists and 4.9 rebounds over his two seasons in Chicago. He has made two All-Star teams and earned one All-NBA designation. He has shot 50.4 percent and proved durable, playing in 150 games, all starts.

Beyond numbers, his quiet leadership and ability to take young players under his wing has resonated throughout the organization. Having turned 34 last month, his work ethic and old-school, midrange game suggest his NBA life will age gracefully.

From his perspective, coming to the Bulls after a much-publicized dalliance with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers didn’t pan out has served as a renaissance for his potential Hall of Fame career.

“Man, Chicago’s been everything for me, honestly. I can’t even find the words of appreciation and love that this organization and these fans have given to me. Just allowing me to be me, allowing me to be the person I always knew I was careerwise and embracing it. It’s been amazing,” DeRozan said after the season ended. “It’s a hell of a story especially with the route I took being in San Antonio three years. Coming here and just kind of helping this organization and this city get back on the map.”

When the Bulls originally acquired DeRozan via that sign-and-trade transaction with the San Antonio Spurs, it appeared management viewed this roster iteration as a three-year window. Particularly with the way the Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso contracts are structured.

But since then, management has signed Zach LaVine to a maximum contract extension and re-signed Nikola Vucevic to a three-year, $60 million deal. They have doubled down on continuity.

Thus, given that they almost certainly will be operating as an over-the-cap team next offseason, a strong argument can be made to re-sign DeRozan. But at what price?

DeRozan is eligible for a four-year extension worth roughly $179 million. Given that he has outplayed his current deal on the court and represented the Bulls so professionally off it, his agent, Aaron Goodwin, would certainly be reasonable asking for that max.

But the Bulls, who value DeRozan extremely highly, are obviously under no obligation to sign him to that. His current deal represents roughly 21 percent of the salary cap. With the cap rising, an extension similar to the one Khris Middleton signed with the Bucks—three years, $102 million—would be roughly the same percentage of the salary cap.

Would that be enough for DeRozan? Or is there middle ground between the two?

If the Bulls were going to pivot off this core, the February 2023 trade deadline seemed like the ideal time to do so. Instead, the Bulls chased a play-in spot and then re-signed Vucevic, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu this offseason.

It’s not like letting DeRozan walk after this season makes the Bulls flush with salary cap space. Re-signing him to a deal that aligns with the life of Vucevic’s contract is one path. Waiting to see how the Bulls are faring between now and the February 2024 deadline is another.

Stay tuned. Management’s work never ends.

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Former Chicago Bulls All-Star Luol Deng is the president of the South Sudan Basketball Federation, a country that made history on Monday thanks, in part, to a current Bull.

Carlik Jones’ 21 points and six assists led South Sudan to an 89-69 victory over China to help the 12-year-old country post its first-ever World Cup victory.

“We made history,” Jones, who is of South Sudanese descent, told reporters in Manila, Philippines afterward. “We came to do what we wanted to do. We’re not done. We got a lot to play.

“But it’s so huge for the players and the fans. The feeling is unbelievable. We all worked so hard. It’s huge for the country. We’re just blessed to be here.”

Deng endured civil war growing up in Sudan before his family received political asylum and put down roots in London, England. He proudly represented Great Britain as the host country while playing at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

But Deng always kept involved with his homeland. And when South Sudan, which earned its independence in 2011, needed a president to run its federation shortly after Deng retired from his stellar NBA career, the stars aligned.

Deng appeared on the Bulls Talk Podcast in 2021 to discuss the impact of his role, which included him serving as coach initially before he hired former NBA player Royal Ivey.

“Things didn’t always go our way, but we kept pushing,” Deng said on the podcast. “We couldn’t get players in the beginning to commit to see the bigger picture. But we kept pushing.

“One of the things that as a kid, watching the Olympics, the soccer World Cup, AfroBasket, EuroBasket, I always felt that there’s something within you—you could call it pride—that changes you as a person or your love for your country when you see your flag, the ceremony, the induction. For some countries, like the U.S., people don’t think about that because it’s guaranteed.

“But think about it when you’re from a country where you had civil war and anything in sports that was represented you being that side of the country, you didn’t represent that flag. You felt some type of way because of the civil unrest.”

South Sudan, which is 1-1, next faces Serbia on Wednesday in a crucial game to advance out of group stage play. Currently ranked 62nd in the world, South Sudan also is vying to earn Africa’s automatic qualifying bid for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Luol Deng is the heart and soul of this,” Ivey, who is an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets, told reporters in Manila after Monday’s game. “Without Luol, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. He had a great vision. I entrusted in his vision and it all came together. I’m in awe that I’m sitting here at the World Cup. I’m forever indebted to Luol for giving me an opportunity to coach this team.”

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In his strongest remarks to date about his playing future, Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball insisted he will return to the basketball court.

“I’m going to play again,” Ball said Saturday.

Ball spoke at Invest Fest in Atlanta, dubbed “the world’s biggest business festival” and filled with speakers from the worlds of music, investment and entertainment. According to a release from the event promoters, Ball spoke about “the cultural impact of Big Baller Brand” as well as his “journey as a child star and managing expectations.”

But the most important words for Bulls fans came when he was asked on stage about his NBA future. Ball hasn’t played since January 2022, has endured three left knee surgeries including a cartilage transplant and has already been ruled out for the 2023-24 season.

“Life is not easy,” Ball said. “If you want to get the most out of it, you gotta put your best foot forward. If you’re going to get knocked down, you gotta get back up every time if you want to keep going. You can always quit and take the easy way out and pout and go to the side. But for me, if you’re trying to get to a place where I want to get to, you just gotta get back up, dust off and keep going.

“I’m going to play again.”

Ball has been in the headlines all week after talking optimistically about his future in an appearance on “From the Point by Trae Young” podcast. Those words then prompted a strong response from ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith and a back-and-forth between Ball and Smith when Smith claimed Ball couldn’t even rise out of a chair.

“The outside noise doesn’t bother me,” Ball said in Atlanta. “The Stephen A. thing, he has a wide platform. And to me, I just don’t appreciate when people put out fake news like that, especially someone of his stature that can touch a lot of people.

“For me, I know what I gotta do to get back. And I’m just on a path doing what I gotta do every day, taking it step-by-step. I don’t look too far ahead. I know in my near future that I will be back on the court for sure.”

Ball has a player option for the 2023-24 season. The Bulls have received a $10.2 million disabled player exception for this season because both the team and Ball have said he won’t play. However, the Bulls are right at the luxury tax threshold of $165.3 million with two non-guaranteed contracts in Carlik Jones and Terry Taylor and can’t exceed the hard cap of $172.3 million.

But that’s the financial stuff for this season. The most intriguing aspect is Ball’s potential return for the 2023-24 season, one which the guard is obviously quite confident he can make.

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NBA teams typically go as far as their starpower takes them.

But that doesn’t mean this isn’t an important season for forward Patrick Williams. In fact, during his appearance on the Bulls Talk Podcast from Bulls Fest outside the United Center over the weekend, Bulls general manager Marc Eversley detailed what he wants to see from the fourth-year forward.

“He has shown flashes over the first three years. I want to see him show more instances of flashes, more consistent,” Eversley said on the podcast. “He’s got it in him. A lot of that comes with growth off of the court. And I can tell you he’s starting to grow. He’s starting to get it. It’s starting to click. And when he puts it together—and he will put it together—we might have something special.”

Williams played all 82 games for the first time last season, averaging in double figures also for the first time. That he played all 82 games carried even more weight after he lost most of his second season to wrist surgery. Williams also shot 41.5 percent as he pushed his 3-point attempts over 3 per game for the first time in his young career, averaging 3.4.

But some of Williams’ impact came when coach Billy Donovan moved him to the second unit to pair with Coby White. Williams started 65 games, but Donovan inserted Alex Caruso at power forward after the Bulls added veteran Patrick Beverley from the buyout market.

Time will tell if Donovan and his staff continue to utilize the chemistry that Williams and White enjoyed in reserve roles. But as the fourth overall pick and up for an extension of his rookie contract, Williams at some point may need to make consistent impact as a starter.

Before he moved into a reserve role, Williams said he became more comfortable figuring out how to stay aggressive playing alongside stars in Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic. But if Donovan and his staff choose to start Williams this season, that education needs to continue.

“I think it’s a really important year for Patrick, one as a player and two as somebody in our locker room to kind of complement those guys. We’ve talked a lot about people fitting in with those three. I think Patrick is going to be challenged with the same thing,” Eversley said. “But I think this year is the year where he really needs to step it up and figure it out.”

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All Torrey Craig needed was a chance.

Undrafted out of University of South Carolina Upstate in 2014, Craig spent three seasons playing in Australia before the Denver Nuggets invited him to their summer league team.

“That’s all I needed to get my foot in the door,” Craig said on his appearance on the Bulls Talk Podcast from last weekend’s Bulls Fest outside the United Center. “Ever since, I’ve just been making a name for myself and trying to impact winning on every team I’ve been on. And I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that.”

Artūras Karnišovas saw it first-hand. He worked for the Nuggets when Craig turned that summer league opportunity into three seasons of impactful rotational minutes.

That’s why what Craig said about Karnisovas targeting him along with Jevon Carter in free agency didn’t surprise.

“Actually, the last couple free agencies, me and AK have been talking. And we just couldn’t get it done,” Craig said. “We kind of knew what kind of pieces he wanted and what (Carter and I) could bring and what kind of team we had the potential to be, especially with the guys who are already here. We want to be one of those tough, hard-nosed, defensive-minded, competitive teams all year round.”

Craig signed with the Bulls following the best of his six NBA seasons. He started 60 of his 79 games for a powerhouse Phoenix Suns team, shooting a career-high 39.5 percent from 3-point range while bringing the defensive mindset that has carved out his solid reputation throughout the league.

Craig averaged a career-high 24.7 minutes, posting averages of 7.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.6 steals as he served as one of those glue guys among star players like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

The Bulls expect him to do the same playing alongside DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine.

“I was telling Coach (Billy Donovan) one day, just watching the games and seeing how much talent they had and some of the games they would lose and seeing how I could contribute and bring a little bit more toughness, a little bit more edge, a little bit more competitiveness to some of those games to be more consistent,” Craig said. “That definitely played a factor in my decision to come here.”

Craig admitted he arrives flush with confidence, particularly after playing so well in the Suns’ first-round playoff victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. He said the Bulls “definitely” have playoff potential.

“Winning and playing at a high level it definitely translates. I’m going to ride that confidence here,” Craig said. “Everybody knows two of the most talented scorers on the team with LaVine and DeRozan. Once those guys get it going, it’s pretty much a wrap. As a defender, I can give those guys tips and advice on what teams want to do and how they want to guard them and the insight I had playing against those guys to give them any edge they need.”

Craig said he’s “always been an underdog.” He’s from a small town. He went to a small high school and small college.

That underdog mentality will continue to fuel this latest big opportunity with the Bulls.

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Every year, the NBA schedule comes out and—shocker alert—it contains 41 road and 41 home games for all 30 teams.

And yet it’s studied like some ancient scroll, parsed for sleights—12 back-to-backs and that team has 11!—and favorable stretches.

Even though the Chicago Bulls’ schedule, released Thursday, only contains 80 games—40 road and 40 home—because two will be finalized depending on the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament results, who are we to disrupt history?

Here are the seven most important games from the Bulls’ regular-season schedule:

Oct. 25 vs. Oklahoma City

The opener always gets first nod. It’s a first real chance to look at the work management has done over the offseason.

Who will start at point guard between Jevon Carter, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu or Alex Caruso? Who will start at power forward between Patrick Williams, Torrey Craig and Caruso? And while those questions likely will have been answered throughout training camp—and, as an aside, the fact Caruso is mentioned at these two positions is wild—it’s still going to be a raucous atmosphere at United Center.

That it comes against an up-and-coming Oklahoma City team with Chet Holmgren expected to make his NBA regular-season debut after missing his rookie season to injury and with a star-on-the-rise coach in Mark Daigneault who trained under Billy Donovan makes it all the more intriguing.

Nov. 4 at Denver

This game stands out not only because it’s against the defending NBA champions and Artūras Karnišovas’ former team. But it certainly could qualify as one of those “tough schedule” games—the second of a home-and-away back-to-back played at altitude and in a location that’s typically part of a multi-game road trip.

So are the Bulls going to fold or show fortitude? This game could be a sneak preview of this team’s collective mental toughness.

Let’s also not forget that Nikola Vučević dominated Nikola Jokić in one of the Bulls’ best games from last season, a 117-96 road victory in which Vučević posted 25 points, 15 rebounds and three assists.

Nov. 18 vs. Miami

The NBA began this practice a couple seasons ago, scheduling two straight games in the same city in a series that has some playoff vibes to it. Last season, the New York Knicks and old friends Tom Thibodeau and Derrick Rose visited.

This season, it’s old friend Jimmy Butler and the defending Eastern Conference champion Heat, whom the Bulls had on the ropes in a play-in game before Miami rallied and advanced all the way to the NBA Finals.

With the second straight home game scheduled for Nov. 20, these two-game series typically feature multiple coaching adjustments. That gives Donovan and his staff and the opportunity to face off against Erik Spoelstra and his. Spoelstra is widely considered one of the league’s elite coaches.

And the fact this two-game set is reprised in Miami on Dec. 14-16 makes the season series even more intriguing.

Dec. 20 vs. Lakers

Not only is LeBron James in the house, but this begins a season-high, six-game homestand and a high-profile set of back-to-back games that brings hyped rookie Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs to town the following night.

Two of the six games are against Central Division rivals. And it concludes against a Philadelphia 76ers team that may or may not feature James Harden but will feature Joel Embiid.

A victory against a revamped Lakers team that added Gabe Vincent to James, Anthony Davis, DeAngelo Russell and Austin Reaves could kick-start a stretch where the Bulls are home for the holidays.

Jan. 22, 2024 at Suns

This matchup begins a three-game trip that includes the Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers, who may or may not employ Damian Lillard at that time but will feature hyped rookie Scoot Henderson.

It’s the second opportunity for Torrey Craig to face the team for which he started 60 games and played in 79 last season. But by this time, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker should have more chemistry than in their November 2023 trip to the United Center.

This will be a tough test.

March 23, 2024 vs. Celtics

The Bulls open the season’s stretch run with a three-game homestand against one of the Eastern Conference’s elite teams.

The Bulls finished 2-2 last season against the Celtics, who traded Marcus Smart and Grant Williams while adding Kristaps Porzingis.

April 12, 2024 at Wizards

The opponent isn’t flashy. But this is the Bulls’ next-to-last game of the season and concludes the final of their 14 sets of back-to-back games. It comes as part of a three-game trip that opens the previous night against the Detroit Pistons.

Winning both those road games against rebuilding teams could be crucial for playoff seeding, particularly since the last game of the season is a tough test at Madison Square Garden against Jalen Brunson, Thibodeau and company two days later.

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The Chicago Bulls already knew their opponents for the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament, having landed in the East Group C pool with the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic following a league-run random drawing.

Now, they know the dates of their four matchups to determine if they’ll advance to the knockout rounds.

Home games on Nov. 3 against the Nets and Nov. 17 against the Magic plus road games on Nov. 24 versus the Raptors and Nov. 28 versus the Celtics comprise the Bulls’ four-game group play stage. The NBA released the tournament schedule on Tuesday.

Eight teams will advance to the knockout rounds to be played on Dec. 4-5—-the six teams with the best standing from each of the six groupings, plus two wild card teams comprised of one team from each conference with the best record that finished second in group play.

All group play games, the aforementioned knockout rounds and the Dec. 7 semifinal matchups in Las Vegas will count as regular-season games. The Dec. 9 championship game to determine the inaugural NBA Cup winner will not count as a regular-season game.

Those teams that don’t advance to the knockout rounds will play two regular-season games against other non-qualifying teams on Dec. 6 and 8. Thus, for the first time, this year’s NBA regular-season schedule, which will be released Thursday, will initially list just 80 games—with two more for each team to be determined as the In-Season Tournament unfolds.

If that all sounds confusing, the matchups shouldn’t be. Here’s a look at what the Bulls’ four opponents added and lost over a typically eventful NBA offseason.

Nov. 3 vs. Nets

Seth Curry, Yuta Watanabe, Joe Harris and Patty Mills are gone. Curry and Watanabe left in free agency. Management traded the latter two in cost-cutting moves.

Dennis Smith Jr., Darius Bazley, Lonnie Walker IV and Trendon Watford are in, signing as free agents in upside moves. The Nets also added Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead with the 21^st and 22^nd picks in the NBA Draft, one largely seen as deep by scouts.

But the biggest move was re-signing Cam Johnson, acquired in the Kevin Durant trade. Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie are the centerpieces now, with Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton playing significant roles.

If Ben Simmons can regain even a glimmer of his previous form, this team could be intriguing.

Nov. 17 vs. Magic

Old friend Wendell Carter Jr. has authored some monster games against the team that drafted him. He has averaged 19.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in eight career meetings against the Bulls.

The Magic re-signed Mo Wagner, added Joe Ingles in free agency and drafted Anthony Black and Jett Howard, the latter pick representing the final piece to the Nikola Vucevic trade. Before free agency began, the franchise also guaranteed the contracts of Gary Harris and Markelle Fultz.

Bol Bol and Michael Carter-Williams are gone. But this team still revolves around Carter Jr., Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and has some intriguing pieces in Jalen Suggs, Cole Anthony and Jonathan Isaac if he can stay healthy. And don’t forget: The Magic finished 29-28 after their brutal 5-20 start.

Nov. 24 at Raptors

Toronto has a new coach in former Memphis Grizzlies assistant Darko Rajakovic, who replaced Nick Nurse. But despite widespread speculation, leading scorer Pascal Siakam is still around. So is OG Anunoby.

Losing Fred VanVleet is significant, although Toronto quickly moved to sign Dennis Schroder as his replacement. The Raptors also re-signed center Jakob Poelto, drafted Gradey Dick and added Jalen McDaniels and former Bull Garrett Temple in free agency.

Holdover Gary Trent Jr. always seems to play well against the Bulls. And who knows? Perhaps Bulls summer-league standout Javon Freeman-Liberty will be up on his two-way contract by this game.

Nov. 28 at Celtics

Executive Brad Stevens did his biggest work before free agency, surprisingly trading a player long synonymous with the franchise in Marcus Smart. The three-team deal that sent Smart to the Grizzlies landed Kristaps Porzingis in Boston, which also re-signed Jaylen Brown to a $300 million extension.

Stevens also signed-and-traded Grant Williams to the Mavericks, and he added burly forward Oshae Brissett as a depth piece.

The Bulls, like all teams, will have their hands full with Jayson Tatum. Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III are holdovers too. How Porzingis fits is the main storyline to the Celtics’ season.

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In what could be the final move to the Chicago Bulls’ 2023 offseason, the team announced it signed forward Terry Taylor.

Taylor played for the Bulls last season after signing a two-way contract on Feb. 21. In a combined 31 games with the Bulls and Indiana Pacers, the 6-foot-5-inch forward averaged 2.9 points and 1.5 rebounds.

The Bulls currently have 15 NBA contracts and three two-way contracts, although Carlik Jones’ deal doesn’t become fully guaranteed until January 2024. Given that Taylor commands a modest salary and Jones’ deal affords flexibility, the Bulls can now easily avoid paying the luxury tax for only the second time in franchise history should they so choose.

The Bulls do still own roughly half of their $12.4 midlevel exception and received a $10.2 million disabled player exception for Lonzo Ball. So if the season is progressing well and a salary-adding move makes sense, perhaps they dip their toe into luxury tax land.

But for now, Taylor adds an affordable depth piece with some intriguing athletic upside who has dominated at the G League level and shown flashes in the NBA. But he still has to show more to prove he can be a regular NBA rotational player.

The Bulls remain relatively small in the frontcourt. Billy Donovan likely will enter the regular season with a 10-man rotation of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso, Coby White, Patrick Williams, Jevon Carter, Torrey Craig, Ayo Dosunmu and Andre Drummond.

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It’s late July, which means there shouldn’t be questions as the NBA prepares for its brief hiatus. But there’s that unresolved Damian Lillard story, James Harden’s consistent wanderlust and the nutty—compliment intended—Bulls fan’s never-ending worry. So here’s a mailbag.

Do you think the Bulls, who are a massively profitable organization and typically lead the NBA in attendance, will pay the luxury tax this season? — James R.

Nothing like coming out of the chute hot.

I think the Bulls will begin the season under the luxury tax and possibly enter it during the season if the season is going well. By my educated estimate, they sit roughly $2.4 million under the $165,294,000 luxury tax threshold with two roster spots available. This is assuming they waive Carlik Jones’ non-guaranteed salary.

I suppose there’s a small chance Jones is retained. But given that his $1.9 million salary is roughly the same as a veteran minimum exception, I’d expect a frontcourt player to be signed. Perhaps they sign two players to veteran minimum exceptions and go over the tax slightly to begin the season. But given the organization’s history of only paying the tax once, I’d be surprised.

I see the more likely scenario as entering the season with a 14-player roster and then possibly entering the tax during the season if things are going well and the right opportunity presents. The Bulls still have roughly half of the $12.4 million non-taxpayer mid-level, the $4.5 biannual and the $10.2 million disabled player exception for Lonzo Ball at their disposal.

Artūras Karnišovas said on draft night that he’d be comfortable presenting to ownership a case to enter the luxury tax for a contender. Bulls president and CEO Michael Reinsdorf told NBC Sports Chicago in February 2022 that he “absolutely” would pay the tax for a title-contending team. But he also added his usual context at the time.

“All you have to do is go back and look at the last number of championship teams, how many of them were in the luxury tax? With the nature of the NBA and having a soft cap, if you want to compete for championships, you have to be willing to spend into the tax,” Michael Reinsdorf said in an appearance on the Bulls Talk podcast. “I think most people will tell you, ‘I don’t want to spend into the tax if we’re not competing for championships, if we’re not good enough. I don’t want to be the 8th seed or out of the playoffs and go into the luxury tax.’”

And the Bulls were the 10^th seed last season and received the league distribution for non-tax teams of roughly $15.1 million.

What do you think the depth chart is? — Frank K.

I see Billy Donovan and his staff using a 10-player rotation of Jevon Carter, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Torrey Craig, Nikola Vucevic, Alex Caruso, Coby White, Patrick Williams, Ayo Dosunmu and Andre Drummond. Perhaps if Derrick Jones Jr. returns or Rudy Gay or somebody is added, he cracks the rotation at times over Drummond based on matchups. Regardless, Donovan has serious depth, which is why I also think they’d be comfortable entering the season with 14 players and staying under the tax for now.

Who starts at point guard and power forward are the biggest questions. You could make a strong case that following the blueprint of last season, in which Patrick Beverley and Alex Caruso started down the stretch, would be prudent. In that scenario, Torrey Craig would start at power forward and either Caruso or Jevon Carter would start at point guard, keeping Coby White and Patrick Williams together with that second unit. But I think this is Williams’ season to flourish. I see him in the starting lineup.

So my guess is: Carter, Dosunmu, Caruso at point guard; LaVine, White at shooting guard; DeRozan, Craig, Caruso at small forward, Williams, Caruso, Craig at power forward and Vucevic, Drummond at center.

It’s the Bulls fan from Anguilla, checking in. I’m actually excited about the direction of the Bulls’ offseason, and I’d love to get your thoughts on what has transpired. We signed the first two players whom you presented to the fans as options in your column, and that is awesome. I was already a fan of Carter and Craig. I feel like we’re finally building a team that fits the NBA in 2023, and we can’t understate the significance of signing two players who made real contributions to championship-level teams. The experience and toughness they will bring is invaluable. How do you feel about this current Bulls roster on paper? Are we better? — Lennox B.

The consistent use of “we” makes me wonder if this was ghost-written by Artūras. But I digress.

As I said in the previous answer, Bulls have solid and deep 10-player rotation. Craig and Carter are fantastic signings in my opinion, even without factoring in their manageable contracts. Both are tough, defensive-minded players who can shoot. Plus, both are good and quick decision-makers offensively. They will make the offense run smoothly.

The only quibble may be that they’re the kind of additions title-contending teams make to put them over the top. They definitely make the Bulls better, but the ultimate success will still come down to DeRozan, LaVine and Vucevic impacting winning more. All three of those players had very good individual seasons and the Bulls still missed the playoffs. But Craig and Carter also are the type of frontline role players who make stars better.

I’d like to see the Bulls add some more size with their final signing.

What are realistic expectations for Patrick Williams? I look at players like Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen, who I think the organization gave up on too quickly, and wonder if people are writing him off too early? He has all the physical tools to be a very good player in this league. — Scott D.

Does he have the mental tools? That’s what the organization has worked with him on—to develop a more aggressive mindset. Williams is very introspective and openly talked about his difficulty playing alongside players who need the ball like DeRozan, LaVine and Vucevic. But you can still be aggressive in those situations—cutting with purpose, sprinting in transition, attacking the offensive boards at the right time, setting good screens, making quick and proper decisions on attacking closeouts.

I thought Donovan made a great move bringing him off the bench. Now, the trick is to keep that mentality but exhibit it more consistently with the starters, even if the shots aren’t as numerous. But I agree with your overall point: He turns 22 in August. It’s way too early to fully judge him. Players develop at different speeds.

One quick correction on Markkanen: He wanted out and requested a trade. Now perhaps that’s semantical because the organization didn’t value or use him properly in his mind, leading to his request. But the Bulls would’ve been fine bringing him back the season they traded him to Cleveland, just at their price, not his.

I think the Bulls made a huge mistake not keeping Jevon Freeman-Liberty. Here’s a homegrown product who clearly displayed his shooting and leadership ability in summer league after playing well for the Windy City Bulls and they couldn’t even find a two-way contract for him? — Steve K.

We covered this topic in the latest edition of the Bulls Talk podcast, although I erroneously listed the guard as 6 feet, 2 inches when he’s actually 6-4. My apologies. You can listen to the podcast at the link below.

But his legit size only underscores the point I made on the podcast. I think Freeman-Liberty displayed NBA skill. And I hope he has a long career ahead of him. But notice that the Toronto Raptors didn’t sign him to an NBA deal, either. Let’s see how he and Onuralp Bitim play this season before making final judgements. As has been stated ad nauseum, the Bulls are loaded with guard. Bitim has a little more size and also displayed the ability to shoot it during overseas professional play.

There always seems to be a latest flavor of the day. I remember hearing that the Bulls should start Carlik Jones at point guard last year before they signed Patrick Beverley. Now, Jones apparently is forgotten while Freeman-Liberty is the focus. The Bulls absolutely may have erred by letting JFL walk; I’m just not ready to say they have until I see how he and Bitim handle their new opportunities.

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