Bull Trade Everyone, Decide to Go Full Rebuild

Former Bull, now Boston Celtic, Nikola Vucevic runs down the court against the Miami Heat during the first half at the TD Garden on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Boston. (Brian Fluharty/Getty Images/TNS)

The theme of the Bulls team over the past few years has been to make no moves at the deadline, stay in the middle when it comes to the Eastern Conference standings, and then end up in the Play-In tournament.

As they sat 24-27 and in 10th place in the East Standings, the Bulls had to decide what to do with their top players, and if it was time to trade them away.

They sure made a decision: six players who made an impact at some point of the season were traded from the team.

The first big move the Bulls made was trading long-time center and two-time all-star Nikola Vučević to the Boston Celtics. Vučević, who was traded to the Bulls from the Magic during the 2020-2021 season, gave Bulls’ fans hope that the team was finally moving toward contending.

During his time in Chicago, Vučević averaged -8 PPG, 10 rebounds, and four assists per game. He had a lot of clutch moments and had a huge impact on the offense when it came to the paint, and seemed like a perfect fit when DeRozan and Ball came to Chicago.

But as time went on, there was a theme with Vučević, and that was his bad defense. He would often not drop back on pick-and-rolls and get lazy on offensive rebound chances. But, while he did have his flaws, he always stayed healthy and did his best to get the team out of the middle of the pack.

The Bulls received guard Anfernee Simons, who was primarily coming off the bench for the Celtics, playing in a sixth-man role. Also included in the trade was a second-round pick, which was a huge theme of the Bulls’ deadline moves.

Simons is a guard who can score at any level and has a very quick first step. So far this year, he is averaging 14 PPG off the bench and was a huge spark for the Celtics. Both players in this trade are at the end of their contracts and will be free agents after this year.

The Celtics needed a big man, and they got one. The Bulls wanted to move on from Vučević, and they finally did.

The next big name to go was the longest tenured Bull at the time, Coby White. He was drafted seventh overall by the Bulls in the 2019 draft and gave fans hope that a future star point guard had come to Chicago once again.

During his time here, White averaged 15 PPG and four assists per game. When it comes to White, he did not always fit in the system the Bulls were trying to run; he was very ball-dominant and an iso type player. This led to the offense not being in flow and very staggered.

White was also very inconsistent at times and could be hot one game and cold the next. He also stayed the same type of player during his time here, never showing that jump to stardom that the Bulls were hoping for.

What the Bulls got in return were guard Collin Sexton and two second-round picks. Sexton was the eighth pick out of the 2018 NBA draft by the Cavaliers. He came into the league with high hopes, and it showed in his third year, as he was putting up 24 PPG.

But, like White, he did not have that kind of season again, and his scoring kept going down year by year. One thing that never changed with Sexton was his hustle and defense; he always plays his heart out on the court and will bring that spark and grit and grind factor to the Bulls.

White will be coming off the bench and bringing a scoring burst to the Hornets. Sexton is going to bring top defense and a decent amount of scoring when he comes off the bench here in Chicago. 

I think many Bulls fans were very frustrated when two-way guard and Sixth Man of the Year candidate, Ayo Dosunmu, was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. At the prime age of 26, he was having his best season yet.

Averaging 15 PPG and shooting 45 percent from three, ranking third in the NBA, he brought a presence and spark off the bench that made Bulls fans think he was the future of this team. Not only was he a great scorer, but his defense was even better, averaging 1.5 steals per game.

He was the Bulls’ best defensive player, knowing how to move the ball well when Josh Giddey was hurt, and putting up great numbers each night. The main reason the Bulls traded him was likely the fact that he was a free agent at the end of this year, and they did not want to pay him.

Dosunmu fit right into the timeline of what the Bulls want to build around, which is young players. So, at only 26, this trade did not make sense to me.

Also included in the trade was forward Julian Phillips. When it came to Phillips, he never got consistent playing time and did not show any improvement on either side of the ball when he did play.

What the Bulls got in return was the former eighth overall pick in the 2024 draft, Rob Dillingham. Coming out of Kentucky, he was a star guard who could score at every level and was one of the quickest and shiftiest players in the draft.

In Minnesota, Dillingham did not get much playing time and only averaged 3 PPG for them in his brief time there.

In Chicago, he will be getting an increase in minutes and an opportunity to show everyone why he was a top pick in the draft. I am personally excited for him as he can really have a chance to work on his game here and develop into a top scorer.

Dosunmu will be an upgrade off the bench for the Wolves and will fit right in. The team is in contending mode, and bringing him in was a great move.

The Bulls also traded guard Kevin Huerter to the Pistons and guard Dalen Terry to the Knicks, receiving Guerschon Yabusele and Jaden Ivey in return.

The big name here is going to be Ivey. As a former top draft pick in the 2022 draft, Ivey was averaging 18 PPG at only 22 years old last year. He was out with a leg injury, and by the time he returned, the Pistons did not like how he fit in their system, and his scoring went down to only 8 PPG.

On the Bulls, Ivey will get his shot again, and I am confident he will be a future star on the team as the years go by.

Overall, the Bulls’ trade deadline is what they had to do and revamp the whole team; this does not mean it was a successful deadline. If we look at the bigger picture, the Bulls failed, the front office failed with the same team they had for the past four years, and in the end, they did not get one single first-round pick for any of the trades they made.

That, in my mind, is a joke; in total, they got nine second round picks, and not to say there are no stars in the later rounds, but not receiving any first round picks is something the owners have to take a look at and say, “Is this front office the right fit?”

There are some names I find intriguing, like Ivey and Dillingham, to see what they bring for the future, but now the Bulls’ job is to lose as much as possible and pray they get lucky in the lottery. To be in this position is two years too late, and the front office has failed the fans and franchise.

All Bulls fans can do now is pray for a top pick and enjoy the tanking the Bulls will be doing the rest of the year.

Bulls fans, buckle in, because it will be a rough last 30 games for this team.