Chicago Bulls Notes: Keep An Eye on the Heat, Lonzo Ball News, A Change in Offensive Identity, More (2025)

The Chicago Bulls will head into the weekend one game out of the No. 9 seed. While the odds appeared in their favor to move back up the ladder as soon as last night, the Miami Heat shockingly took down the Boston Celtics in blowout fashion. They have now won SIX straight games, which includes genuinely impressive victories over the Warriors, Hawks, and Celtics.

Following the Jimmy Butler trade, the Heat appeared on the verge of a downward spiral. They felt like the team the Bulls should want to see in the first round of the Play-In. I’d likely still have them at the top of the list, but the matchup doesn’t look as promising as it once did. Eric Spoelstra has his team playing locked in at the right time, as the Heat have held the league’s top net rating over this six-game win streak. They’re shooting 52.5 percent from the field (second highest in the league) and averaging the third-most points off turnovers.

Miami has Memphis and Milwaukee on the schedule next, so we’ll see if they can keep this up against playoff-caliber opponents. If one thing is for sure, their final regular-season matchup with the Bulls next Wednesday could be very telling.

• Speaking of the infamous Play-In Tournament, we discussed further what clinching a third-straight appearance means for the organization. Some positives … some negatives:

• The NBA also clarified the dates for the upcoming Play-In Tournament this week. The East and West will play the 7v8 game on April 15, while the 9v10 game in both conferences will be held on April 16. As for the final Play-In game for the 8 seed on both sides, that will be played on April 18. The first round of the playoffs will begin one day later on April 19. Of course, this means the Bulls are currently positioned to suit up on April 16, which would give them two full days off before the game.

• Where art thou, Lonzo Ball!? We’ve been told for weeks that Ball would return to the rotation at some point, but there are only six games left in the regular season! The Chicago Tribune’s Julia Poe shared Billy Donovan’s not-so-promising update on the guard this week, which stated that his wrist isn’t expected to be completely pain-free for months. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network also reiterated that the injury has bothered Ball since the early part of the season. Even if he does get the green light soon from the medical team … is it really worth it? As important as his IQ can be, the Bulls have played pretty well in recent weeks, AND it’s been nice to see their young players do the bulk of the heavy lifting. Ball’s return will shake up the distribution of minutes for this young backcourt and the overall ball-handling responsibilities. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. But why not allow him to heal up fully and continue to prioritize the player development?

• Over the last 15 games, one team has led the NBA in both fastbreak points and points in the paint: Your Chicago Bulls! It’s been really interesting to watch their identity grow and change over the course of this season. While they’ve always been near the top of the league in PACE and transition scoring, the team-wide emphasis on getting to the rim has been a pretty stark difference from the beginning of the year. The Bulls shot the second-most threes per game up until Feb. 20. Since then, they have shot the seventh-most. And they have shot the 11th-most since March 1. The Bulls really have found a lot better balance offensively as the season has dragged on. The downhill aggressiveness of White and the distributing ability of Giddey have been the catalyst for that.

• The Windy City Bulls gave fans a better idea of how much goes into being a player on a two-way deal. Fans get to hear from Jahmir Young, Emanuel Miller, and EJ Liddell about the ever-changing lifestyle, as well as see plenty of behind-the-scenes clips of Windy City’s season. To be honest, this probably isn’t something that’s documented enough. G-League players in general have quite a significant uphill battle in front of them. They’re commitment to climbing that hill, however, goes to show how much they truly love the game.

• Jameson Taillon looked pretty darn good in his second performance of the season. Brett talked more about what went right for the Cubs pitcher.

• The Blackhawks youngsters are learning through their mistakes. Tab wrote about Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel after last night’s matchup with the Avalanche.

• Chicago Bears owner George McCasky talked about some big-picture topics in a recent media availability.

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Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.