It’s Monday morning, beginning the final week of February 2026.
A lot has happened this month — except for a Bulls win. Chicago, now on a nine-game losing streak, has yet to win a single game this month. And boy, am I glad it’s happened. There might not be many people who agree with rooting against your favorite team. But sometimes, you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
Every successful team in the NBA was bad and lost, a lot, at some point before climbing to the top of the mountain. Just look at the number one–seeded OKC Thunder and the Detroit Pistons.
This is, unfortunately, the blueprint, and finally the Bulls are following it. What’s the sacrifice of a handful of wins now for the promise of many more in the future?
Let’s talk Bulls basketball.
@ Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Last night, the Chicago Bulls lost to the New York Knicks in a very fun fashion. They made the third-seeded team in the East sweat until the dying moments of the game, despite lacking that level of talent. Those are the kinds of losses that matter. Hard-fought, full of promise, but not damaging to what you’re ultimately working toward. That is a good tank loss, folks. One positive that did take place last night, the one I was praying for, was more Rob Dillingham minutes. In the last couple of games, Dillingham wasn’t getting playing time, even in games that were decided long before the final buzzer. The only argument you heard was that he wasn’t as good as the guards ahead of him and wouldn’t contribute positively. But last night, in the 24 minutes he did get, you could argue he was the best guard in the rotation. He finished with more points than Josh Giddey, more assists than Tre Jones, the same number of rebounds as Matas, and a team-best plus-minus of nine. Yes, he missed a dunk—but that wasn’t even close to the worst lowlight of the night.Rob Dillingham missed the wide open dunk. ?(h/t @SMHighlights1) pic.twitter.com/w54YdYns5b
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 23, 2026 But with the Chicago Bulls and Billy Donovan, if he does one good thing, he has to make up for it by doing one bad thing too. In the dying moments of the game, Billy benched the best young player on his roster, Matas Buzelis. He may not have been shooting well, but he made big threes at the right time. He was also demanding attention from the Knicks’ best defender, had the most points on the team, and could’ve at least been out there as a decoy. But no. It always feels like Billy has a hard cap when it comes to developing young talent, and that limit is one. In a game where he gave Dillingham more minutes, he took away Matas’ exposure to the pressure of clutch moments, rendering the night a net zero.55.0 secs left. Bulls down 100-95 to the Knicks. And Matas Buzelis not in the game. *eye twitches again*
— Elias Schuster (@Schuster_Elias) February 23, 2026 This nine-game losing streak is now tied for the fifth-worst in franchise history. The longest is 16. I don’t see the Bulls breaking that—but they could get close. Maybe even second- or third-worst close. Obviously, with a record like that, the eyes shift to the offseason—with a potentially juicy top-8 to top-10 pick incoming. Also on the offseason agenda is free agency, and pending free agent Zach Collins says he would “love” to be back in Chicago. Collins was traded to the Bulls last season and is, unfortunately, going to miss the rest of this season after toe surgery. He played just 10 games with the Bulls this year, so if Chicago does plan to re-sign him, it better be for the minimum—or something close to it.Zach Collins says “I’d love to be back here.” Says when he landed in Chicago at last year’s deadline that he found a lot of confidence and rhythm. pic.twitter.com/z7kh5shCve
— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) February 23, 2026 Around the NBA, fights have become prevalent. But this one was one-sided—and verbal. After the Los Angeles Lakers lost to their bitter rivals, the Boston Celtics, LeBron James had both positive and negative things to say about Jaylen Brown, the Celtics’ star.LeBron on his relationship with Jaylen Brown:“Our relationship has been pretty respectful. Besides the sh*t he said about Bronny in Summer League. But other than that we’ve been all right.”(via @CelticsCLNS, h/t @ClutchPoints) pic.twitter.com/kXrdPGZzxh
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 23, 2026 A very awkward reaction from James, about something that happened almost two years ago. Clearly, the King hasn’t fully forgiven Brown yet, and this postgame scrum could be the spark that reignites the rivalry. And… Brown wasn’t wrong. LeBron also made history last night, becoming the first player in NBA history to reach 43,000 points, and just the second to play 1,600 games. This all happened on the same night the Lakers unveiled a statue of Pat Riley, cementing a monumental day in franchise history. The Lakers capped off the big night with a loss to their biggest rivals. Ouch!43,000 and counting…LeBron James is ONE OF ONE ? pic.twitter.com/iaaQ6zQBmK
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