Cash Considerations: A Chicago Bulls Pod

The Bulls dropped to 1-7 with a 30-point loss to the Knicks in a game that wasn't competitive from the start, which has become too much of a habit even against the brutal schedule to start the season. The Bulls are the worst team in the NBA statistically right now, but are they actually this bad? While the schedule and several other factors are making things look worse, the nature of these losses is unacceptable and a lot needs to be fixed to simply be more respectable. 

(11:15) - Ricky unloads a "nuclear take" that the Bulls need f...

Ricky and Jason recap the Bulls' three games after their disastrous 43-point season-opening loss to the Raptors. The Bulls got their first win under Tiago Splitter by beating the Bucks in a comeback victory after an ugly start, with Splitter benching Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey in crunch time to help secure the win. Then came a close loss to the Wizards that saw a furious fourth-quarter comeback fall just short. The Celtics game was somewhat competitive for about two and a half quarters before Boston unleashed an avalanche on Chicago. 

(16:23) - While it has been a s...

The first game of the Bryson Graham and Tiago Splitter era was a total disaster, with the Bulls suffering a historic 43-point loss to Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors. The Bulls got sucked into a perfect storm of bad, with the Raptors presenting a uniquely difficult matchup for a young roster just learning how to play together under a new head coach. 

It was a mess up and down the lineup. Caleb Wilson's debut was marred by nine turnovers and a -45 in the box score, Josh Giddey played arguably his worst game as a Bull, and M...

After winning their preseason opener against the Suns, the Bulls then suffered close losses to the Grizzlies and Nuggets. Ricky and Jason go through the roster to highlight the biggest storylines from these two preseason losses. 

(02:14) - Caleb Wilson has been a roller-coaster ride this preseason, but there have been plenty of exciting star flashes. After a quiet first half against the Grizzlies, Wilson exploded in the second half with a barrage of 3-pointers. He followed that up with a solid game against the Nuggets that did still feature plenty of mistakes. The Bulls are clearly giving W...

The Bulls tipped off preseason play with a 124-117 victory over the Suns at the United Center. It was a sloppy, roller-coaster affair as expected, with turnovers aplenty committed by both teams. But all preseason caveats aside, there was plenty to break down all across the roster. 

The main focus was on Caleb Wilson's debut, and it was a predictably messy affair. While there were some tantalizing flashes throughout the night, Wilson's 3-point shot didn't look good and he was a bit overeager on both ends of the court. There will be plenty of growing pains in W...

2026 Bulls Media Day arrived Monday to officially tip off training camp, but before that, the Bulls traded Rob Dillingham to the Hornets for Buddy Hield. Dillingham was almost immediately waived by the Hornets, while Hield will bring a veteran presence, elite shooting and a possible trade chip to Chicago. 

After breaking down the Hield trade, Ricky and Jason go through their biggest takeaways from Media Day. Bryson Graham and Tiago Splitter got the ball rolling and stressed that the Bulls are at the ground floor of a rebuild and that this upcoming season will focus on development. B...

Ricky and Jason go through the Bulls' expected starting lineup for the 2026-27 season. With training camp approaching, the projected starters are Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis, Caleb Wilson and Nic Claxton. 

Giddey is facing a make-or-break season in Chicago. After a somewhat disappointing 2025-26 season, Giddey needs to prove to Bryson Graham he's a true foundational piece in order to stick around for the long haul. 

Buzelis is one of the Bulls' foundational pieces right now, and he's looking to make a leap in Year 3. What does he have to do to really br...

The Bulls are under two weeks from Media Day and the start of training camp, and they just finalized Tiago Splitter's coaching staff. The staff features a nice surprise in the form of franchise legend Taj Gibson, who just retired from the NBA and immediately returned to Chicago as a coach. Ricky and Jason talk all things Taj and why bringing him back is a good move. 

The Bulls also have a plan in place to replace Stacey King, going with a cycle of Adam Amin sidekicks throughout the season. It's a decision that makes sense given K...

Jason joins Hardwood Knocks' Dan Favale for their annual Bulls season lookahead at the tail end of an eventful offseason that brought about regime change. What's to make of Bryson Graham's first offseason in charge? There was a lot of kicking the can down the road with short-term deals (Norman Powell, Nic Claxton trade, Zach Collins), making the upcoming season an important one for evaluation for new head coach Tiago Splitter before potentially bigger moves later. 

Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis are at the center of it all as they look to develop into a star forward p...

After lengthy forays into restricted free agency, both Bennedict Mathurin and Jonathan Kuminga went off the board in the same day. Mathurin is heading to the Pelicans on a two-year, $16 million deal, while Kuminga is going to the Timberwolves on a two-year deal worth over $12 million. The Bulls were reportedly interested in both players, but did they ever really have a chance? And are the Bulls actually missing out here? 

ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported the Bulls as a team that "aggressively" pursued Mathurin via sign-and-trade, though a sign-and-trade would've required a three-year deal and Bryson Graham seemed h...

Ricky and Jason break down the Bulls' 2026-27 season schedule and make their annual game-by-game predictions. The start of the season is absolutely brutal, putting the Bulls in a position to start slow. Will that make them more likely to look to sell off certain players as the year goes on? Will a softer close to the schedule help them beat Vegas' projections? 

Plus, shoutout to the Bulls for once again killing their schedule release video. This year's was inspired by Grand Theft Auto and is a must-watch. 

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Ricky and Jason are back after a hiatus following Bulls Summer League. Since the last podcast, LeBron James surprisingly picked the 76ers in free agency, adding another bombshell move to the pile this offseason. All the crazy player movement sets up what should be a fascinating 2026-27 NBA season with plenty of potential contenders, and Ricky goes over his offseason power rankings. 

The Bulls are on the other end of the contender spectrum, but they recently popped up in free agency rumors with reported interest in Clippers restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin. While that interest was then d...

The Bulls finished 2026 Summer League with a 1-4 record, with Caleb Wilson, Dailyn Swain and Noa Essengue all sitting the fifth and final game out. The fourth game was an ugly affair against the Lakers, with Swain and Essengue struggling again while Wilson put up nice numbers despite a boatload of turnovers. 

Wilson producing as Swain and Essengue stumbled was a theme of the entire Vegas experience for the Bulls. While this new front office should be thrilled with what they saw from Wilson, who earned All-Summer League First-Team honors, there are red flags abound with Swain a...

Caleb Wilson's dominant start to Summer League has Ricky and Jason going all in on the hype surrounding the No. 4 pick. The Bulls rookie took Vegas by storm with a historic 35-point debut against Cameron Boozer and the Grizzlies that saw him make seven 3-pointers, matching the number of triples he hit in his entire lone season at UNC. There's plenty of reason to believe this shooting improvement is real, as Wilson has been putting in a lot of work and he has been cashing in all types of looks from downtown in Vegas.

Wilson has also...

The Bulls started NBA free agency by bringing back Zach Collins on a two-year, $17 million contract extension, and then they made their big move by landing Norman Powell on a two-year, $45 million deal. While the Collins deal seemed weird on the surface, the team option on Year 2 helps and he could be a tradable piece almost immediately. 

The Powell move was telegraphed heading into free agency, and getting him on a two-year deal with a team option is a good piece of business for a Bulls team that badly needed to add shooting. Powell is at nearly 40% f...

After crushing the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, Bryson Graham's second round was a bummer given he traded out of both picks. The first trade was selling the No. 56 pick to the Lakers for cash considerations, and then while on the clock the Bulls traded No. 38 to the Pacers for Kam Jones, future second-round pick swaps and cash. Will Jones even make the roster after a rough rookie season with the Pacers? 

While this was a disappointing outcome that continued an ugly trend from past regimes, there's no reason to overreact about Graham just yet. There's s...

The Bulls drafted Caleb Wilson with the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, a choice that was telegraphed for quite some time. Then at No. 15, Bryson Graham went with Dailyn Swain, who had been on Ricky's radar for a while. 

With these two picks, Ricky declares that Graham "crushed" his first draft, bringing hope for the future in Chicago. Ricky breaks down Wilson's game, discusses his SB Nation feature story on the new Bulls star and dismisses comps on both ends of the spectrum to both Kevin Garnett and Tyrus Thomas. 

As for Swain, the Bu...

New Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham has finally hired his head coach, luring Tiago Splitter away from the Blazers after he helped lead the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time in five years. It seemed like bringing Splitter back was a no-brainer, but new Blazers owner Tom Dundon's cheapness got in the way. 

Longtime friend of the program and Blazers insider Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report and Rip City Radio 620 joins Ricky and Jason to talk all about Splitter's brief tenure in place of Chauncey Billups, who was a...

Ricky is joined by Memphis-based NBA Draft analyst Chip Williams to talk about the Grizzlies' pick at No. 3, which will influence what the Bulls do at No. 4. The consensus outcome for the Grizzlies is Cameron Boozer, but there has been some buzz about Boozer going to the Jazz at No. 2. If that happened, what would the Grizzlies do at No. 3 and how would that impact the Bulls? 

Chip then gives his full breakdown of Caleb Wilson, who still appears to be the likeliest option for the Bulls at No. 4. While he has Wilson a tier below the t...

Ricky and Jason react to the tragic death of legendary Bulls broadcaster and three-time NBA champion Stacey King, paying tribute to a giant in the Chicago sports landscape. The guys remember King's best calls and nicknames, and Ricky discusses his personal connection to the late announcer. 

The Bulls will never be the same without King, but the franchise has to soldier on in the wake of his tragic passing. Bryson Graham continues his head coaching search, with finalists coming into focus this week. There's a lot of buzz around Tiago Splitter and Micah Nori, and a final d...

Ricky and Jason welcome Maxwell Baumbach of No Ceilings to the show for Bulls NBA Draft talk, but first is an update on the head coaching search and some new hires in the front office who are tight with Bryson Graham from his Pelicans days. There's still not a whole lot of clarity in the head coaching search after Sean Sweeney went to the Magic last week, except that Graham should be picking his finalists very soon. Billy Donovan's top assistant Wes Unseld Jr. is expected to be one of those finalists. 

Ricky and Maxwell then dive d...

Bryson Graham's Bulls head coaching search is moving along slowly, with a wide net of candidates and no clear presumptive favorite. As we wait on a head coach, NBA Draft prep continues as Ricky and Jason welcome draft expert Finn Vandergriff of The Double Bonus and The Center Hub to the show. 

Finn breaks down all things Caleb Wilson and then goes into some of the options with the 15th pick. He also hypes up Noa Essengue and Leonard Miller while looking at how all these players would fit with Matas Buzelis and the rest of the B...

Jason and Ricky welcome NBA Draft analyst Latif Love of Love My Takes to the show to recap the NBA Draft Combine and take a deep dive into the Bulls' options with picks 4 and 15.

Before all the draft chatter, the guys discuss Bryson Graham hiring Stephen Mervis and Acie Law IV as his top lieutenants in the front office. Next up is the head coaching search, with The Stein Line's Jake Fischer reporting Spurs assistant Sean Sweeney, Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori, Thunder assistant Dave Bliss, James Borrego and Tiago Splitter among the named candidates. (NOTE: Fischer later...

Bryson Graham and the Bulls got some NBA Draft Lottery luck on Sunday, moving up from No. 9 to No. 4. This sets up Graham especially well for his first offseason as the Bulls' lead exec and will allow him to put his stamp on the roster. Graham acquitted himself well in his introductory press conference earlier in the week before the lottery, and now he'll get to put his money where his mouth is with the No. 4 pick, the No. 15 pick, the No. 38 pick and nearly $60 million in cap space. 

As for that No. 4 pick, Ricky and Jason b...

The Bulls have their man to run the front office as Arturas Karnisovas' replacement, and it's a bit of a curveball. Instead of bringing Timberwolves GM Matt Lloyd back to the franchise as speculated, the Bulls decided to hire Hawks exec Bryson Graham to run the show. Graham, 39, spent 15 years with the Pelicans organization, starting as an intern and rising up to GM before leaving for the Hawks when Joe Dumars took over in NOLA. 

Ricky and Jason give their immediate reactions to the hire, which is definitely a surprise but brings some excitement given the blank s...

The Bulls' front office search is moving forward with a group of finalist candidates: Matt Lloyd, Dennis Lindsey, Bryson Graham and Dave Lewin. Jason and Ricky discuss this candidate list reported by The Stein Line, as well as the details that John Paxson is taking a key role in the search and the Bulls are talking "rebuild" in their interviews. 

A new hire is expected before the NBA Draft Lottery on May 10, which will be a big day for the Bulls as they learn the fate of their first first-round pick. And as the Bulls move forward u...

Billy Donovan finally made his decision on his future with the Bulls, and he's walking away after six seasons. While the Reinsdorfs wanted Donovan to stick around with a new front office, Donovan felt it was better to give them a clean slate and pursue other opportunities. 

Ricky and Jason give their final thoughts on the Donovan era, which was mostly underwhelming, albeit not necessarily because of him. The bigger failure was above Donovan in the front office, which gave him substandard rosters he squeezed the most out of. 

But while Donovan is a good co...

A wild night of NBA Play-In Tournament basketball ended with a thrilling Blazers comeback win over the Suns, which resulted in the Bulls getting another first-round pick in the upcoming draft. It's a pick the Bulls have been waiting on since the Lauri Markkanen trade in 2021, and it gives the new front office another asset to play with to rebuild the roster.

In the early game of the night, Coby White played hero for the Hornets in a wild overtime victory over the Heat. After several years of play-in disappointment against the Heat, White got redemption with...

The Bulls fired Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley before the end of the regular season, a pleasant surprise after years of calling for their heads. Jason and Ricky break down why their firings were warranted for so long.

But while AK and ME are out, Billy Donovan is still badly wanted by ownership, as evidenced by Michael Reinsdorf's media session where he said the new lead exec needs to be willing keep the head coach around if he wants to get hired . Should the Bulls go all in on Donovan and let him effectively run the show...

The Bulls' brutal season just got even worse with the Jaden Ivey situation going totally off the rails. While the Bulls were right to quickly move on from Ivey after his series of social media rants, Arturas Karnisovas comes out of this mess looking worse than ever. This is especially true given Karnisovas hasn't even made any kind of statement on the matter, failing to show immediate accountability and forcing Billy Donovan and his players to comment on it first. 

It's yet another reason why Karnisovas should be fired, and there's very little reason to keep him a...

The Bulls are 4-4 in March after going 0-11 in February, with Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis leading the way. Giddey has been the best version of himself in March throughout his career, and he's doing it again by being a triple-double machine and shooting the lights out from 3-point range. It's very similar to what happened last season, although a 15-5 finish likely isn't in the cards this time around. 

Meanwhile, Buzelis has enjoyed some monster games of late, including a career-high 41 points in an overtime win over the Warriors. What has Buzelis been doing well a...

The Bulls have won a couple of crazy games since their 11-game losing streak, but they also just lost to the lowly Kings and look destined to finish in the No. 9 or 10 lottery slot. There's not a whole lot to write home about with the young players, with Matas Buzelis' growth stagnating a bit, Rob Dillingham looking rough and Leonard Miller going back to the bench against the Kings after some nice flashes in prior games when he got to play due to injuries. But, hey, at least Collin Sexton was enjoying a nice start to Mickey Mouse March...

The Bulls haven't won yet in February, going 0-10 so far with the worst net rating in the NBA by a mile. There has been a lot of ugly basketball after the trade deadline overhaul, with a 32-point loss to the Hornets in Coby White's return to the United Center the latest example. Where do the Bulls currently stand in the tank race? 

There hasn't been too much to glean from these games with all these new players and a bunch of injuries, but Matas Buzelis was a silver lining in the Hornets game with his career-high 32 p...

The Bulls have lost six straight games heading into the 2026 NBA All-Star break, with a total blowout in Boston to cap things off. The Bulls have been working in a bunch of new players after the trade deadline while also dealing with injuries to Josh Giddey, Tre Jones and Jalen Smith, so things have been a mess. While the team should look a bit better once healthy, how long will that good health last and just how many more wins are left on the schedule? 

Racking up losses isn't a problem, though, as the priority should be w...

The Bulls made seven trades ahead of the 2026 NBA trade deadline, a shocking amount of activity as Arturas Karnisovas totally overhauled the roster. Ricky and Jason recap the entire deadline and discuss the first game afterward, a 16-point loss to the Raptors that saw newcomers Anfernee Simons, Jaden Ivey and Guerschon Yabusele play pretty well. 

The guys then go back and discuss the trades made on Wednesday night and Thursday, starting with the Dalen Terry-for-Yabusele trade and highlighted by Ayo Dosunmu going to the Timberwolves. The Bulls also got Nick Richards in a three-team deal. 

Di...

The Coby White era in Chicago is over, with the longest-tenured Bull getting traded to the Hornets along with Mike Conley Jr for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng and three second-round picks. It's an unwhelming draft haul for a player who easily could've fetched more last season, but Arturas Karnisovas has made a habit of holding onto players too long. But even with White's low trade value, it felt like it was time to say goodbye as AK retools the team. It's also a good spot for White as he heads into free agency, and he has a chance to...

After years and years of calls for it, the Bulls finally traded Nikola Vucevic, sending him to the Celtics for Anfernee Simons. Second-round picks changed hands in the trade, with Chicago set to get a pretty juicy one from the Pelicans. Will the Bulls keep that pick or flip it elsewhere? Jason and Ricky celebrate the Vucevic era finally coming to an end so the franchise can move on, and the veteran big man can play for a contender in Boston. 

Before the Vucevic trade went down, the Bulls got in on another three-team deal, acquiring Jaden I...

Jason and Ricky discuss the Bulls going 1-2 in their three-game mini-series against the Heat, which featured a close loss at the United Center, a truly improbable win in Miami with a skeleton crew and a 43-point loss in Miami to cap it all off. The Bulls won the middle game behind 20 3-pointers and a star showing by Ayo Dosunmu in the second half, including a number of clutch baskets down the stretch. However, the final game wasn't even close from the very start, even with Coby White and Nikola Vucevic back in the lineup after missing the win. 

Jason joins the guys over at Miami Heat Beat to discuss the first of a three-game mini-series between the Bulls and Heat. Miami took the first game of the set 116-113 at the United Center, barely squeaking out a road victory after nearly blowing a double-digit fourth-quarter lead. Ayo Dosunmu almost single-handedly brought the Bulls back late in the fourth quarter, but Coby White's game-tying 3-point attempt missed badly. 

After breaking down the game from every angle, Jason gives his thoughts on Derrick Rose's jersey retirement. While Rose is a hero to Chicago, there are still some c...

The Bulls entered their United Center showdown against the Lakers on a four-game winning streak after Kevin Huerter's game-winning 3-pointer against the Celtics on Derrick Rose Jersey Retirement Night. Luka Doncic put a stop to that with a 46-point masterpiece in a Lakers victory. Ricky was in the building to see Luka's show, which featured an ugly second quarter with 10 Bulls turnovers. Matas Buzelis also only played 22 minutes in a disappointing showing as the winning streak came to an end. 

Ricky and Jason address the latest trade rumors and try to figure out which direction the Bulls w...