Chicago Bulls pizzazz are reeling after a tumultuous start to the resurgent Bulls’ season. In a short span of time, Coach Billy Donovan’s demanding an intense and focused overhaul of his team’s attitude and approach. So far, the Bulls have played at the slowest pace in the NBA. This was in stark contrast to Donovan’s prophetic vision for a more fluid, exciting, attacking style of play. The new team The isolation offense. As we’ll discuss shortly, this is a team that really leans on isolation tactics. As they try to improve, this top down approach has created skepticism about their effectiveness and forced cohesion.
For context, the Bulls have failed to hold a record over .500 before the start of December since 2021. Now, this trend has burdened informally both players and coaching staff. Things came to a head with LaVine once he became the subject of trade rumors. This extremely destabilizing speculation proved to be his undoing as he departed at the 2025 deadline. The team is on a mission to change that perception. Now add young talent like Josh Giddey, who came over from Oklahoma City in the June 2024 deal for Lonzo Ball, and Chicago’s future suddenly looks very bright.
Giddey, who was the 12th selection in the 2025 draft, doesn’t turn 19 until later this month. His youth and potential have some analysts questioning the Bulls’ decision to trade away veteran Alex Caruso without securing additional draft compensation. This bold move has left many in the league puzzled, yet it has infused new energy into the roster. Eight players on the Bulls’ roster are averaging double figures in points. That great teamwork has helped propel the Jazz to the second-best bench scoring in the league.
Nikola Vučević is coming into his 15th NBA season and his sixth with Chicago. He’s been candid about wanting his players to perform at a high level. Vučević admitted they weren’t playing up to NBA quality standards. In doing so, he had sent a loud and clear warning about the unsustainable, dare I say foolhardy play style they were exhibiting.
“We just didn’t play up to NBA standards.” – Nikola Vučević
Take these individual player concerns and combine them with Coach Donovan’s insistence on building strong team culture. Things got rocky. Then in August 2024, players met in Miami for an unofficial minicamp during the offseason. They hired a team first, developing chemistry and a clear, consistent style of play to their game. Donovan made no secret of his hope for the team to adopt a quicker tempo. He’d been adamant that intelligent ball movement is the key to true effectiveness and success.
“Building a culture takes time. Building how you want to play takes time. Building an identity takes time.” – Jamal Collier
The Bulls understand that copying the teams that are winning such as the Indiana Pacers is a necessary part of their development. Donovan was quick to point out that even if teams like Indiana are playing with a blazing pace, it’s the physicality on the defensive end that’s most important.
“The one thing that Indiana probably doesn’t get enough credit for is yes, they play really, really fast and [Tyrese] Haliburton’s a unique playmaker back there, but the physicality of those guys defensively is where our evolution has to continue.” – Billy Donovan
Coby White, the longest-tenured player on the team, has experienced various iterations of the Bulls’ roster and understands the challenges they face. He said he was hopeful that the group can unite as they look ahead into the regular season.
For now, Donovan continues to look on the bright side and gauge their progress around the 20-game mark of the season.
“Let’s see where we are at about 20 games.” – Unnamed team source
As the Bulls work to overcome their early-season bumps and bruises, they’ll need players to step up to raise their collective play on both ends of the court. Vučević alerted his teammates, who weren’t approaching the issue with the seriousness that would prevent a long run of unfortunate results if the problem was left uncorrected.
“It’s just not going to always work in your favor. Sometimes, you’re going to play well and be in close games. But more often than not, if you continue to play this way, it’s going to be bad loss after bad loss.” – Nikola Vučević
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