Jalen Smith

Bulls Notes: Vucevic, Collins, Smith, White, Draft Night, Okoro, Jones

December 13th, 2025 at 8:12am CST by Dana Gauruder

Nikola Vucevic sat for the last 19 minutes of the Bulls’ 129-126 win over Charlotte on Friday, which snapped Chicago’s seven-game losing streak. Head coach Billy Donovan said the decision did not reflect his long-term plans for the center position, according to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune.

Zach Collins wound up playing 20 minutes, contributing 16 points and eight rebounds, while Jalen Smith logged 17 minutes and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“Whatever the case may be — maybe next game it’s not my night,” Collins said. “Maybe it’s Stix (Smith’s) night closing the game, maybe it’s Vooch’s night. We’ve got really good bigs that can finish games. Now we’re at the point where we can play the 4 and the 5. I just think it’s the tribute to the level of bigs we have that we can mess with the lineups like that.”

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Amid a report that the Timberwolves have inquired on Coby White, the Bulls guard replied that he’d prefer to stay put, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter links). “I love being here. I love being on this team,” said White, who is in his walk year. “But I understand it’s a business and it’s different going into (unrestricted free agency). They have to do what they think is best for the organization. It’s out of my control.” Johnson notes that while White is definitely on some teams’ radars, there is currently little to no engagement from potential suitors.
The Bulls have taken some criticisms in the media for not making a trade with the Pelicans on draft night. New Orleans president of basketball operations Joe Dumars surprisingly traded the No. 23 overall pick and an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the Hawks to move up to No. 13 to draft Maryland big man Derik Queen. However, a high-ranking Bulls official told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the Pelicans never contacted the Bulls about the No. 12 pick, contradicting Dumars’ subsequent statements. In fact, if New Orleans had presented such a trade, Chicago would have done the deal, Cowley says.
Smith, Isaac Okoro and Tre Jones were under minutes restrictions on Friday after returning from injuries, according to Poe. Okoro had 15 points in 26 minutes while Jones added six points and five assists in 25 minutes.

Bulls Notes: Jones, Okoro, Smith, Dosunmu, Huerter, More

December 11th, 2025 at 4:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The banged-up Bulls should get some reinforcements when they take on the Hornets in Charlotte on Friday. Veteran point guard Tre Jones (left ankle sprain) practiced for a second consecutive day on Thursday and said he expects to suit up tomorrow after missing the team’s past three games, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link).

Isaac Okoro (left lumbar radiculopathy) and Jalen Smith (left hamstring strain) also practiced for a second straight day, per Johnson (Twitter link), and have been listed as probable to play on Friday after being sidelined for eight and five games, respectively. Head coach Billy Donovan told reporters that both players will be on minutes restrictions if they’re active.

Chicago is still far from being at full strength. Guard Ayo Dosunmu has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 thumb sprain (Twitter link via Johnson) and won’t make the trip to Charlotte, while sharpshooter Kevin Huerter (left adductor strain) still isn’t practicing and will be out for a fourth straight game on Friday.

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Donovan still believes the 9-14 Bulls are capable of turning things around without making roster changes, as long as they can get (and stay) healthier, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required). “We’ve had an enormous amount of injuries,” Donovan said. “Having seven guys (available) is challenging for any team. I always believe that if you’ve got nine or 10 guys that are committed to doing the things necessary, there’s enough in that locker room. I really believe that.”
Donovan expressed after a blowout loss to Golden State on Sunday that the Bulls players like each other, but haven’t shown that they “love” one another enough to consistently do little things like boxing out and diving for loose balls (Twitter link via Johnson). Asked about his head coach’s comments, Josh Giddey insisted that the Bulls “love each other,” but admitted the team isn’t showing it on the court. “I think we’ve just got to be better at playing for each other,” Giddey said (Twitter video link via Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic).
According to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls’ seven-game losing streak has taken its toll on the team and its chemistry. A source tells Cowley that guard Coby White is among the veterans who are “trying to put out fires and limit finger-pointing while still holding teammates accountable.”
Donovan pointed to veteran center Nikola Vucevic as another player who is doing what he can to hold the team together, telling reporters on Wednesday that Vucevic asked to meet with him after a recent loss to talk about “areas of improvement” and how he can help the group (Twitter links via Johnson). “When we’re not playing to our identity, that frustrates him,” Donovan said. “When he sees sometimes there’s not carryover from shootarounds to games, that frustrates him. And I want him to use his voice. Vooch holds himself to a high standard but also knows we need everybody.”

Bulls Notes: Losing Streak, Okoro, Essengue, Vucevic

December 8th, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls coach Billy Donovan credits the Warriors‘ “identity” with helping them to survive a string of injuries, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscription required), who adds that the identity Donovan’s team is developing should be a major concern.

The Bulls dropped their seventh straight game Sunday night, losing by 32 points to a Golden State team that was missing Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The Warriors still managed to score 38 points in the first quarter while shooting 8-of-13 from beyond the arc and outrebounded Chicago by an 11-6 margin.

‘‘I do think for some of the guys that have been thrust into situations where their minutes have changed, responsibilities have changed, we’ve got to be able to stay true and hold true to that (identity),’’ Donovan said. ‘‘That’s the thing I try to look at where, yes, you’ve got all these injuries, but what about the things we can control about how we’re supposed to play and how we need to be able to play? Some of the things that have hurt have been the ball-handling issue and the turnovers. We’ve had a lot of responsibilities on particular guys just because that’s one thing that’s kind of gone out with the injuries is the ball-handling, but we’ve got to be able to do a better job with that.’’

After winning their first five games, the Bulls have taken a severe downturn, dropping to 11th in the East at 9-14. The early advantages they got from committing to Donovan’s fast-paced style have disappeared, and there don’t seem to be any obvious paths to a quick turnaround. However, guard Coby White insists that players are remaining united through the adversity.

‘‘Whatever we do, we’ve got to do it together,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s the most important thing. I’ve been here a long time, seen a lot of different situations, been in different scenarios, and the most important thing is we can’t start pointing fingers or anything like that. I’m not saying by any means we’ve done that, but we’re all human. So the most important thing right now is we’ve got to stick together. It’s still a very long season.’’

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There’s some optimism on the injury front, Cowley states in a separate story. Forwards Isaac Okoro (back) and Jalen Smith (left hamstring) and guard Kevin Huerter (adductor) were all able to do some on-court work prior to Sunday’s game. The Bulls are now 1-7 without Okoro, and Cowley states that they desperately miss their best perimeter defender. ‘‘He has made progress and has felt better, but he still feels like when he goes back, he still feels it there,’’ Donovan said. ‘‘Some of those symptoms have subsided, but the hardest part for me is … they’re all going to need some ramp-up. Even if they’re feeling really good, I don’t know if the medical guys are going to say, ‘OK, you’re fine,’ and throw them right back into a game.’’
Rookie forward Noa Essengue confirmed that it was his decision to undergo surgery on his injured left shoulder now rather than try to play through the pain and wait for the offseason, Cowley adds. ‘‘If I waited until the end of the season, I would be gone all summer,’’ he said. ‘‘And if I do it now, I can have all summer.’’
The Bulls aren’t getting the bench production they did earlier in the season, notes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required). Injuries have played a role in that drop-off, but Poe points out that Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry and Zach Collins were all available on Sunday.
Nikola Vucevic is unlikely to be the Bulls’ starting center beyond this season, Poe states in a mailbag column. While Collins could inherit that role, Poe believes the eventual long-term solution will come through the draft.

Central Notes: Garland, Ball, White, Furphy, Siakam

December 1st, 2025 at 1:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers will be without a handful of players for Monday’s matchup against the Pacers. Darius Garland (toe injury management) and Lonzo Ball (illness) have been added to the list of players who won’t be available. Larry Nance Jr., Max Strus, Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill had already been listed as out of action due to various ailments.

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Coby White, who has already missed a chunk of the Bulls season due to a right calf strain, is listed as doubtful with left calf tightness and congestion for tonight’s game against the Magic, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets. White has played five games, averaging 24.2 points and 6.2 assists per contest. Noa Essengue, Jalen Smith and Isaac Okoro are listed as out, with Zach Collins – who has yet to make his season debut – considered doubtful.
Pacers forward Johnny Furphy, who suffered a left ankle sprain in early November, was assigned to the G League’s Noblesville Boom over the weekend and then recalled, the team’s PR department tweets. The 2024 second round selection has appeared in three games this season after coming off the bench in 50 regular season games during his rookie campaign. He appears to be nearing a return after practicing with the Boom.
With Tyrese Haliburton out for the season, Pascal Siakam is now the No. 1 option for the Pacers. He’s put together back-to-back 24-point outings as the team doubled its win total with victories over the Wizards and Bulls this weekend. Indiana got off to a woeful 2-16 start after making the NBA Finals last season. “You can’t take it for granted,” Siakam told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Every single night you go out there, and when you’re used to winning you take it for granted. I think every day we go out there, every single possession that we win, every single run that we have, every single win, we gotta take it and enjoy it and know — which is the most important — know what it took for us to get to that. We’re tired of losing. We can’t keep losing. That has to be our mindset. We have to give everything for that.”

Bulls Notes: Okoro, White, Smith, Essengue

November 29th, 2025 at 8:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Bulls are stumbling over a soft part of their schedule, losing Friday at Charlotte after falling to New Orleans and needing a late rally to top Washington by a single point, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times (subscription required). After a fast start that included wins over Detroit, New York and Cleveland, Chicago has fallen back to .500 at 9-9 and may be headed for another mediocre season.

Teams have been taking advantage of the Bulls’ defensive weaknesses and lack of physicality, which Cowley points out have become more prominent with Isaac Okoro missing the past three games due to a back issue. Okoro is the team’s most versatile defender, and his absence limits coach Billy Donovan’s options on that end of the court.

“With Isaac being out, and there’s times with Isaac that we can put him on different players, and he’s an outstanding defender, and he’s guarded some of the best players in this league throughout his career,” Donovan said. “But with him being out, we don’t have the luxury to just rely on one guy stopping one guy.”

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Coby White is sitting out Saturday’s contest against Indiana, but Donovan said in his pregame meeting with reporters that this will be the last back-to-back of the season that he’ll definitely be held out of, relays KC Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). White’s availability for future back-to-backs will be determined on a situational basis. He has appeared in five games since returning from a strained right calf.
Jalen Smith (hamstring strain) and Noa Essengue (shoulder contusion) were both added to the injury report for tonight’s game, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). Donovan said Essengue hurt his shoulder in a G League contest.
Injuries have forced the Bulls to rely more on their bench players, notes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required), who adds that the roster isn’t built to withstand the loss of multiple rotation members. Donovan bemoaned the lack of “sustainability” earlier this week, but Poe suggests it’s a matter of not having the players available that he was counting on. Ayo Dosunmu believes the recent slump is a result of repeating the same basic errors. “Coach has been telling us a thousand times to box out,” he said after the loss to the Pelicans. “But on film, we’re going to the glass, not boxing out, just standing around. Coach is telling us to get into the ball. Coach is telling us what we have to do physically. We keep saying the stove is hot, and we keep touching the stove.”

Bulls Notes: Buzelis, Essengue, Smith, Vucevic

November 23rd, 2025 at 9:03pm CST by Eli Cohen

Matas Buzelis has embraced the physicality and gritty style of play demanded by the Bulls and head coach Billy Donovan, writes Joe Cowley for the Chicago Sun-Times. The transformation began in the offseason, when Buzelis added 10 pounds of muscle in preparation for stepping into a starring role for Chicago.

“I said before the season started that this would be a great year of growth for him because he’s going to see things he hasn’t seen his rookie season,” Donovan said. “The thing I love about Matas is he leans into it and he’s eager to improve.”

The second-year forward has raised his averages is nearly every meaningful category so far in his second NBA season. He’s currently contributing 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 27.8 minutes per game, and he’s embracing the increased focus that comes from his newfound status on the team.

“Most of the time the best defender is guarding me and that puts a target on my back,” Buzelis said. “I like that, that’s how I’m going to get better and stride forward.”

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After being selected 12th overall in the 2025 draft, Noa Essengue finally made his NBA debut in the Bulls’ 16th game of the season. The patience he displayed in waiting for his chance to take the floor extended to his first stint on the floor, according to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune, who notes that a single missed field goal represented Essengue’s only contribution to the box score in four minutes of action. Still, he wasn’t discouraged by the outing or by the time it took to get there. “It was nice to get on the court with my teammates since I’ve worked two or three months now,” Essengue said. “I just enjoyed it. I know I don’t got a lot of time so I just tried to enjoy every moment.” Even that brief appearance provided Donovan with some insights to take away. “I’d like to see him get his motor going a little bit more,” the Bulls’ coach said, “but I was happy I could throw him in there for a few minutes.”
Donovan hinted that Jalen Smith will likely be in the rotation even when Zach Collins returns from wrist surgery, reports Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic, who says (via Twitter) that Donovan compared it to how the Spurs and Cavaliers use their big men. “We may have to look at two bigs together some, or playing three bigs rotationally,” Donovan said. “I think we gotta find what’s best to play all three.” Smith has performed well for the 9-7 Bulls, averaging 10.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in just 16.4 minutes per night while shooting 37.1% from three.
The Bulls came out of Saturday’s game against the Wizards with a one-point win, but Nikola Vucevic was unimpressed by the team’s mentality, writes Lorenzi for The Athletic. “For three quarters, we were very soft,” Vucevic said. “We gave no resistance. We didn’t do anything that we talked about. Just played really soft. It was really bad… I don’t think we understand that it’s just not sustainable to play this way.” Buzelis, whose celebration of the victory irked Vucevic during a post-game interview (Twitter video link), conceded his teammate’s point when he spoke to reporters a little later. “He believes that we should beat that team by a lot more, and I totally agree with him,” Buzelis said. “He has every right to be upset. We have to be better, for sure.”

Bulls Notes: Smith, Williams, Jones, Buzelis

October 26th, 2025 at 9:26am CST by Rory Maher

Jalen Smith is getting another shot to be the Bulls‘ primary backup center after Zach Collins underwent surgery on October 18 to repair a non-displaced fracture in his left wrist, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune.

As Poe details, Smith signed a three-year, $27MM contract with Chicago during the 2024 offseason and opened 2024/25 as the main backup to Nikola Vucevic. He initially lost the job due to an injury: he suffered a concussion in February, and Collins — who was acquired earlier that month in the three-team deal that sent Zach LaVine to Sacramento — thrived while Smith was out.

“At the end of the day, this is a big-boy’s league,” Smith said. “You can’t be salty over stuff like that. It was out of my control. I got a concussion, Zach started playing well. If I was the coach, I would’ve made the same decision.”

While Smith harbors no ill will over the demotion, he’s determined to reclaim the role this season. The 25-year-old big man went 0-of-7 from the field in 14 minutes in Wednesday’s opener, but bounced back with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 17 minutes during Saturday’s victory in Orlando.

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Matas Buzelis‘ foul trouble created an opportunity for Patrick Williams on Saturday, and the former No. 4 overall pick took advantage with an assertive performance on both ends of the court, according to Poe. Williams finished with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 29 minutes. “I think I played good ball — but most importantly, we won,” Williams said. “That’s kind of how I judge myself, no matter how I played. If we win, great. If we lost, I didn’t do enough.”
Tre Jones, who re-signed with the Bulls on a three-year, $24MM contract over the summer, continues to play well with Coby White (calf strain) out. The 25-year-old point guard was a game-high plus-17 on Saturday while recording 13 points, eight assists, five rebounds and a career-high five steals in 29 minutes, Poe notes.
In an interview with DJ Siddiqi of RG.org, second-year forward Buzelis discusses his individual and team goals for 2025/26, players he looked up to growing up, and more.

Bulls Notes: Okoro, Vucevic, Williams, Dosunmu

October 17th, 2025 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

Entering the preseason, it seemed obvious that Josh Giddey, Coby White, Matas Buzelis, and Nikola Vucevic would be part of the Bulls‘ starting lineup, but the fifth spot in that unit remained up for grabs. As Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune (subscription required) wrote when she explored the topic earlier this week, Isaac Okoro, Kevin Huerter, Ayo Dosunmu, and Tre Jones all looked like candidates for the role.

Now that the Bulls’ preseason has wrapped up, Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times believes Okoro is the frontrunner to be the team’s fifth starter, and head coach Billy Donovan acknowledged that he’d be comfortable having the newly added forward defending the opponent’s best perimeter player. However, Donovan also stressed that he doesn’t necessarily plan to lock in a lineup and rotation and stick with that group indefinitely.

“I’ve talked to these guys about it, and it’s not probably necessarily conventional just from the perspective of we’ve got to get out of the old-school NBA mindset of, ‘Here’s my rotation, here’s my guys that go in the game and here’s how many minutes they play,'” Donovan said. “I just don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that.

“Probably over 82 games, there will be a consistent group that starts, but maybe some nights we have to change the starting lineup. In my opinion, we have to change starting lineups based on who we’re playing and what the matchups look like for us.”

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Although Vucevic will turn 35 next week and is entering the final year of his current contract, he’s not thinking about the end of his playing career at this point, as Poe relays for The Chicago Tribune (subscription required). “Retirement is not something that’s at all on my mind,” Vucevic said. “I’m just trying to enjoy it — as long, as much as I can.”
With the start of the season around the corner, Poe poses five questions facing the Bulls, including whether Buzelis is on an All-Star trajectory, whether White (calf strain) will be available for opening night, and how often the club will use a two-big lineup featuring Vucvic and Jalen Smith.
After a disappointing fifth year, expectations will be lower for former No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams as he enters his sixth NBA season, according to Cowley. However, the forward is feeling as healthy as he has in a while and will be focusing on producing more consistently for the Bulls, writes Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic. Donovan, who said he believes Williams can still “carve out a really good niche for himself as an NBA player,” noted that he has seen growth from the 24-year-old but stressed the need for him to be able to string together several good games in a row. “As it relates to Patrick, his minutes and stuff like that, a lot of it will be how consistent he’s playing,” Donovan said. “If it’s not going well — for anybody — we may have to go with someone else.”
Dosunmu has played well in the preseason and appears well positioned for a strong contract year, Cowley writes for The Sun-Times. For his part though, the fifth-year guard isn’t thinking about potential 2026 free agency or what an extension would look like, he recently told reporters. “My main focus is just taking it one day at a time, not worrying about next July or whenever it is, because that’s going to happen when it’s going to happen,” Dosunmu said. “Just stay in the moment.”

Bulls Notes: Giddey, White, Vucevic, Smith, Phillips

March 13th, 2025 at 10:33pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Bulls guard Josh Giddey is nearing the end of his rookie contract and will be one of the most interesting restricted free agents to monitor this offseason. While appearing on an episode of Nothing But Net with ESPN’s Kane Pitman (Twitter video link), Brian Windhorst pointed to Immanuel Quickley‘s five-year, $162.5MM contract as a deal that Giddey’s camp figures to use as a point of comparison.

While Giddey likely won’t get quite that much money, $30MM annually seems to be about the going rate for starting point guards in the league now. Reporting last fall indicated that the Bulls guard was seeking $30MM per year on a rookie scale extension.

However, Giddey’s restricted free agency might not play out that simply. As Windhorst observes, if Giddey doesn’t receive an offer sheet worth signing from a rival suitor, the Bulls could potentially play hardball. In that scenario, the 22-year-old would have the option of signing his one-year qualifying offer and reaching the market again the following year as an unrestricted free agent.

Windhorst also points out that the Bulls recently re-signed point guard Lonzo Ball to an extension, which could improve their leverage in the Giddey negotiations. However, since the Bulls traded Alex Caruso for Giddey, they likely view him as part of their long-term future. After having a similar situation play out last year with restricted free agent Patrick Williams, all signs point toward an extension of some kind.

Since Giddey received an expanded role, he’s averaging 20.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks in his last 15 games. He’s currently sidelined with an ankle injury.

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According to coach Billy Donovan (Twitter link via Chicago Sports Network’s K.C. Johnson), Giddey will travel for the start of the six-game road trip while continuing rehab on his ankle. In a follow-up tweet, Johnson reports that Giddey said he’s happy with how his recovery is going and that there’s optimism he’ll return on the trip.
Coby White scored a career-high 44 points in a game earlier in March and his strong play over the past two seasons has been a result of his evolution into a multi-layered scorer, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “From where I was with him, from his first year to now is amazing,” Donovan said. “He deserves all the credit because he is a guy who never points fingers, never blames, always looks internally, ‘How do I get better?’ He’s really made a strong investment to himself [and] the game.” White’s arsenal of shots has expanded since he entered the league as primarily a shooter and he has improved significantly as a finisher around the basket, Mayberry notes.
After missing seven games due to a calf injury, Nikola Vucevic came off the bench for the Bulls’ game against the Pacers on Monday. He returned to the starting lineup on Thursday, according to Johnson, but he’s currently on a restriction of 28-30 minutes per night. With Vucevic back in the lineup for the past two games, Jalen Smith has been the odd man out of the frontcourt rotation, Johnson adds (Twitter link).
Julian Phillips was the first man off the bench, ahead of Williams, in the Bulls’ Thursday win over the Nets. Phillips responded with a career-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists while playing as part of the closing lineup, Johnson observes in a series of tweets. The Bulls are on a four-game win streak.

Bulls Notes: Collins, Buzelis, Giddey, Williams

February 28th, 2025 at 1:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Injuries left Zach Collins as the Bulls‘ only remaining option at center for the past two games, resulting in a lot of minutes for the newly acquired big man, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. With Nikola Vucevic out of action to “proactively” rest a calf injury and Jalen Smith in concussion protocol, Collins made two straight starts, logging 28 minutes in Monday’s contest and 38 on Wednesday.

“I’m tired,” joked Collins, who was only averaging 11.8 minutes off the bench in San Antonio before being traded earlier this month. “I guess I’m getting all the minutes I want.”

Poe notes that Collins has faced a challenging adjustment moving into coach Billy Donovan’s up-tempo approach, which has been necessary because of the team’s overall lack of size. Collins has played well enough since the deal that Donovan indicated he might use some double-big lineups when Vucevic and Smith are healthy. That could happen soon, as K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network tweeted that Smith participated in this morning’s shootaround.

Collins is also working to solidify his future with the Bulls, who are expected to try again this summer to trade Vucevic.

“You want to help put your team in a position to win,” Collins said. “Great individual games don’t really mean much if you can’t get the win.”

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Suns star Kevin Durant was impressed by rookie forward Matas Buzelis when the teams met last weekend, Poe adds in a separate story. Buzelis wasn’t intimidated in his matchup with an NBA legend, posting 15 points and three rebounds in 24 minutes. “I like Matas,” Durant said. “I liked him when he was with the G League Ignite. He’s long, athletic and can shoot it. He is definitely going to have some bumps and bruises as he gets through these first few years in the league trying to figure stuff out. The more experience, the more reps he gets on the floor as a starter, the better he’ll become.”
The Bulls shouldn’t be fooled by Josh Giddey‘s recent hot streak, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic states in a mailbag column. Giddey is averaging 19.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game since the trade deadline while shooting 52.3% from the field and 62.5% from three-point range. However, Mayberry points out that Giddey, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, is playing for his next contract. Mayberry urges the front office to let the process play out with Giddey and not repeat last year’s mistake with Patrick Williams, who was re-signed before he could negotiate with other teams.
In the same piece, Mayberry expresses skepticism that any team will be willing to trade for Williams, who has four years and $72MM left on his current deal.

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