{"id":614486,"date":"2026-02-20T21:43:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/614486\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T21:43:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T21:43:17","slug":"jaden-ivey-makes-strong-statement-after-bulls-raptors-absence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/614486\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaden Ivey Makes Strong Statement After Bulls-Raptors Absence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaden Ivey landed on the Chicago Bulls<\/a> at the 2026 NBA<\/a> trade deadline.<\/p>\n

The Detroit Pistons cut ties with the veteran guard as he struggled to stay healthy over the past year. The rebuilding Bulls have a chance to give Ivey a fresh start before he hits the free agency market, offering the veteran a chance to build his value back up.<\/p>\n

However, a recent DNP has NBA fans wondering what went wrong for Ivey this week. The veteran guard isn\u2019t exactly sure himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing into it, I was prepared to play,\u201d Ivey told reporters on Thursday.<\/a> \u201cGoing into it I think everybody was up in the air with who was going to play. If coach wants me in there, I\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s game was Ivey\u2019s first absence since he debuted for the team on February 5. Since linking with the Bulls, Ivey has averaged 29.0 minutes per game. Suddenly, Billy Donovan decided to keep him glued to the bench against the Toronto Raptors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ivey isn\u2019t one-hundred percent. The veteran guard admitted that he\u2019s dealing with a minor ailment\u2014yet he wasn\u2019t denied a chance to play by the medical staff. \u201cI\u2019ve been dealing with knee soreness in my knee,\u201d Ivey said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what led Ivey to drop his eyebrow-raising quote, suggesting that he\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure people can call it out that I\u2019m not the same player I used to be. That\u2019s why. I\u2019m not the J.I. I used to be. But the old J.I. is dead. I\u2019m alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ivey\u2019s message goes beyond basketball, but fans are seeing his statement as a player who is accepting regression. Taking all circumstances into consideration, it\u2019s far too early decide whether this season is a slump or a true sign of regression for the former first-rounder.<\/p>\n

Last year, Ivey had an impressive 30-game stretch for the Pistons. He averaged 17.6 points, 4.0 assists, and 4.1 rebounds, while knocking down threes at a 40 percent clip, which marked a career-high.<\/p>\n

A leg injury concluded Ivey\u2019s season at the start of January 2025. He was on pace to debut on time for the start of the 2025-2026 NBA season, but a knee injury sidelined him through mid-November.<\/p>\n

When Ivey returned to the Pistons\u2019 rotation, it was too difficult for JB Bickerstaff to throw him in with the starters. For 33 games, he came off the bench for all but two matchups. With his playing time cut in half, Ivey averaged 8.2 points and 1.6 assists. In Chicago, Ivey\u2019s numbers rise a bit. In four games, he produced 11.5 points per game, while shooting 38 percent from deep. It\u2019s clear he\u2019s still not back to his best version.<\/p>\n

The timing of Ivey\u2019s struggles is unfortunate, considering he\u2019s in a contract year, but he\u2019s shown enough progress through four seasons to prove to his next NBA team that he\u2019s worth a gamble\u2014whether it\u2019s short-term or not.<\/p>\n

For all the latest\u00a0NBA\u00a0<\/a>news and rumors, head over to\u00a0Newsweek Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jaden Ivey landed on the Chicago Bulls at the 2026 NBA trade deadline. The Detroit Pistons cut ties…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,1018,6,476],"class_list":{"0":"post-614486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-jaden-ivey","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-toronto-raptors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116105145074401118","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}