Preseason

Sam Smith

The Bulls may have salvaged that Ayo trade after all.

Last February amidst our mourning the morning of Ayo Dosunmu’s trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves, we vacillated between &nbsp;declaring similarly as we did about John Kennedy, “Lenny, we hardly knew ye” to paraphrasing Hamlet’s declaration, “Alas poor Lenny! I knew him.” In any case, we figured Leonard Miller was a goner.

Experience, as it’s been said, is just the name we give our mistakes.

And, oh does it seem we were wrong about Leonard Miller, the road runner 6-10 Canadian forward who quietly has been maybe the most consistent player this preseason, Sunday in Denver leading the Bulls with 26 points and seven rebounds in the wild west shootout 133-128 loss to the Nuggets.

Miller, with his third consecutive double-digit scoring game without a play having been run for him after scoring in double digits in 17 of the last 18 games last season, again motored around to turn bouncing balls and apparent turnovers into baskets while using his idiosyncratic left handed shooting style to make 4-of-6 threes, 11-of-14 overall.

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Miller’s relentless play also for probably the first time in the three games enabled the playing style coach Tiago Splitter has been advocating. It was a higher speed, long shooting game courtesy of Miller, Caleb Wilson with 17 points Matas Buzelis with 13 and Noa Essengue with eight.

Buddy Hield finally rediscovered his shooting stroke with 4-of-6 threes as the Bulls fired up 50 threes, making 21. They were 13-of-25 in the first half when they led 68-59.

The Bulls exhibition record is 1-2 with the fourth of the five preseason games in Milwaukee Wednesday&nbsp;

Though Splitter has talked vaguely about attempting the best threes that present themselves and according to the situation, his philosophy in Portland last season and when he coached overseas often seemed like a version of the Boston Celtics shoot-em-til you drop. Or they stop dropping.

Splitter’s Trail Blazers last season were the third poorest three-point shooting team, yet attempted the third most. He said that was offset by crashing the offensive boards, which this Bulls team has been instructed.

The Bulls had 13 offensive rebounds Sunday even without rebounding vacuum Tobe Awaka. The reserve center went down, supposedly briefly, with a sore knee and didn’t play. Jalen Smith did return while Zach Collins and Nic Claxton work back toward being active.

But the Bulls got moving more adroitly and effectively also with the return of Tre Jones, and that awakening from Essengue.

The 2025 first round pick who missed most of last season with surgery and seemed to be playing rag doll in Summer League was bothersome defensively against Denver star Jamal Murray. And had the play of the game, a baseline drive in which he dunked backward after passing the basket. He was off target on threes, but using his rubber man size to his advantage put up a putback slam dunk and another follow layup off a teammate miss.

“I feel amazing, no pain, nothing; I can play free,” Essengue said earlier in training camp. “After Summer League, I talked a lot with Tiago and Bryson (Graham, basketball chief). They told me to just play my game, play free offensively and defensively. Pressure the ball more. Offensively play simple, drive to the basket, make the extra pass, make my shots. Make the game simple.”

Splitter has said in the preseason he’s liked Essengue’s development.

“He's being more aggressive,” Splitter said. “He's fighting every possession, rebounding, protecting the rim. I like his ambition. He's getting stronger. It's a different vibe, it's a little more relaxed.”

Though rookie phenom Wilson was perhaps too relaxed. He started slowly again and was bedeviled by Nuggets dunkman Aaron Gordon. But Wilson showed that quick learning ability. In virtually the same spot and similar situation, though it was halftime this time, Wilson isolated for a three to close out the first half at the buzzer. Unlike Friday against Memphis, this one went in for that halftime Bulls lead.

Wilson and Gordon, the latter who had an historic dunkoff with &nbsp;former Bull Zach LaVine at the 2016 All-Star weekend, had their own airborne tête-à-tête when Gordon posted up Wilson early in the third quarter and spun by and dunked. Wilson came rocketing down the lane shortly afterward to slam on a pass from Josh Giddey.

Wilson also with a concerning five turnovers—11 in the three games—recovered after losing a ball early in the second quarter for a chase down block against Denver’s Alpha Diallo.

Thanks to that hot shooting the Bulls took a 15-point second quarter lead despite the usual slow motion passing and shooting brilliance of Nikola Jokić with a 22-point triple-double without seeming to break a sweat.

The Bulls went with more reserves in the third quarter and the Nuggets took a 99-94 lead entering the fourth. The Bulls went with starters part of the fourth quarter while the Nuggets used none. But Denver was able to hold on for a win despite the Bulls getting within a point with about two minutes left.

Maybe the Bulls should have taken the advice of Drew Carter, the ESPN play-by-play announcer on the national broadcast, who offered during one Bulls possession, “Get the ball to number 11.”

Number 11 kept the Bulls engaged in the fourth with nine points and was the story in impressive spurts, consecutive driving layups and a three when the Bulls took that second quarter lead. And then kicking off the third quarter with a three and a driving layup sandwiching a Wilson driving dunk for the Bulls last double digit lead.

That dunk was on a return pass when Miller saved the ball as it was lurching out of bounds. Later Miller lost Nuggets players with so many back doors someone was apparently calling for a locksmith to dead bolt the thing.

But Jokić then repeatedly baited the eager Bulls as the Nuggets ended up with 46 free throw attempts. Of course, asking Miller and other various optic fibre thin forwards to defend Jokić and Gordon and some bench bruisers wasn’t ideal.

Though it may have helped the Bulls discover Miller, who has been a disappearing mystery most of his young basketball life.

The Ontario native was a going nowhere 6-2 guard in high school not attracting much attention. He beanstalked to 6-10, but still nothing. So he left civilization for Utah’s Wasatch Academy, but they rarely played him. So without any US college offers, he returned to Canada for a high school post graduate year at Fort Erie International Academy. Somehow everyone then found him, and the college offers came. But by then he was eligible for the NBA. He chose the G League Ignite the year before current teammate Buzelis, and then was a second round Spurs draft pick in 2023 and quickly traded to Minnesota. Where he rarely played until packaged in the Dosunmu deal with multiple second round draft picks. The draft picks were supposed to be the prize.

Submit your question to Sam at&nbsp;asksam@bulls.com

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

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Leonard Miller steals the show in Preseason loss to Nuggets

Bulls.com

The Chicago Bulls announced today their 2026 NBA preseason schedule presented by Burlington, one of the fastest growing national off-price retailers. The five-game preseason campaign will feature three home contests at the United Center alongside two road games at Ball Arena in Denver and a visit to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Chicago opens preseason action with consecutive home contests, hosting Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, Oct. 7, followed by the Memphis Grizzlies and No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, Cameron Boozer, on Friday, Oct. 9. The Bulls resume action with a two-game road trip, visiting the Denver Nuggets and three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokić on Sunday, Oct. 11, and a Central Division matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Chicago will conclude its preseason slate at the United Center against Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday Oct. 16.

Broadcast information for the 2026 preseason will be announced at a later date.

Season Ticket Plans and Group Deposits are available now by calling 312-455-4000 or visiting Bulls.com/Tickets. Additionally, information on single game tickets for preseason and regular season home games will be announced at a future date closer to the release of the 2026-27 regular season schedule.

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CHICAGO BULLS ANNOUNCE 2026 NBA PRESEASON SCHEDULE

Coby White as Sixth Man? For his first four years with the Bulls that’s what most projected for the Bulls high scoring guard. Nikola Vučević easing into a reduced reserve role as he approaches 35 and his 15th season? The 6-foot-8 Josh Giddey moving up front so speedy Tre Jones can direct the offense from point guard? Ayo Dosunmu moving into the starting backcourt for a bigger look?

The Bulls begin their 2025-26 season Wednesday in the United Center against the Detroit Pistons, and the biggest open question heading into trailing camp was supposed to be who earns the starting small forward job perhaps between newly acquired Isaac Okoro and holdover starter Kevin Huerter.

But now with a somewhat shaky preseason, especially from the starters while missing White injured the entire preseason, Bulls coach Billy Donovan for the first time appears to be raising the possibility of recurring starting lineup changes.

“I think we have to (mix things up with starters) with our team,” Donovan said late last week with the end of a 3-2 preseason. “For us to lean into the depth…one of things we’ve talked about, we’ve got to use everybody and everybody has to keep themselves ready and not look at one off game and what may happen. We’ve got to be flexible enough, in my opinion, that we have to change starting lineups based on who we are playing against and what the matches look like for us.

“We could potentially change starting lineups and I’ve talked to these guys about it,” Donovan revealed. “It’s not necessarily conventional. We have to get out of the NBA mindset of, ‘Here’s when I go in the game.’ I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that. We have to have flexibility. Probably over 82 games there maybe will be a consistent group.&nbsp; But maybe there will be some nights where we change the starting lineup. I think that will be important to have that flexibility.”

The likelihood is Donovan will stick with a recurring group, especially now that Zach Collins had surgery Fridayfor a fractured left wrist and White is the team’s leading scorer. Since Donovan became Bulls coach starting in the 2020-21 season with the trading deadline acquisition of Vučević and then veteran additions that next summer, the Bulls employed designated starters for several seasons. Even last season following the Zach LaVine trade, a regular quintet finished the season.

While preseason is easily dismissed because some players pace themselves, irregulars often finish games and the records don’t count, there was a somewhat alarming trend with the Bulls falling behind by double digits with a regular starting group pretty much every game. It followed a tendency from previous seasons. Which maybe got Donovan reconsidering.

“It’s been a problem here for awhile, quite honestly,” Donovan candidly admitted last week about the sluggish starts. “It’s something we’ve tried to solve. We even went last season bringing them over here for (pregame) shootarounds to get better starts at home. I don’t know necessarily the reason. If I knew the exact reason, I would certainly do everything I can to fix it. I don’t want to make an excuse in the preseason because we’ve had different starting lineups, different guys in and out. It was and has been a problem in the past.

“When we turn the ball over a lot in the first quarter that’s a big part of it,” Donovan acknowledged. “I always think if you want to get off to a good start, generally (it’s) if you are playing good defense. I always say good offense beats really good defense with really good players with shot making ability. But if you get off to a good start and can get stops early, that gets you out on the break and gets you in transition, gives you more opportunity when you get stops. When we have to trade baskets back and forth, that for us is going to be a difficult recipe. I’d say it would be getting off to better starts defensively for us. There are a lot of different variables if you look at each game and what the reason could be. I do think we need flexibility.”

The thinking also relates to the other theme of this season, strength in numbers.

The Bulls don’t have any players projected as All-Stars, though with a good season Matas Buzelis, White and Giddey can make cases for their first appearances, especially in a weaker Eastern Conference with stars like Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton not playing. But the Bulls can make a statement of perhaps having the league’s most talent coming off the bench. The Bulls can bring in a full team of players who have been NBA starters.&nbsp;

One reason is the LaVine trade, but it’s also the lack of the maximum salary players. Because of salary cap constraints, teams with multiple maximum salaried players often have to fill out their bench with lower paid journeymen types. The Bulls have seven players earning eight-figure salaries and three others between $7.5 million and $10 million. Not including Buzelis and Dalen Terry on a rookie contracts.

Donovan has been asked about using waves of players in short bursts because of that depth. He has indicated he is open to expanding his rotation, if not necessarily to a dozen. He has been a coach who seems to prefer stability, but he does seem open to more variety this season.

“We’re going to have to be a team where the whole is better than the parts,” Donovan said following the preseason conclusion. “Stix (Jalen Smith starting against Minnesota with Vučević) made sense to stretch the floor with his size; we have to be willing to try some of those things.”

But that also gets complicated now with the loss of Collins, who was having a terrific preseason. He exited late in the closing game after landing on his wrist. It turned out to be a fracture and he will be out at least a month. Collins averaged 11.6 points in preseason, the leading scorer among the three centers counting Smith, shooting 78% overall and making 3-of-6 threes. He also was second on the team in steals and worked an effective pick and roll finishing for easy scores and setting up teammates. It appeared he would be in a significant role with his physical play.

It’s a blow for the Bulls because Vučević was off to a slow start and Smith is more of a perimeter big man and maybe 6-foot-8 or 6-foot-9.

The Bulls have a full roster. So a buyout would be required to add someone. Some of the free agent centers remaining unsigned include Mo Bamba, Precious Achiuwa, DeAndre Jordan and Moses Brown, the later 7-foot-2 journeyman recently released by Denver. Bulls second rounder Lachlan Olbrich at 6-foot-9 is on a two-way deal and had some good moments in preseason. Hey, Taj Gibson is available.

“Moving guys to different spots or starting different guys or having different lineups out there,” said Donovan, “is something I think we have some flexibility with.”

It may well be a very interesting season.

Got a question for Sam?Submit your question to Sam at&nbsp;asksam@bulls.com

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Sam Smith: Bench depth, lineup versatility key for Bulls this season

nbaplatformservices

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Matas Buzelis was COOKING in his second preseason 🔥

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Zach LaVine is in attack mode! 🔥 2024-25 Preseason Highlights

The Chicago Bulls will play a five-game 2023 preseason schedule, which features three home contests at the United Center alongside two road games at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee and a trip to Ball Arena in Denver.

Broadcast information for the 2023 preseason will be announced at a later date.

Season Ticket Plans and Group Sales deposits are available now by calling 312-455-4000 or visiting Bulls.com/Tickets. Additionally, information on single game tickets for preseason and regular season home games will be announced at a future date closer to the release of the 2023-24 regular season schedule.

bulls-announce-2023-preseason-schedule

Bulls announce 2023 Preseason Schedule

The Chicago Bulls put on a show in their preseason opener at the United Center, easily defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 131-95 on Tuesday night. Zach LaVine had 25 points and three steals, Alex Caruso had a 10-point, 10-assist double-double as seven Bulls scored in double-figures during the exhibition.

It was a 36-point victory, 131-95, for the Bulls Tuesday night to open the preseason in a game that wasn't that close against the Cleveland Cavaliers. There were for the Bulls 36 assists against nine turnovers, though 26 versus four when the primary starters left, 13 steals and nine blocks with 24 points from turnovers through three quarters, agile defense, transition play, magical passing and highlights galore with dunks off look away and half court passes.

"We're going to try to put a show on every time," said Lonzo Ball.

OK, OK, breathe, breathe. Aum, aum, aum... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6... water gently washing down a stream, flute or harp music. Relax, relax, relax.

It was not easy watching the debut of the new look Bulls who for a change were everything they said they would be, Lonzo Ball a maestro with so quick a release as to make Tom Brady jealous, Alex Caruso off the bench leading with 10 assists and enough time playing in Los Angeles to learn how Magic Johnson did it, Nikola Vucevic trailing on the break for dunks, Zach LaVine with a game high 25 points and four of six threes getting out on the receiving end to shoot and slam.

"We are a bunch of athletes," said LaVine. "We're going to watch each other's backs. We're going to try to get out in transition. We want to play with that type of style of play. So defensively we were really good. Trying to fly around. We're playing free basketball right now, getting up and down the floor."

Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 25 points on an efficient 9-of-14 shooting.

It was impressive and more than perhaps even they could have hoped.

Sure, it was the Cavaliers, who are going to be terrible. Former Bull Lauri Markkanen led them with 13 points playing off the bench—the Cavs start an untenable front line of Jarrett Allen and rookie Evan Mobley—but Markkanen got dunked on by a 6-4 guy and scored most of his points in the third quarter after the Bulls had 69 points and led by 21 at halftime.

It was a rout from the start led by many of the guys not even expected to play.

Patrick Williams and Coby White are out with injuries and reserves Derrick Jones Jr., Tony Bradley, both targeted for the playing rotation along with Williams and White, also were out along with rookie Marko Simonovic. The latter three had minor injury issues.

So Javonte Green started at power forward/guard and had two blocks in the first quarter, an offensive rebound for a score and seven points. Troy Brown was high scorer in the first with nine, all on threes. The Bulls played small as they probably will do much of the season. But they were relentless (big hearts, as I'm sure we'll dip into often for go to cliches), helping from the weak side on defense, forcing the Cavaliers much bigger inside players to force shots while denying them post position.

Highlights from Chicago's dominant win against the the Cleveland Cavaliers in their preseason opener.

Five first quarter blocks and three steals led to the transition points the Bulls have promised in an emerging, if untraditional, defense. This group of players generally is being doubted for defense coming from a lack of size and physical nature. But they showed at least in this game defense can come in many different shapes and sizes. The Bulls even outrebounded the Cleveland Brobdingnags and doubled up on second chance points.

The crescendo was a late second quarter pairing of the four regular starters with Caruso that led to an All-Star weekend's worth of highlight plays, a block leading to a Caruso no look pass for a DeRozan slam dunk, DeRozan dunking on a three-on-one fast break, LaVine getting a half court pass from Caruso for a baseline dunk, Ball pushing the ball for a driving LaVine dunk. Strap in for this thrill ride.

"We have a lot of smart players on this team, a lot of unselfish guys and people that are going to run. And when you have all that it doesn't make my job too hard," said Ball. "I think we know we have a lot of talent and there's just one basketball out there and we understand that and it's all about getting the best shot and I think everyone understands that one through 15; we showed that tonight. Whenever we can get out in transition like we did tonight we are going to put ourselves in a good position to win."

Javonte Green throws down a dunk over former Bull Lauri Markkanen.

Doubters about LaVine long have insisted he merely was a scorer who preferred to monopolize the ball. Though his defenders insisted that's what he had to do to give his (uniformly poor) teams a chance to win given the lack of talent. Already Tuesday with playmakers all around him, LaVine immediately dashed downcourt. It helped space out the Cavaliers defense, giving the Bulls guards room and LaVine still was able to get his points with so much less effort.

"To come out here and play with pace, have him (Ball) get the ball off the rim and run, it's good. It fits our game pretty well," said LaVine. "He gets the ball out of his hands so fast. He's such a high IQ guy. I think we're all on the right mindset of going out here and playing hard, setting the tone from the beginning. "But for me to play off the ball, get cuts, get easy shots, get easy spot-ups, it's something I haven't had for awhile," LaVine acknowledged. "Coming out in the third quarter, DeMar played on the ball and I was able to get some spot-up shots and just get in a rhythm real easy. I'm excited for that. We've been playing this way in practice. It looks like this. It was good to go against another team. Just guys cutting, helping on defense, coming over from baseline and doubling down and gang rebounding. AC (Caruso) going to the lane, pump-faking and throwing it to the corner. We have a bunch of guys who know how to play and make open passes. It's good to play with guys like that."

As coaches will be, Billy Donovan said sometimes they passed too much and didn't get to the free throw line often enough. He's still working on the first shutout in NBA history.

Listen to Billy Donovan's postgame presser following Chicago's preseason win over Cleveland

But the four regulars who started were at least plus-38 in the plus/minus with seven Bulls scoring in double figures. Caruso had a double/double with his 10 assists, the 6-4 Green had four blocks, rookie Ayo Dosunmu coming in after halftime got a big welcome and had eight points in 13 minutes, Stanley Johnson, who can't shoot, made a couple of threes, and Matt Thomas, who can, also made a pair. Heck there even was franchise history. With Caruso, Dosunmu and Alize Johnson (game high 11 rebounds) playing together, it was believed to be the first time in franchise history with the majority of the lineup wearing headbands.

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Bulls put on a show, cruise by Cavs in preseason opener

In a sonnet for defeat, let us count the ways the Bulls Wednesday lost 118-71 to the Dallas Mavericks. For it was to the depths, breath and height of despair they felt deep in their souls.

--- Poor shooting, seven of 29 on threes, 35 percent overall;

--- Poor ball movement; 21 assists, though most for quick shots;

---- Little penetration to space the court for easier shots; just 19 free throw attempts and 11 through three quarters before a throw-in-the-beach towel 44-11 Mavericks fourth quarter;

---- Cursory defense with the Mavs making 18 threes and shooting 50 percent overall.

Though the Bulls did trim a 48-point deficit to 47 at the final buzzer.

“I thought we played as five individuals on the floor tonight,” said Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg, who was burning through timeouts early in the fourth quarter as the Bulls went up in flames. “Last night (winning in New Orleans) the best thing we did was handle the adversity well, fought back and played with a lot of confidence and did it together. Tonight, we let our lack of shot making affect us on the other end. And then we came back and tried to get it back individually, but you can’t do that. You have to trust what you are doing and if you have any chance of getting back in the game you have to do it together. I don’t think you can look at a lot of guys out there and say they played well tonight.”

Robin Lopez and Paul Zipser led the Bulls with 12 points each, the only Bulls to score in double figures. Though Lopez did play well, going at Dirk Nowitzki successfully to start the game.

“Obviously, it’s early on,” noted Lopez. “I thought there were some good things. I thought what we did differently today than we did yesterday when our offense wasn’t quite there we let it affect our defense. I thought we responded to lulls differently than we did yesterday. Shots weren’t falling and we let it affect us on both ends of the floor; we just have to have faith in what we know we can do.”

The Mavs, like much of the NBA, have gone to the spread, pace, shooting offense, leaving no real position for a veteran mid range shooting power forward like Nowitzki. So they are playing him at center, and Lopez had success to start shooting hooks and driving past the anchored veteran.

The Bulls actually led late in the first quarter and into the second with some athletic plays. David Nwaba slammed in a driving baseline dunk. He fell hard and appeared to hurt his right hand. He was wearing a wrap afterward, but he said there was no damage. Bobby Portis, whose defensive rebounding was about the best thing the Bulls had going, threw a half court bounce pass to Cristiano Felicio for a three-point play as the Bulls tied the game. And they came back some, like they did in New Orleans, late in the second quarter on a pair of Justin Holiday scores with a three after the Mavs led by a dozen.

The Bulls still trailed just 49-43 at halftime.

But the signs weren’t positive to start the second half this time, unlike in the Game 1 win, with Kris Dunn and Nikola Mirotic starting this game for Jerian Grant and Portis. Lopez, Holiday and Zipser appear to be the core for now.

Dunn, who finished with two points on one of nine shooting and six assists, was stripped on a break and then failed to finish an open drive. Grant was able to finish later in the quarter as the Bulls still trailed just 62-57. But the Bulls continued to take rushed shots and the Mavs began raining down threes. It was 74-60 after three and then, whoop-there-it-is, 82-60 just over a minute into the fourth quarter.

“There is going to be a lot of adversity this season, as I said,” offered Holiday. “It was good for us to go through this and hopefully we can learn from this now because I’m sure this won’t be the only time this happens. We have to tell the young guys to keep pushing in what we are going to do; don’t change anything. You can get frustrated, but don’t change what we are here to do, play together, play hard and see what happens.”

As good a game it was for both point guards against the Pelicans, it was as poor in Game 2.

Dunn started and seemed uncertain with his shot. Grant had five assists, but little penetration to set up better shots. They combined for Grant’s two free throws in 41 minutes.

Even with the 1-1 start, getting to the free throw line for easy points has been an obvious team deficiency. Way too many long jumpers. Dunn appears the more explosive, but seems to be playing tight, not attacking to create shots. The Mavs did that much better with rookie Dennis Smith with 14 points and J.J. Berea with 11. They were led by Harrison Barnes with 17. The Bulls still were missing Lauri Markkanen with a back issue. Zach LaVine is out from ACL surgery. The Bulls overcame their failure to get to the free throw line in Game 1 with good shooting, but it’s problematic to rely on the shooting so much.

“Try to move the ball around, try to stick together,” reminded Holiday. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but it matters; put the next teammate before yourself, see what we have in attacking there. When shots aren’t going in you really can’t control that, but what you can control is how you get to that shot.”

Zipser shot well, but Mirotic was off target too often, those long rebounds, as we have heard, leading to fast breaks and better shots for the opponents when the defense doesn’t retreat. Until defeat.

“A big part (for the point guards) is coming down and getting us into our offense, getting us into our flow and we just did not do a very good job of that,” Hoiberg conceded. “We got stagnant with our movement; this is a great opportunity for us to look at film and get better because of this game. You have nights like this with a young group; you have to dig deep, get back to work and hopefully get better the next one.”

The Bulls play their exhibition home opener Friday against Milwaukee.

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Mavericks too much for Bulls in preseason loss

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