The Chicago Bulls transformed their offensive system after studying the Indiana Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals last season. Billy Donovan implemented a 14-second shot clock during player-driven workouts in Miami before training camp to accelerate the team’s pace. The Bulls jumped from 28th in the NBA in pace in 2023-24 to second in 2024-25.
“They stole our mojo,” a Pacers team source told ESPN. “They said before the season they were going to emulate our play style. Giddey playing the role as Tyrese. The fast pace, the late-game comebacks, wearing teams down.”
The Bulls looked at their final 20 games of last season when they went 14-6. They then studied the Pacers’ roster construction and playing style built around multiple ball handlers and ball movement. Chicago saw a blueprint for what they could become if they followed the same course.
“That’s who we have to be,” Donovan said. “We have to be better than the sum of our parts.”
Chicago acquired Josh Giddey from Oklahoma City in June 2024 to serve as the engine of their new system. The Bulls envisioned Giddey playing a similar role to Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton as a pass-first playmaker. Multiple Bulls team sources acknowledged the similarities between what they are building and Indiana’s construction.
However, sources cited two key differences between the franchises. The Pacers played stingier defense, ranking 13th in defensive efficiency last season. Indiana also paired a second star, Pascal Siakam, alongside Haliburton to reach the Finals.
“They have Haliburton, who is an All-Star, and they have Siakam,” one Bulls source told ESPN. “If Giddey can develop into an All-Star and be what Hali was, when do we pull the trigger to get our Siakam?”
Giddey is nearly averaging a triple-double this season with 20.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 9.3 assists. He is shooting a career-best 39.2 percent from three-point range. Chicago has eight players averaging double figures and ranks second in bench scoring.
The Bulls started 6-1 this season with a top-10 pace and ranked seventh in offense and 10th in defense. Since then they have fallen to 9-10 and rank 23rd in both offense and defense. Chicago is giving up an average of 56.5 points in the paint during that stretch, third-most in the NBA.
“If you look at the teams, it’s similar personnel,” Giddey told ESPN. “Tyrese obviously is an unbelievable player, but they don’t have that one superstar. They’ve got a lot of really, really solid, good players. They defend collectively, and that’s an area we need to get better at.”
Donovan emphasized that Indiana’s physicality on defense often gets overlooked in discussions about their pace. The Bulls coach said Chicago’s defensive evolution must continue to match what the Pacers accomplished. The team finished with an identical 39-43 record last season despite the pace transformation.