Back at the NBA trade deadline, the Chicago Bulls took a reasonable (at the time) wager on Jaden Ivey. The method might have been clunky—they overcrowded the backcourt with several swaps for guards—but the mindset seemed sound. Add a 24-year-old, recent top-5 pick (No. 5 in 2022) without giving up any draft capital? What could possibly go wrong?
Well, unfortunately, it's been a lot of the same issues Ivey has encountered in his career to date. The injury bug has become an all-too-common, totally-disruptive opponent for him, leaving him either stuck on the sidelines or failing to even remotely resemble his previous, pre-injury form.
"I'm a little bit worried about where Jaden Ivey's career is going at this point," The Athletic's Sam Vecenie said on the Game Theory Podcast. "... I just worry that we're never going to quite see the best out of him."
Jaden Ivey was clearance-cheap for a reason.
While there's (hopefully) still time for Ivey to change the narrative, it feels like his trajectory is heading toward one of the more tragic NBA tales in recent history. And it's not the kind that involves some misdeeds by the protagonist that at least make you feel like you learned a lesson while watching it play out.
Instead, it's just a string of misfortunes for a player who has seemingly done nothing to spark them. In fact, he's done all of the things evaluators initially hoped to see when he exited Purdue as a lightning-quick, powerfully explosive athlete who felt like he was a couple of key skill improvements away from cresting basketball stardom.
That's what makes this so especially discouraging to watch. Because he's put in the work to cover up those skill gaps. His shot has come alive. His playmaking has perked up in that "the game is slowing down" way that makes anything seem possible for a quick-twitch table-setter.
It's just that his mountain of medical misfortune has robbed him of what initially made him so potentially great. He should be zipping his way toward the ultimate intersection of tools, talent, and skill polish right about now, but the athletic side of the street is an impassable mess of potholes, barricades, and a pile of lower-leg problems.
There was the broken fibula that prematurely ended his 2024-25 season and then the arthroscopic knee surgery this October that delayed his start of the 2025-26 campaign. And now, he's back trapped in the sidelines with a bout of knee soreness. What comes next is technically anyone's guess, but all arrows are unfortunately pointing toward ongoing disappointment and frustration.
The Bulls could make him a restricted free agent this offseason by picking up his qualifying offer, but they might also put their backcourt interest elsewhere. They certainly have alternatives with Josh Giddey and Rob Dillingham both are under contract, and Anfernee Simons and Collin Sexton heading toward unrestricted free agency.
This is, objectively speaking, a freakin' bummer to see. The healthy, skill-advanced version of Ivey would be awesome to see. Hopefully, the basketball gods don't deny us from ever witnessing that.