It’s the tale of two deadline approaches tonight in Brooklyn. The Nets traded Kyrie and KD cutting the cord officially on that experiment. The Bulls did…nothing. Literally nothing. Like I’ve already done more in this pre-game than the Bulls did at the deadline.
Game Info
Chicago Bulls (26-28) at Brooklyn Nets (32-22) – 6:30 p.m. CT on NBC Sports Chicago (TV) and 670 The Score (Radio)
Projected Starting Lineups
Chicago Bulls
- Ayo Dosunmu
- Zach LaVine
- DeMar DeRozan
- Patrick Williams
- Nikola VuÄević
Injury Report: Alex Caruso PROBABLE (foot), Patrick Williams PROBABLE (ankle), DeMar DeRozan QUESTIONABLE (hip), Lonzo Ball OUT (knee), Javonte Green OUT (knee)
Brooklyn Nets
- Ben Simmons
- Spencer Dinwiddie
- Joe Harris
- Royce O’Neale
- Nic Claxton
Injury Report: Day’Ron Sharpe QUESTIONABLE (foot), Yuta Watanabe QUESTIONABLE (back), Seth Curry OUT (thigh)
Odds
The Bulls come into tonight as 1.5-point underdogs against the Nets at PointsBet Illinois Sportsbook and 1-point underdogs at FanDuel Illinois Sportsbook. Click on either link to sign up and pick the Bulls to cover (… or pick the opposite …)!
What to Watch For
- Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the Bulls stood completely pat at the deadline. First things first, hats off to Eli for some AMAZING Bulls and NBA deadline coverage over the last few days.
- I’ll try not to get too deep into the Bulls’ deadline reax, but wow today was a frustrating one! Yes, I’m aware the Bulls made it clear they were “trying really hard to find deals,” but was it really hard enough? The Bulls had several areas of need that we’ve discussed for weeks. Point guard, 3-and-D depth, a physical big man –all areas the Bulls needed help in and all areas that saw multiple players around the NBA move in. It’s hard to believe the Bulls couldn’t muster up enough second-round picks for some depth. The buyout market is still there, but it will be slim pickings. I guess you could take a flier on Russ Westbrook because what can it really hurt at this point? But that’s not guaranteed to help anything! Not to mention, even he will have better options with teams like Miami and the Clippers if he is indeed bought out. As a White Sox fan (**ducks and covers**) I’ve seen this movie way too many times before, and I’m currently seeing it again — it’s a race to the middle.
- The Nets on the other hand moved out their superstar tandem of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant for a whole bunch of picks and some solid NBA players. They most certainly don’t have superstar talent anymore, but they’re still going to be a solid basketball team. And, maybe most importantly, they’ll be a team with a consistent lineup.
- Not too much on X’s and O’s tonight. I’m really looking more for the response from this group mentally. While they didn’t add any pieces, the front office did give them somewhat of a vote of confidence by not moving anyone out and sticking to this core. How does the core respond to that? How does Zach respond to being the center of a big rumor, even if the deal was highly unlikely to happen? All questions that we should get answers to.