Bulls rookie Phillips makes most of opportunity
The Bulls salvaged a win Sunday in Portland, completing a 1-2 record on the West Coast.
It wasn't a great performance, but did demonstrate why this season could be a positive step for the Bulls, whether it ends in the play-in, playoffs or none of the above.
Patrick Williams was sidelined by a left foot injury, giving rookie forward Julian Phillips the chance to play a season-high 23 minutes and produce his first double-digit scoring game in the NBA with 11 points.
Even better, Phillips looked like he belonged on the court. There was no hesitation when he got open looks from 3, he was in the right spots and made a variety of contributions.
“I think the thing I've been most impressed with from summer league to now is he picks things up very quickly,” coach Billy Donovan said after the game. “He's got a very high IQ. He instinctively knows where to cut. He just has a knack for where to cut and do those things.”
Phillips, a second-round pick from Tennessee, has played nine games with the Windy City Bulls this season, with games of 29 and 30 points. He's a nice fit, since Donovan has stressed pushing the pace with Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. The 6-foot-8 Phillips is someone who can run the floor with the guards.
The bigger picture here is meaningful. The Bulls struggled with player development from the time Tom Thibodeau departed. Arturas Karnisovas expanded the development staff over the summer, and since then, White and Dosunmu made massive steps forward.
Now the Bulls have been able to send a young player to the G-League for some experience, then play quality minutes in an NBA game. The sample size here is small, but Williams has already been ruled out of Tuesday's home game against Toronto, so Phillips will get a chance to keep it going.
Clock is ticking
There's roughly nine days until the NBA trade deadline arrives on Feb. 8. Zach LaVine remains sidelined by a right ankle sprain and the chances he'll be moved by deadline seem pretty slim.
In theory, the Bulls have to make a decision about whether they'd be willing to trade LaVine without getting a significant asset in return. They could also wait and hope things can get sorted out or LaVine's trade value increases during the summer.
There was a rumor about the Bulls asking for one of Detroit's young players in return for LaVine. Like most of the other rumors, this one seems like wishful thinking.
Every NBA team appears reluctant to take on LaVine's contract, which still has $138 million left for the next three seasons. When players like James Harden and Kyrie Irving demand trades, at least they have some history of playoff success. LaVine doesn't.
So even doing an expiring-deal trade with Detroit for Bojan Bogdanovic and Joe Harris seems unlikely. Maybe the Pistons would be willing to include their young pieces that aren't fitting in, like Killian Hayes and James Wiseman, or send back undersized center Isaiah Stewart, who has a $60-million extension kicking in next year.
The Bulls haven't missed LaVine very much while he's been injured this season. So any sort of trade seems like a decent plan, but it's possible there are no takers.
Around the league
In case you missed it, the NBA might have had the highest-scoring week in history. Luka Doncic scored 73 points against Atlanta and Joel Embiid lit up Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama for 70 points. In losing efforts, Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker each scored 62. Four games of 60-plus points in five days is insane. Anyone teaching defense these days?...
New York's Jalen Brunson missed being an East All-Star starter thanks to the fan vote. The NBA is using a system where fan votes count 50%, with player and media votes at 25% each. The media panel had Brunson, a Stevenson High School grad, second among East guards behind Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton. The players had him third after Haliburton and Philadelphia's Tyrese Maxey. But Milwaukee's Damian Lillard got the second starting slot because Brunson was fifth in the fan vote.
Twitter: @McGrawDHSports