Chicago Bulls: Three questions Monday night’s game rekindled

What are the Bulls doing with Robin Lopez?

There was a rare Robin Lopez sighting in Monday night’s game, with the big man logging 17 minutes in just his fifth appearance this season.

He provided valuable minutes and finished with two points, five rebounds including two offensive boards, and solid defense which included a key block in the first overtime period.

Lopez’ absence this year has been noticeable and it still remains unclear what the Bulls plan on doing with Lopez. With Lauri Markkanen and Bobby Portis out, the Bulls have turned instead to Cristiano Felicio, who is averaging a career-high 20.3 minutes per game this season.

Felicio has not been awful by any means this season; his ability to switch on defense is what got him the nod during Chicago’s home and home with the Charlotte Hornets. And it also makes sense for the Bulls front office to go with the younger player who is on contract with the team longer.

But it’s still hard to argue that Lopez is only deserving of the measly playing time he’s getting so far.

The future of Lopez with the Bulls

Lopez, for all intents and purposes, has been a consummate professional and great teammate this year. There have been no rumblings about any complaints about minutes or DNPs yet this year.

The problem, however, is that it is abundantly clear that Lopez is still deserving of minutes, especially on an injury-riddled bottom dweller like the Bulls. So why are the Bulls still actively holding on to Lopez while also not playing him?

There very well could be no market for him yet this season. Most teams who could use a big like Lopez probably aren’t quite ready to make any roster adjustments yet and free agents signed this past summer also aren’t eligible to be traded yet.

So it makes sense that Lopez isn’t being actively shopped quite yet. With an expiring contract, Lopez should be ripe to either be dealt to a playoff-bound team or a team hoping to shed salary. The Bulls would likely get a better deal closer to the deadline.

But if the Bulls are hoping to work out a Lopez trade later in the season, why continue to bench him despite Chicago’s recent run of injuries? Who Lopez is as a player is well known at this point, but his lack of play time so far is only hurting his potential value. Portis and Markkanen’s eventual returns will only bury him again later this season, so why not take this chance to give teams some tape from this season for a future trade?

Benching the younger Felicio and the remains of his $32-million contract isn’t a great look, but the Bulls shouldn’t have given him that contract in the first place. Building up Lopez’ resume for a future trade is more valuable than giving the underwhelming Felicio a little bit of run time for now.

In any case, it’s becoming painful to watch Lopez languish on the bench in situations where he would so obviously help the team. It’s time for the Bulls to pick a direction and stick with it.