The Chicago Bulls sent out Zach LaVine in the franchise's first trade deadline move since 2021. In return, they picked up guards Tre Jones and Kevin Huerter, along with big man Zach Collins and their own first-round pick that was involved in the DeMar DeRozan trade three seasons ago.
Since they sent LaVine West to Sacramento, the Bulls are 0-4. They're losing by an average of 24.5 points over those four contests, which includes a historically awful 40-point loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Chicago's dreadful play without LaVine is, at least for the moment, turning out to be a blessing in disguise. A play-in team is now barely holding onto the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings and may have a better chance at a top-five pick in this summer's draft than it does at the postseason. (Rarely have there been sweeter words).
LaVine was the Bulls' leading scorer; he was their best shooter, shot creator and shot maker. It was expected that Head Coach Billy Donovan's team would see a decline in scoring, efficiency and overall offensive production.
But even the greatest of skeptics (or hopefuls) didn't expect things to be this bad.
Bulls' offense, 3-point shooting has cratered massively
At the All-Star break, Chicago is still one of the most active three-point shooting teams in the NBA. The Bulls are second in the league in attempts per game (43.0) and while they're shooting percentage has dipped, they're still ninth at 36.8.
LaVine, however, was their most efficient shooter from deep. He was hitting 44.6 percent of his 7.1 triples before he was traded to the Kings.
Since that deal, Chicago has dropped to ninth in the league in attempts (40.8) and has seen a massive decline in shooting. In their past four games, the Bulls are 27th in accuracy (29.4 percent).
Josh Giddey (47.4 percent) and Jalen Smith (42.1) are the only players shooting better than 40 percent among players taking more than four threes per game. Coby White is hitting 37.5 percent on eight attempts, but then it drops dramatically. Nikola Vucevic, for example, is shooting 7.1 percent from deep (not a typo) since the trade.
Chicago has too many guards and an imbalanced roster
LaVine started in a three-guard lineup alongside Giddey and White. Essentially, he was Donovan's top small forward.
By dealing him and bringing back Huerter and Jones, two definitive guards, a crowded backcourt got even more packed. The Bulls now have Giddey, White, Ball, Jones, Huerter and Ayo Dosunmu all fighting for minutes. That causes a confusing rotational log jam for Donovan to sift through.
Chicago has to make a decision on whether or not to offer Giddey a long-term deal after this season. White and Dosunmu are in the final years of their respective contracts next year. Jones may leave in free agency in a few months, but Huerter will be on the Bulls' cap sheet for about $18 million next year if he's still with the organization.
Donovan and the front office need to see those players on the floor to determine whether they're long-term pieces of the franchise. That's just going to make the coach's life even more difficult and the rotation even more jumbled, which doesn't help anyone; hence, zero wins in four.
That sums up the Bulls' freefall down the standings. Here's hoping it stays that way and, if nothing else, the team gets a high draft pick out of all this mess.