BROOKLYN — On Monday night, a rock visited a hard place.
The Chicago Bulls didn’t land in New York with much in the way of expectations. After parting ways with eight players at the NBA trade deadline, this team is still just trying to get its bearings. Playing against one of the worst-ranked teams in the league should have provided a template for how to build comfort among this newly constructed roster. But for a Bulls team designed to join the Brooklyn Nets at the bottom of that barrel, Monday’s 123-115 loss was nothing more than a lesson in dysfunction.
The Bulls are now at risk of entering the All-Star break on a six-game losing streak after dropping eight of their last nine games. The Nets are only slightly worse off. Their main pride this season is committing to the rebuild earlier than the Bulls, which means they sit two slots lower in the Eastern Conference standings. Notably, three of their 15 wins have occurred against the Bulls.
Neither of these teams is set up to succeed — organizationally, the Bulls are attempting to inch their way into better draft lottery stakes — but that doesn’t mean the players are trying any less hard to prove they belong on their roster and in the league. On the hardwood, that translated into chaos.
The Bulls can’t play graceful basketball anymore. That option hasn’t been on the table since the trade deadline. Their frenetic dysfunction was matched by a Nets team equally lost in the post-deadline tumult. Matas Buzelis tumbled head-over-heels after accidentally jumping over a teammate to block a shot. Nick Richards took an elbow to the eye socket from Collin Sexton. Minutes later, Sexton earned a foul for nose-diving under Day’Ron Sharpe. At two different moments in the game, the Bulls and Nets traded multiple turnovers in the same possession.
The Bulls are best defined at this point in the season by what they are missing. Their confidence from the 3-point arc imploded with the departures of Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White, resulting in 10-for-36 shooting against Brooklyn. Even worse, they shot 44% from the floor as a whole, missing almost half of their shots in the paint. These players hardly know each other, a fact reflected in their 18 points given up off 18 turnovers.
“Listen, it’s an unprecedented situation we’re in right now,” coach Billy Donovan said. “We’ll have choices to make because if we just think we’re going to have a bunch of guys come together with no training camp and we’re just going to go out there and win basketball games — it doesn’t work that way.”
Win or lose, this game was always going to offer more uncertainty than answers — and that will likely remain true for the rest of the season. Here are the top three questions raised by the Bulls in Brooklyn.
1. Can Matas Buzelis lead this offense?
Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis falls after getting fouled by Brooklyn Nets forward Danny Wolf, top left, during the second half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
This Bulls team — and, in the larger picture, the future of the franchise — is structured around 21-year-old Matas Buzelis. Yet the forward is still struggling to stamp his presence on the game as the primary scorer and playmaker on the court for the Bulls.
Buzelis played only 11 minutes in the first half, which made him the sixth man despite the fact that he anchored the starting rotation. He went 1-for-7 in that short span while turning the ball over three times. Things improved for Buzelis in the second quarter, when he ripped off 10 points in quick succession with the help of a couple of 3-pointers and trips to the free-throw line.
But the forward still hasn’t figured out how to force the issue at the rim — or inside the 3-point arc in general — with the consistency the Bulls need. He scored 18 points against the Nets, fewer than Anfernee Simons (23 points) and Collin Sexton (21 points).
It’s clear that Buzelis is uncomfortable with his new teammates, something that should fade with more time spent together on the court. The lack of center depth with Jalen Smith sidelined has forced him to size back up to the four despite his (and the Bulls’) preference of playing at the three. And without Josh Giddey on the court, Buzelis is the top scouting assignment for opponents coming into every game, creating a sizable defensive challenge that he simply has not been able to overcome.
But that’s not enough for the Bulls. Outside of their roster reconstruction, the main priority for the team this season was to facilitate considerable growth in the second-year star. While coach Billy Donovan and the front office have been pleased with Buzelis’ improvements, he still isn’t standing out as a primary option — especially with the ball in his hands. Whether that changes in the final 28 games of the season will ultimately define the success of the year for the Bulls.
2. Can the Bulls outplay their lack of size?
Brooklyn Nets forward Noah Clowney is hit by Chicago Bulls forward Guerschon Yabusele, left, during the first half on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
No aspect of the trade deadline gutted the Bulls more than the removal of size. With Smith still sidelined due to a calf injury, the Bulls only have one true center — new addition Nick Richards — while leaning on undersized big man Guerschon Yabusele to fill in the rest of the frontcourt.
Yabusele started Monday’s game and immediately racked up two blundering fouls in four minutes of playing time. Richards fared slightly better as a backup option, who tallied 12 points and six rebounds off the bench. But Monday’s game still offered a bleak look at the short-term future for the Bulls around the rim.
Despite shrinking considerably at the deadline, the Bulls found comfort in double-big lineups — and still see a larger roster as a key for the team in the long-term. But for now, the roster doesn’t reflect that vision. Yabusele is unlikely to stay in Chicago (or even the NBA) past the end of this season. Richards is making his case for a backup job. Even when Smith returns, those bodies aren’t enough to run double-big looks or outweigh the diminished size of the backcourt.
3. How long will (or can) the Bulls hold out Josh Giddey and Tre Jones?
Chicago Bulls’ Tre Jones during the first half against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Guards Josh Giddey and Tre Jones missed another game in Brooklyn with a pair of left hamstring strains. The two scrimmaged together after shootaround Monday morning — marking a positive step for their availability — but coach Billy Donovan said neither is likely to play until after the All-Star break.
It’s hard to tell if the Bulls are just being particularly cautious with their two most impactful playmakers or if this is another mechanism to protect the team’s aggressive downward spiral into lottery territory. Donovan insists that Giddey never took “a step back” in his hamstring recovery after returning for one game against Miami shortly before the deadline. Yet the Bulls never showed much urgency in trying to hustle either player back into the rotation until after this weekend’s hiatus.
Either way, Chicago can’t play like itself (whatever that’s supposed to be) until Giddey returns to the lineup.