It’s been over a week since the raucous trade deadline dominated the headlines, and the Chicago Bulls were right in the middle of the chaos. Chicago made seven trades, moved on from eight players, and brought in seven more, along with nine second-round picks, when it was all said and done.
It was a whirlwind trade deadline for the Bulls, and while there wasn’t much time to process it all at the moment, the All-Star break has finally provided an opportunity to step back and assess what actually went down.
Amid the midseason break, Chicago Sun-Times reporter Joe Cowley revisited the deadline and handed out a grade for Artūras Karnišovas and the Bulls’ flurry of moves, and it wasn’t a flattering one. Cowley gave Chicago a D+ for its efforts.
Poor timing hurt Chicago's trade deadline grade
Cowley wrote of the Bulls' deadline, "…It is passing—barely. That’s how Karnisovas came out of the midterm exam that was the NBA trade deadline. He had a good concept gone wrong and, more important, one that came at least a season too late… In the big picture, it was Karnisovas finally spitting at 'competitive integrity’ and going the way of the soft tank."
As for Cowley’s remark that Chicago is drifting toward a soft tank, it’s a bold claim—but not one without merit. The Bulls moved on from franchise fixtures like Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, and Nikola Vucevic, netting little more than a stockpile of draft picks in return. That’s not to say Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, and Rob Dillingham are meaningless additions, but the swaps feel more lateral than transformational.
The Bulls largely swapped expiring contracts for more expiring contracts, making the deadline feel entirely lateral. Yes, the additional second-round picks are a modest sweetener, but little else about the maneuvering suggests meaningful progress. As Cowley put it: “In total, it amounted to seven trades, a whole bunch of second-round picks and a two-month tryout for newly acquired guards Jaden Ivey, Rob Dillingham, Collin Sexton and Anfernee Simons.”
It was always going to be an uphill battle for Karnišovas at the deadline. By holding onto Dosunmu, White, and Vucevic for as long as he did, their trade value naturally declined. Despite each player’s impact, none carried overwhelming demand given their looming contract situations. Why surrender meaningful assets for a player who could walk in a matter of months? That appeared to be the prevailing sentiment around the league when gauging Chicago’s trade market.
Nonetheless, Karnišovas’s back was against the wall. He had to make moves. He knew it, and so did the rest of the association.
The return wasn’t enough
At first glance, a D+ might seem harsh for a series of lateral moves that also netted draft capital. But, as Cowley argues, the issue wasn’t just the moves themselves. It was the timing. As he wrote: “So why the poor grade after Karnišovas moved a bunch of expiring contracts to collect draft assets and chase lottery luck? Because, like everything he does, it came too late.”
In the immediate aftermath of the deadline, it didn’t feel like the Bulls came out of it poorly. The new additions flashed potential, and the consecutive losses, in the bigger picture, only improved lottery positioning. But with some distance, the bigger issue comes into focus. The overall return wasn’t strong enough. Failing to secure even a single first-round pick while moving on from Dosunmu and White is a difficult outcome to justify.