Chicago Bulls Notes: The Game No One Wants, Another Big Rotation Change? More

The Chicago Bulls started their Western Conference road trip with a shocking (and possibly detrimental) win over the Phoenix Suns. They may now be on the brink of their first winning streak since late January, as Sunday night's game has them facing the single-worst team in the NBA.

The Matchup No One Wants

Josh Giddey of the Chicago Bulls — Oct 29, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) defends against Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine (8) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

And the award for least watched game of the NBA season goes to ...

The Chicago Bulls will essentially face off against their old self on Sunday night. While Zach LaVine may not be suiting up alongside DeMar DeRozan this evening, the Kings remain in an eerily familiar position. The organization is spending way too much money on a veteran-laden team that has failed to offer competitive results. They somehow looked at what the Bulls did a few years back and decided that was worth repeating. And, to the surprise of absolutely no one, the sequel has ended up far worse than the original.

Sacramento has won a mere 15 games this season and currently sits atop the lottery leaderboards. They have ruled out both LaVine and Domantas Sabonis for the remainder of the season, giving DeRozan and Russell Westbrook a clear runway to do their thing. Both are more than capable of keeping things tight with a Bulls team that has allowed 120+ points a night the last eight weeks and has countered with only 107 points per game of their own.

Losing to the league's bottom feeders has also been a Bulls specialty this season, and it would certainly feel par for the course after unexpectedly taking down a potential playoff team. At the same time, the Kings do hold a -10.6 net rating this season and allowed the Pelicans to drop 133 the other night. So ... who can really say which team will be the ugliest this evening? After all, both fittingly share a 2-12 since February 1!

Another Big Rotation Change Coming

Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls — Jan 7, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan gives his players instructions from in front of their bench during the first quarter of their game against the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

You don't make the kind of drastic mid-season change the Chicago Bulls did and expect to get better in the short term. Chemistry is key, and there was never going to be enough time left over to build that up in a meaningful way. Arturas Karnisovas even expressed that concern in his post-trade-deadline press conference.

With that said, the organization's seemingly ever-growing list of injuries has not helped make the basketball look any better. To be sure, most teams in the Bulls' position would look for any bump or bruise to sit out some of their top talent. It's one of the more popular tanking practices. However, as we all know, the Bulls hold themselves to some self-imposed higher standard, so it's safe to say their injury trouble is legitimate.

Indeed, we need to look no further than the current injury report to see just that. Facing off against the league-worst Sacramento Kings, the Bulls have now upgraded four of their six injured players to questionable: Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey, Patrick Williams, and Jalen Smith could each return this evening. More tanking teams would likely choose to give all four another day of rest, but not the Bulls. Beating the Kings and moving one step closer to the No. 11 seed (and thus diminishing their lottery odds) is a must.

Speaking of which, the return of these four players is going to lead to another substantial shake-up in the rotation. Young contributors like Leonard Miller and Rob Dillingham have been able to eat up some big minutes over the last handful of games. Miller, in particular, has really put together some solid performances. As the only two deadline acquisitions under contract next season, it makes all the sense in the world to continue to feed them playing time. But whether or not Billy Donovan can muster the strength is a fair question.

The head coach has leaned on veterans time and again. Miller was stacking DNPs when all four of the currently questionable players were healthy. As for Dillingham, he was barely hanging on as the last man of the rotation. Donovan is also fresh off closing the Bulls' shocking win over the Suns with a full-veteran lineup of Tre Jones, Collin Sexton, Isaac Okoro, Guerschon Yabusele, and Nick Richards. In other words, he was leaning so hard on experience that he even decided to go with the very uncharacteristic Yabusele-Richards combo.

When asked about developing or evaluating young talent, Donovan reiterates that he has been instructed to go out and win games. Do I think this front office legitimately cares about how many more wins this group puts on the board? Not necessarily, but I'm not sure they have the heart to tell their head coach that. It's created a frustrating and complicated post-trade-deadline reality.

Adam Amin's Crazy Schedule

When listing reasons to watch the current Chicago Bulls, the broadcasting duo of Adam Amin and Stacey King sits right near the top. They remain arguably the best tandem in the league, providing both light-hearted yet consistently informative analysis. Likewise, at a time when things are obviously rough, neither beats around the bush. While they may not sound as harsh as those fans on social media, they are rarely afraid to discuss the organization's current instability.

You also have to admire Amin's commitment to the gig. A rising star in the industry who has taken on bigger and bigger broadcasting duties in recent years, he still finds a way to sit on the sidelines for this 26-win squad. Amin's crazy schedule has been referenced in the past, but this week is another excellent example. The 39-year-old is heading to seven different cities in ten days to announce eight games across two sports!

Fox put together an awesome interactive map that shows his ten days of travel, which Amin shared on his Instagram.

That's what you call commitment!

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