When a franchise changes the people running basketball operations, replaces the head coach, reshapes the roster and commits to building for the future, there are going to be rough nights. Therefore a 1-4 start is definitely expected.
Chicago’s opening stretch included a 43-point loss in Toronto, an encouraging win in Milwaukee, a narrow loss to Washington, a 35-point defeat in Boston and a competitive six-point loss to New York. It is an honest picture of a young team learning a new system.
Bryson Graham did not take over basketball operations with the expectation that this would immediately become a finished product. The Bulls moved on from Artūras Karnišovas and Marc Eversley, Billy Donovan stepped away, and Graham hired Tiago Splitter to lead players such as Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson. Norman Powell and Nic Claxton were added to provide veteran production and structure around that core, although Claxton’s early absence has made the frontcourt transition more difficult.
That context matters because the temptation after a 1-4 opening is to decide nothing has changed. Plenty has changed, except the Bulls’ ability to execute those new ideas for four quarters. Splitter wants them playing quickly, attacking before defenses get set, moving the ball and taking open three-point shots. He also wants more physical defense and a team capable of winning the possession battle. We have seen pieces of that identity, but not enough connected basketball to make it sustainable.
The second quarter against Boston offered the clearest example of what Splitter is looking for from his starting core consistently. Chicago opened that period with Giddey, Powell, Wilson, Buzelis and Jalen Smith on the floor after trailing 33-21.
That group brought better pace, more purpose and greater pressure than the Bulls had shown in the first quarter. Chicago eventually put together a 12-0 run, trimming Boston’s lead to 44-40, and Powell’s jumper later made it 46-43.
For that stretch, the Bulls did not look intimidated. They found open shooters, attacked gaps and forced the Celtics to defend more than one action. Chicago went 4-for-8 from three-point range in the second quarter after taking 17 threes and making only four in the first. The Bulls played the quarter even at 33-33. Against an established opponent in its own building, that was meaningful progress.
That is the version of the starting unit Splitter needs to see regularly—not occasionally after the Bulls have already fallen behind by double digits. Giddey has to get Chicago into its offense sooner and use his size and vision to create advantages. Powell has to supply scoring and veteran calm. Wilson and Buzelis need to run, cut and attack without waiting for the game to come to them, while Smith must stretch the floor, rebound and compete inside until Claxton returns.
More than anything, the five players must operate with shared intent. The ball cannot stick while everyone else watches, and defensive possessions cannot end with two players assuming someone else will secure the rebound. During Chicago’s second-quarter push, the Bulls looked decisive. Players knew where they were going, trusted the next pass and played with the energy of a group pursuing the same objective. That is exactly what Splitter is trying to establish.
The problem is that the second quarter also showed how narrow Chicago’s margin is. After getting within three, the Bulls allowed Boston to close the half with a 20-11 run. Jayson Tatum scored the Celtics’ final seven points of the period, including a buzzer-beating three, and Boston carried a 66-54 lead into halftime. Chicago made the game competitive, but it could not control it.
Then came the third quarter, when those positive signs disappeared. The Bulls briefly cut the deficit to seven, but Payton Pritchard scored 19 points in the period and made all five of his three-point attempts. Boston won the quarter 39-21 and turned a game containing some encouraging moments into a 134-99 blowout. Chicago finished with 25 turnovers and was outrebounded 54-40, the kind of possession-game failure Splitter is trying to eliminate.
That second-to-third-quarter contrast is the story of Chicago’s season so far. The Bulls can play fast and compete with good teams in stretches.
They can also lose their spacing, stop communicating, fail to finish defensive possessions and let one bad sequence become an avalanche. Splitter’s challenge is not merely installing plays. It is teaching a young group how to respond when an opponent changes coverages, increases its physicality or makes three shots in a row.
There have been encouraging signs beyond Boston. Chicago scored 44 points in the second quarter and 41 in the third during its 132-125 victory in Milwaukee, then held the Bucks to 21 points in the fourth. Wilson scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against Washington, while Powell followed his 20-point performance in Boston with 30 against New York. Those flashes suggest Graham has assembled a more athletic foundation.
Still. development cannot make every loss acceptable. The defense has been too vulnerable, the rebounding too inconsistent and the turnovers too damaging. Splitter said after the Boston loss that Chicago must rebound, protect the ball and shoot better. Those are basic expectations, but rebuilding teams only move forward when basic habits become dependable.
Here’s the thing, folks: The 1-4 record cannot tell us whether Graham and Splitter will ultimately succeed. It tells us they inherited an incomplete roster and a culture that cannot be transformed in five games. Better evidence came during that second quarter in Boston, when the starting core played with pace, confidence and connectivity. It did not change the result, but it showed what this team could become.
With that . . . The Bulls have to make that style normal rather than something we notice only because it eventually disappears.
If you cannot play with them, then root for them.