The Chicago Bulls have a 18-19 record to start a season in which they were widely expected to take a step backward after letting DeMar DeRozan leave in free agency while also trading away Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey.
With Chicago owing a top-10 pick to the San Antonio Spurs this year, there had been an expectation they would keep the selection with one of the NBA’s worst records. Zach LaVine has had a bounce back season even if he continues to remain on the trade block.
“No one’s saying to me, hey, listen, wait a second with this draft pick right now, we need to make sure, it’s been always the integrity of competition and playing,” Billy Donovan said, “and I appreciate that.”
The Bulls went 40-42 during the 2022-23 season and 39-43 last season.
“We don’t want to be just stuck in the middle. … Absolutely. I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Donovan said.
“I think the building out part that we got to look at is the totality of our entire team where you’re identifying guys that are going to help us maybe get out of the middle and move forward. And I do think that we do have guys on our team that, to me, emulate or model a competitiveness that I like and appreciate.”