The Chicago Bulls just suffered another embarrassing loss at the hands of the Miami Heat, getting blown out 134-91 on Feb. 1. But it wasn't the humiliating defeat that should make headlines -- it's the Bulls' strategy, which looked an awful lot like tanking.
To be clear, this organization will never embrace a full tank. From ownership (financially satisfied) to head coach Billy Donovan (too competitive), no one plans to lose on purpose, a la the Washington Wizards.
But the closer the Feb. 5 trade deadline gets, the clearer it becomes: The Bulls are prioritizing assets over wins.
The Bulls' true trade deadline plans are emerging
First, it was jumping into a trade between the Sacramento Kings and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Chicago helped grease the wheels of the deal, agreeing to take Dario Saric's contract to acquire two second-round picks. Not a blockbuster move, but a shrewd piece of business by Bulls Executive VP of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas.
That was a clear sign the franchise is in asset-collection mode. But the game in Miami took things a step further.
The Bulls held out Josh Giddey. The plan was to be cautious with the 23-year-old and keep him from playing the second night of back-to-backs as he recovers from a hamstring injury, but Feb. 1 was the third straight game Giddey missed. He did report some tightness in that hamstring, but Chicago is being extra cautious with its franchise point guard.
And the minutes distribution in the loss was undoubtedly odd. Coby White -- the Bulls’ most likely trade piece -- played a team-high 30 minutes ... followed by Patrick Williams (28), Dalen Terry (28) and Yuki Kawamura (27).
And this wasn't just mop-up duty, although, frankly, the entire game could be classified as such. Kawamura played 11 minutes, 20 seconds in the first half. Terry played 13:43.
For reference, Terry has played more than 20 minutes only twice this season -- both in the Bulls’ last two games. Kawamura was appearing in his second regular-season game with the organization.
Sure, injuries to Giddey, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter and Jalen Smith pushed that group onto the floor more than usual. But Williams, Terry and Kawamura playing more than Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu, Matas Buzelis and Isaac Okoro? That's something that might happen in Washington or Brooklyn, but not in Chicago.
The Bulls are finally making the right decisions
Again, "tanking" isn't in this group's vocabulary. But finally -- and begrudgingly -- "retooling" seems to have entered the lexicon.
In addition to acquiring that extra draft capital, Karnisovas has contacted the Pelicans about Zion Williamson and Yves Missi and the Indiana Pacers about Bennedict Mathurin, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
All of these decisions -- the three-team trade, the extreme caution with Giddey, the weird amount of bench minutes, the inquiries to New Orleans and Indiana -- have one thing in common: Karnisovas is taking the Bulls in a different direction.