Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Best of the Bulls: What's going to happen at the trade deadline?

Episode Date: January 31, 2026

In the Best of the Bulls this week, Ricky O'Donnell of SB Nation joined the Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show to discuss what the organization should do as the trade deadline looms to reset its aimless direction; Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed the key decisions the Bulls need to make in the upcoming week; and Matt Spiegel and Anthony Herron shared their favorite moments from franchise icon Derrick Rose getting his No. 1 jersey retired.

We're talking to play-by-play man, Kevin Harlan. You're the best when it comes to play-by-play of life. We're sending Marshall Harris to D.C. to run out of the field. Come on, Marshall. We're ready for you. The Rahimi Harrison Grody Show. Midday's 10 to 2 on 670 the score. Murphy again at the Strive.

It is up and it is good. 113, 110. Bulls 904 feet away with 2.3 left. Giddy. And the pass. Deflected. Stolen by Nemhart. The ball game is all.

Oh no! The Indiana Pacers win for only the 12th time this season. Three of those coming at the expense of the Chicago Bulls. Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. That one hurt last night. Did not feel good to see the Bulls go to 0 and 3 against what is now a 12 and 36 Pacers team. Indiana beat the Bulls last night,

113 to 110. Heard right here on the score. Chuck and Bill. Chuck Swirsky. Bill Wennington on the call. I took in some Chuck and Bill yesterday as I was believe it or not walking around after dark, not

ordering Uber from the Jimmy Johns in my building, walking about the town trying to feed myself. The Bulls blew, I just go place to, I graze. That's crazy. The Bulls blew a 14. 4th quarter lead.

They had chances at the end and the Bulls did not win. That said, let's talk more Bulls now. Let's talk more Bulls of the future. And let's do it with Ricky O'Donnell, writer, editor, and associate director of programming at SB Nation. He is on X at SBN underscore Ricky. And he joins us right now on the Circa Resort and Casino Hotline, circa Las Vegas.com. Ricky, hell of a game last night. What did you think? You know, it's just more of what we've seen from the Bulls this season, which is that they cannot beat the worst teams in the league.

As you mentioned, now three losses to the Pacers. They have 12 wins all year. You know who else has 12 wins all year? The New Orleans Pelicans and the Brooklyn next. The Bulls have also lost to both of those teams twice. The Bulls, if you take that 0-and-7 record in those games, you know, it's not unreasonable to think the Bulls could have gone 6 and 1 if they were actually a serious team.

And if that were to happen, they'd be sitting kind of pretty in the Eastern Conference standings. Now, at least it wouldn't look like another 39 win disaster. For Arturis, they have had some good wins this year, but, you know, this is what a 500 team does. You blow it on games you should win, just no consistency with this roster. So a pretty disappointing loss for the Bulls, but you can't be too surprised right now because as presently constructed, this is a 500 team. We're a week away from the trade deadline. talk to me, Ricky.

Talk to me. What should the Bulls do? And what do you feel like they will do, given how Arturis, Karnassovis, and Mark Eversley have treated previous trade deadlines and off seasons? The Bulls are not close to accomplishing anything this season. And getting the eight seat in the East is nothing to be proud of. Arturis constantly holds on to his guys too long, refuses to sell high on anyone. And he has to learn from his mistakes, plain and simple.

I mean, what was the stat? Like, four years in a row, the bull started the year 18 and 21. That should be enough to get fired just with that stat alone. So if the bowls were smart, if Arturis knew what he was doing, I think that you got to take a small step back this year to try to improve yourself for the future. So I would make a couple moves. The first one I would do, and it would be painful

because he's been a great Chicago Bowl and a great Chicagoan, but you got to trade Iodosum. The guy is shooting 46% from three this year. He's having the best season of it. his career. He's probably in line to double his salary in free agency. I would expect him to get around mid-level exception money, maybe $15 million a year, four for 60. So I'd be looking to trade I.O. The team I'm looking at is potentially the Portland Trailblazers, who they owe the Bulls a lottery-protected draft pick. I would be trying to lower the protections on that pick, maybe make it

top four protected instead of top-14 protected. Take back Matisse Thibel, who's expiring salary. lock in that you're getting, you know, two draft picks in the first round in the 2026 draft. So I think, you know, the Bulls never sell high on anyone. This is a big opportunity for them to sell high on I.O. If they want to do it, I like that deal. Other guy who's got to go, Kobe White, Kobe, really good player, for sure. He's been a rare Bulls developmental success story. But do you really want to pay him $24, $25 million a year when you're just a 500 team every single season without much upsides?

So I'd be looking at the Houston Rockets. And Houston is fascinating because they have a ton of future draft ammunition. The Rockets have Phoenix's unprotected first round pick in 2027. They have swap rights with the Brooklyn Nets in 2027, who are one of the worst teams in the league. They have a bunch of second round picks. So I think a fair deal would be Kobe White for Dorian Finney Smith. And let's say a top four or top five protected 2028 first round pick from the Rockets themselves. that would give you, you know, a few more bites at the apple.

I still think this team could probably make the play in tournaments, starting Trey Jones, who's arguably been their best player. You still have giddy. So even if you lose two guards, you have decent depth in the back court if they do want to continue to try to compete. So I would love to see the Bulls try to take a small step back and get some more future assets. What I would expect from Arturis-Karnas Chavez, though,

is that he does nothing because the trade deadline every year he does nothing. It's always one of the most disappointing days of the season. for Bulls fans, which is saying something because the season doesn't really have many high moments. So my expectations are at the floor, and I dare Arturis to exceed them. That was a flurry for Ricky O'Donnell. And I like what Ricky's talking about. I don't disagree with any of your suggestions simply because of this. The Bulls, as Arturis and Mark Eversley have pointed out, because this is what happens every year. All you got to do is be not one of the worst five teams in the Eastern Conference to make the play-in.

I think even after making those moves that you talked about, they can be that. You mentioned Trey Jones, but I'll go further and just say, look at who's behind them in the standings. Now, I think the Hornets are definitely going to be a play-in team because they are showing new life. But the Bucks aren't going anywhere, the Nets aren't going anywhere. The Pacers and the Wizards aren't going anywhere. So you're still going to be the mix. Because Billy Donovan, honestly, is just too good of a coach to have good players. I would love deals which brought back more future-oriented players.

So, like, trade guys who are having careers like Jalen Smith. Trade, I'm trying to think who else is on this roster. Oh, Vooch! Whatever you can get for Vooch, just get from Vooch. You're still going to have people out on the floor doing things. Are you opposed to unloading, let's say, four to five of the players whose contracts expire at the end of the season? No, that would be great. But I think, like, if you're going to trade Jailen Smith, who honestly is one of the biggest advanced at stars in the NBA, this year,

he's got a plus 15 net rating, the Bulls. are 0 in 7 when Jalen Smith doesn't play and they win like 60% of their games when he does play. So sure, I'll trade Jalen Smith, but he's pretty good. He's under contract next season for $8 million. You've got to get a good first round pickback for him. Same thing with Trey Jones, who's on one of the team-friendliest deals in the NBA. That's a rare Arturis success story right there, getting him at, you know, 8 million a year for three years. So sure, I'll trade those guys, but you've got to get, you know, legit assets back for them.

But, I mean, the reality of the matter is that the bowls are basically, the worst team in the NBA that tries to win. And this has been the case for like five straight years. Going back to the Jimmy Butler trade, this is now nine seasons since the Bulls traded Jimmy Butler. They're the fifth worst team in the NBA since they traded Jimmy Butler. They've had one top five pick over that time. So they haven't gotten any lottery luck. They also haven't really put themselves in position to get lucky, just an absolutely horrible job by Arturis Karnas Chavez. And you know, you guys asked me for my plan if I was running the Bulls front off. I gave it to you, but, you know, from an ownership level, the first move should be firing Arturis Karnas Chavezovic.

He absolutely does not deserve to keep his job. You do understand what the attendance looks like at the United Center, and that's why Arturis Karnasovas doesn't have to go anywhere. I mean, is the attendance that great? They're down to seven. Yeah, I was going to say. They're down to seven. Honestly, God, I've been to a handful of games this year, and I don't know if I listened to what the attendance was,

but didn't look like the full house that I saw at the United Center the other night when it was Bulls and Lakers. That's for sure. So I do think that the energy is not the same at the United Center. Yeah, I was at that Bulls Lakers game too, and seeing the United Center crowd, cheer for LeBron after all of his dunks. I'm like how far the place is falling. Jokkim, Noah was in a skybox. I kept staring up at Noah.

Noah looked disgusting that the United Center was cheering for LeBron. He's a forever hater. That brought some joy to me. You know what he is, Ricky? He's Hollywood as hell, I believe, was the original quote. Wasn't that directed at, or I think it was just that, team, right? It was that Miami team that he referred to as Hollywood as hell. So good. Ricky, so my point of contention with this team is I agree with your front office

evaluation just based on, you know, it's not unlike what we saw with the Bears, although the bears are fortunate that Ben Johnson wanted to be the head coach of the Bears because Ryan Poles got a second chance, just like Arturich-Karnas-Sovic is getting another chance with another new contract. And the difference is they hired Ben Johnson and they have a quarterback. They have They have their star in Caleb Williams, and obviously we saw how they were able to build on that. With Arturis, it's his aversion to draft capital, which really drives me insane because I've been, I was in Philadelphia during the process. I've seen what the rockets were able to do to stay nimble and be ready to go when James Hardin became available on the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think my biggest issue right now is learning what Joe Dumar said on draft night about offering the unprotected pick to teams above where they get.

gave it the Hawks and that the Bulls were one of those teams and did not jump on that. That is like, is that going to change? Can you see that changing? Because you mentioned learning from your mistakes. Yeah, I actually love the Bears comparison here because while Ryan Poles have certainly made a lot of mistakes in the draft and free agency or whatever, he did a really good job with the tear down. And that is what Arturis has been totally unable to do.

Like, he was in a pretty good position to tear it down with DeRosen, Levine, Caruso, He got Vooch. He got no first round picks for any of those guys. They required their own first round pick and the Levine deal. Honestly, the Levine trade was pretty good. Our Terrace has done a couple things that have been solid. But like, you just look at the big picture. And the guy starts every season, 18 and 21. Like, what is this?

He should absolutely be fired for that alone. So while the Bears did a really good job tearing it down and then lucked into the only coach who could actually save that franchise in Ben Johnson, the Bulls can't even do the tear down. So they can't even do the easy part. And, you know, it's very, very hard to build from the middle in all sports. I mean, look at the Steelers in the NFL too. When you're going 500 every year, it's tough to find a franchise quarterback. It's tough to actually get blue chip talent. The bowls are that version in the NBA. They refuse to tear it down. And building from the middle, you know, you got to make some fantastic draft picks or some great trades. And Arturis can't do it.

Instead, he's out here drafting Patrick Williams with the top five pick and then giving him $90 million. That's no recipe for success. Can they move Patrick Williams? Can they attach him to one of these guys that they're trying to get something for? I think that would be just as valuable. Maybe not just as valuable, but it would be valuable to get rid of the Patrick Williams contract in this upcoming trade deadline. Patrick Williams is truly one of the worst players in the NBA and easily one of the worst contracts. He makes $18 million a year.

We have to watch three and a half more years of Patrick Williams. Are you kidding? We don't have to. We don't have to. Just move him. I mean, no one's going to take him. You'd have to take a worse salary back. And honestly, I'm open to that.

I was trying to think of, does anyone have a worse contract in the NBA than Patrick Williams? The first name that popped up was Yacca Purdle, Center for the Toronto Raptors, who's, like, out indefinitely with a back injury. I guess that could be a trade. You could swap Pertil for Patrick Williams. They'd have to basically do a bad money for bad money-style trade to get rid of Pat. He's just been so disappointing. He has no athleticism at all.

Patrick Williams has five dunks this season. He had 51 as a rookie. He's just lost all his athleticism. He's gotten so heavy. That's so sad. Yeah. It's like, how is this guy such a good shooter and he's still so bad? It's like kind of shocking that someone with his tools can be that good of a shooter and it's still so awful.

Ricky. Yeah, tried to ditch Pat, but it's going to be tough. You're the goods, man. This is why we had you on. A lot of positive reinforcement coming your way on our time. text line, including this guy is the embodiment of, embodiment of how Bulls fans should really feel about the Bulls. So nice job, Ricky. We appreciate you.

Thanks, guys. Thanks, Ricky. Ricky O'Donnell right there. Just landed jab after jab. The Bulls not close to accomplishing anything. Boom. Patrick Williams is the worst player in the league. Boom.

The Bulls are the worst team in the NBA that tries to win. Pop, pop. Wow. Don't forget about the Archerish Carnassovers shouldn't have a job. Got to be gone. Yes, I didn't even get to Billy Donovan. I didn't even get to player, well, we got to a little bit

with the players. I don't have a problem with Billy Donovan in this scenario specifically. Always the innocent bystander. No, I'm not. Okay. All right. All right, let's see how the play-in series goes.

That's what I'm dubbing it. I actually think the Bulls are lucky to have an adult as a head coach in Billy Donne. He's a hall of favor. Are you excited about the play-in series? Best of three against the heat. Can't get enough of that. You get the first game at home and then you got to go to Miami and play too.

Although, it might be a nice time to go to Miami and play too. It might be a really nice time to get that. The Bulls get a week in, oh, Miami. Make sure they don't get the Miami flu while they're down there. I wouldn't blame of if they did. Where are we in the season? We're not that far into it. Now is the time, kids. Coming up next, I see

on our show documentation, it just says halftime, but there's nothing else that is written in there. Do you have something that we're going to talk about for halftime? Because there's nothing. There's just nothing there. I have something. You got something? I'm tired of these I'm not tired of this.

I'm a little frustrated with Hollywood right now because the lack of originality is startling. And the latest example, I think as a sports fan even, you're going to be like, roll your eyes with what's coming back. Okay. I'm looking forward to hearing this. It is coming up next on halftime. We'll also tell you all the cool things that we've been talking about. Who knows what will run through my brain during the break that I will bring to the surface here.

at the score. It's Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. Rahimi Harrison Grotie, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 670. We'll stay present in the moment and we're going to, you know, look at this year, at this team, how we're going to start, how we're going to go through the season. And, you know, again, you know, all those very specific goals and how we want to play and how the guys have to respond. we're probably going to have to play, you know, long rotations because, you know, we wanted to play fast and high pace. So we'll see, you know, during the year and that information collected is going to help us, you know, to make those decisions. That's the president of basketball operations for the Bulls, our tourists, Karnasovas, back in September, as we welcome you back into Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score.

The Bulls have a game tonight. Bulls at the Pacers tonight. early one. 545 pregame 6 p.m. jumper in Indy. The pretty bad Indiana Pacers, my goodness. They could have won a title last year. And Halliburton is not there. They are 11 and 36. And as a matter of fact, the Bulls are 0.2. So two of the 11 wins for the Pacers have come at the expense of the Chicago Bulls. And Marshall, what is still continued to be really important, I mean, as we monitor and track the Bull's progress on the court, what they're doing, right? 23 and 23 had been on a little bit of a roll until the Lakers game where they lost 129 to 118. But with the trade deadline bearing down, bears on February 5th.

And it just happens. And the Bulls having seven potential free agents. They're in the news. And there is a gentleman by the name of Janice Antenico who is continuing. to make waves in Milwaukee. So, Shams Chirania, with this, this, this happened just an hour ago or so. Two-time MVP, Janice, Antecoompo, ready for a new home ahead of the February 5th trade deadline. That's next week.

As several teams have made aggressive offers to the Milwaukee Bucks who are starting to listen, league sources told ESPN on Wednesday. So what this signals is that the Bucks are listening and that Yannis is okay with the idea of being traded. Now, something you got to point out is Janus is hurt right now. And Janice is supposed to be out four to six weeks. And he becomes eligible to sign a four-year $275 million super max on October 1st of this year. If you're not doing the math at home, it's about 70 million a year. Those and comes with a couple of aprons, right? Throwing a couple of aprons? Probably, depending on what your cap space situation

looks like. Yeah, it's a definite apron situation. You're going to be in trouble. But if he already have him, you know, that's different rules apply if you're signing somebody that's already within your organization as opposed to him becoming a free agent. So he's been there 12 years. And in an ideal world, the Bulls who fans will tell you, are starving for a superstar of Janus's magnitude. That's all they need. That's what everybody says. That's what they say. Would be imperfect position to make a trade to get Janus on their roster at this deadline if if it was. That hurt.

Oh, God. They had pulled off that deal to trade away the first round pick to New Orleans Pelicans for this year's unprotected lottery pick. That should anger all Bulls fans. It really should. Because you talked about it at the time. I talked about it immediately. As soon as Joe Dumas, the president of basketball,

operations for the Pelicans said he offered it to everyone ahead of, you know, the hawks who ended up taking the deal right behind the Bulls. This has nothing to do with Noah Asengay, their first round pick. This has everything to do with understanding that in this climate, you need to be nimble as an organization and be able to quickly make moves when players become available. And now they are missing the window. They could make a trade for Janus. They could trade future first round picks

But the problem is what they would have to trade away To match salaries and everything else Those would be the players that Yannis would need to play with to be good It would be the Equivalent of him coming to Chicago and being on a roster That looks like the roster he's playing on right now with the bucks That's not the goal The goal is to have him play with other good players

That can elevate him back So the Bulls fall to the bottom of the heap Namely because they don't have the draft capital to make the trade But also the players they would have to give up in that deal are the players he would need to play with to be good. He's past, what you say, 12 years? 12 years and that's, that hit me a little bit. Yannis has been in the league for 12 years. Yeah, 12 and a half. That's crazy. He seems like he's been just the way he plays still, like his athleticism and all, like it feels like he's been in the league for five or six years.

I mean, Yonis started young, too. Let's not throw that out of the window. He what? He started young. It wasn't like he came out of college. Yeah, he would, no college, right. Yes. So, I think... That's a good thing to add in, though. But the important thing here is, if you're the Bulls and you have all these players, Nikola Vutrovich, Kobe White, Ayodosumu,

the list goes on and on. No, Giddy's under Locking Key. Oh, right, right. You're seven. You're going through the potential free agents. Got you. Got you. Got you. Then what are you going to do ahead of the deadline?

Who should you move? And what should the return price be? They need first rounders. Get first rounders. And if you can't get a first rounder, at least send Patrick Williams out with that deal. Like you get this great value of Iyoto Sumo, who's $7.5 million in his final year of a contract. Attach Patrick Williams, so now you don't have that $18 million per season also on your roster. You either get draft picks or you get rid of Patrick Williams in one of these deals.

The thing that I want people to understand before this trade deadline happens is no matter what they do, they will not be tanking. they're just not built to tank. They would get worse, though, obviously, if they were to make a move. And it might be shrewd to do. I think it would be okay to take your foot off the gas. I'm not saying tank. I really, like, if you can get assets, as you said, you can, you know, maybe at the expense of the rest of this season, but build it right back up in the offseason with the assets that you would take.

But that's my point. There's no really rest of this season. Even if they get rid of some of these. really good players, like their leading score on Kobe White, Billy Donovan is going to coach them to play hard, and they're going to win more games than they should because the East is that bad. Of course, and I don't think that our tourists nor Mark Eversely, getting to know them a little bit, have it in them to be guys that are going to be like,

yeah, let's, hey, Billy, wink, wink, you know, that does not seem like what this organization would do, for better or for worse. They refuse to pull the plug. Right. That's the issue. They're going to try to put a product out there. Like the one you saw. Yeah.

The other night with the Lakers in town. It's not like the Bulls got blown out. The Bulls lost the game because they had a horrible second quarter and they turned it over ten times. They lost the game because they let a bench player in Rui Hachemiro looked like a star hitting 9 of 11 shots. That's what I like about. You go deep, man. You're not looking at the bright, shiny Luca Donchitz and his 46 points or LeBron did with his 23 points at his age. I know what those guys are capable of.

We talked about it yesterday. Grotie, the Bulls play. the Lakers twice last year? How many games do the Lakers win? And both Embed and Luka played in those games. Serro. Exactly. Yeah, and that's a great point. It was so, God, what, it was one of my favorite Bulls experiences in a while out at the United Center because it had been a long time, it's going to sound weird. It's been a long time since it was really hard to park out at the United Center. Like it was, there were lots closing out at the UC. I was meeting some friends that didn't get in until the middle of the first quarter because they

underestimated the traffic around the United Center. Wow. Was that buzz? Because it was buzz, buzz, but like for many reasons, because the lovers and the haters of LeBron James are going to show up because you never know when it's going to be the last time. It was the anniversary of Kobe Bryant's death. Luca, that brings in a whole lot of people from Chicago that love Luca. Love a little European basketball start-em. Absolutely. Absolutely. And the beauty of our city, the diversity of our city brings in those fans that are just there to watch. And Luca. And he put on a show.

And he put on a show. And it was just, it was great. Like to see, to look up and see where I used to stand in the standing room only portion of the United Center. But you're big time now. Right, right. I mean, I used to have to fight to get in during the Jordan years and stand wherever. I'd be looking through people.

I didn't care. Like the whole thing. But it had that feel to it. Like it's not like that on given night. So it made me remember what it was like when for instance. like when, for instance, Derek Rose was there or the Jordan years and what it can be if that is to arise again. But it was cool, man.

And LeBron, like, breakaway dunk in the first quarter of that game brought the house down at the United Center. He had three dunks in the first half. He did. And I think he's kind of like, like, obviously the Lakers are pretty good. But there was also, there's a showman factor when LeBron comes to Chicago, too. Not only that, but I told Lela this, they definitely remember what happened. year. First of all, they got beat down. They gave up 145 or 146 points in LA in the first meeting.

And then less than a week later, they come to Chicago and Josh Kitty says, watch this from half course. Yes, that's right. You think Luca and LeBron don't remember that? They came out with that type of avenging energy. It's a good point. Yeah, like that had to be on their mind, the entertainment factor a little bit, but yeah, you're right. Did it feel like LeBron's last game in Chicago? Not necessarily. It felt like just felt like another LeBron game to me, just watching him like I've watched him a hundred times at the United Center in multiple uniforms. It just looked like LeBron, man. It's not the same.

I get it. I'm not going to go crazy. You say not the same, but that did not look any bit of 41. He doesn't. He doesn't. And look, I am all day, every day, every second. MJ over LeBron in that debate. And I don't even want to do the debate.

That's not what I'm trying to do right now. So just understand where I'm coming from. I am a complete Michael Jordan loyalist. but I can certainly appreciate a superstar like LeBron James who comes out there. And even the people who hate LeBron or say they hate LeBron probably couldn't help but jumping out of their seats when he had his first breakaway jam. What's interesting is, as you know, it's the Pacers on the schedule tonight. They've already lost twice to a Pacer's team with 11 wins.

I know. They've lost twice to a Pacer's team with 11 wins. They've also lost to the Brooklyn Nets. they've also lost to the Utah Jazz and in the same breath I say all of that because you look at some of the teams that they've been able to beat this season

and it's like who are you guys who are you? You know they're perfectly 23 and 23. They're 23 and 23. A lot of that has to do with the injuries like they won't have Trey Jones tonight I expect them to win tonight

and I think they're going to be the ones remembering what happened in those first two weeks now they have Josh Kitty still unclear Y'all would have single-digit wins if it wasn't for us. They'd have nine wins if it wasn't for the Bulls. That's a real statement. Yeah.

That's a real statement. I speak in truth. And so what's interesting about this stretch of their season is they now play four games in the next five nights. And the first game is the one straight ahead of us. But how can you not after witnessing what we witnessed last year? Last year, Grody, how can you not think back to the play-in and feel like this three games coming up? Home against Miami, day off, back-to-back away games at Miami, is not somewhat of an in-season tournament play-in style

that will determine perhaps what Archerich Karnas Chauvis and Mark Eversley famously dubbed Acme decide to do. And whatever it is, I hope it's better than what happens to Wiley Coyote every time he uses an Acme product. The one thing I worry about, and that is the, the bulls get a week in Miami. Isn't that nice? Right?

Because that's what essentially it would be? Yeah. After that, if they're doing the players and the wives and the families, any justice, because I used to see this with the Cubs. You think they'd take them on the trip? Probably. You know, I don't know how it works in the NBA, but I do remember when I was doing pre-and-posts with the Cubs

and lucky enough to be on their charter that when they went on the West Coast trips, big friends and family, wives, kids, for those trips to Arizona to Los Angeles, like San Francisco, all of a sudden, we're going to need a bigger plane is the way it would work. I love that for them. And I love the opportunity that the Bulls have. I lament the fact that they are not in a position to make a trade for Janice Ante Cumpo,

who's recovering from a calf train. But whenever he's healthy, he's going to help someone in a major way. Bill Belichick has been on our minds today in the wild life that he has been living. and something that has been pulled out from under him pertaining to the Hall of Fame. We'll go a little bit deeper on it next here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. One 11 apiece, 14.2 left in regulation. Bar-haskart, sideline left. Nobody on the ball for Boston.

Hurtt her in play. In front now to Josh Giddy. We're down to the final 10 seconds. Giddy at the top of the circle. About 40 feet away. Picked up by Gondellas. Giddy. Crossing over.

Goes to White. Honolpump. Left quarter, Herder for three. Got it! Two-tenths of a second. One-fourteenth with Kevin Huron. You guys have won four straight. You're over 500 for the first time in two months.

Where can this team go from here? We'll see. We just got to go game by game. Another one coming up on Monday, obviously. We're going to enjoy this one. We've got a full crowd here tonight. It's great to have you guys. And we'll get the ceremony starting here on set.

Did this feel differently tonight with this crowd and the Derek Rose ceremony that's about to take place? It did. From the jump. especially this, you know, this rivalry playing against the Celtics, obviously, but it did. You know, this is where we're packed in here from the jump, and it's good to get a win.

That was Kevin Hurder. I've heard of Hurdard, I've heard of her, Kevin Hurder. We'll hit the game winner and talked about it after the game there with Casey Johnson, how it just felt different in that stadium over at the area of United Center as the Bulls beat the Celtics folks. game over 500. Take that mediocrity. You take that! That means there are also one game over 500 since Arturis

Carnichivas made the trades and the deals for DeMarters Rosen and Lanzo Ball and free agency. That's okay. That's not the point of what we're talking about. That was really cool. It was cool. It was good. It was good. Nice win. Nice win there.

And it's what happened afterwards that has everybody thinking good thoughts. That was really nice to sit up and watch that thing. I know some people on the show who might not have watched an entire Bulls game who found themselves watching an entire Bulls game. And that man's name rhymes with Chris Tannale. Yeah, you know, what are you going to do? You know, that's not my first destination on a Saturday night, but the Rose ceremony did keep me intrigued, you know. I was like the production was great on CHSN and it was a fun hang as I'm trying to battle

through a lot of grief. Then I'm just sitting there just waiting and waiting and waiting. And there you know, I'm thinking half time. It's coming up at halftime. It didn't. But that's fine because the game was great. And next thing you know, you have one of the, you know, great finishes to a game that you've seen all season long.

And then you got a nice little Derek Rose Banner's ceremony after. It ended up being a great night in my television. End up being a really high quality television night. And like, and the production was great. And they kept showing all these different, like, former teammates. There were so many. former teammates there, man. My God, aunt, you were there.

In the stands or in the press box? In the stands. Yep, I was in the stands. What was the vibes? Paint us a picture. The vibes were immaculate at the UC, even outside beforehand. It was snowing and it was cold and everybody's trying to get there, but nobody's upset. Nobody's in a bad mood.

Nobody's complaining about the weather. Everybody feels like this is a pilgrimage into the UC that's worth it because we know what's being celebrated when we get there. And my wife is a Celtics fan. So she was excited just because the Celtics were in town. So we had that combination of events. We were listening to the station as we were driving in. We heard David and Gabe and them painting that picture and kind of setting everything up.

And being in there in the concourse in the atrium area, interacting with fans, telling their stories. And so we stopped by and said how to them for a little while. Got a Derek Rose-shaped cookie. That was the first Derek Rose piece of paraphernalia just as we walked in and stopped by with them. Tell me more about the cookie. I didn't see the cookie. Was it shaped like Derek's entire body or his head? Derek Rose jersey shaped cookie would be a more specific way.

So it was like a jersey. Yeah. So it was another, it was like a jersey cookie that they painted Derek's. Yeah. That you don't know whether to eat or keep as like a supernaturally. Right. Is it going to be some kind of memento from the night?

That was eventually the decision. I did keep it during the game. But then, you know, the drive home, everybody's trying to get out of there. There's a bunch of traffic. The post game ceremony took a while, too. It dragged down for a minute. I didn't listen to Big Ann, turn into a real-life dad in front of our eyes. Did not expect D. Rose to talk for as long as he did.

A bunch of folks spoke before him. And so by the time I'm in the car trying to get out the parking lot, it took a good half hours to get out the lot. Yeah, man. I need this cookie. Cooley didn't stand a chance. I got to eat this cookie, man. So I down the cookie after the game.

But they had Derek Rose T-shirts on all the seats throughout. That's my favorite part of the story. And nothing else is going to. topic. Keep going. They had the t-shirts, the D-Rose, the number one, like black t-shirts and blazing with the red lettering on it, and it had those on everyone's seats throughout the arena, and just every moment, every stoppage and action. Yeah, there were a few kind of your standard in arena festivities going on, trying to sell this, you know, shooting that off or whatever, but yeah, and there's like a lot of Derek,

specific merch and stuff like that all over the place. Yeah, and there were so many different remembrances of Derek Rose using the jumbo tron of course to have folks tell stories to show highlights, rookie of the year MVP season big moments and game winners and interacting with people about

that and it was just in unison this feeling of appreciation for what D. Rose was as a member of the Bulls what his story represents to and for Chicago and it was just cool to feel that within the building

and especially in the face of all the Bull's disappointment, essentially, that's been there since he was done. But this was a moment where everyone could feel really good about what that franchise is represented. That's nice. I mean, it's an undeniably wonderful story that a Chicago kid, an Englewood kid, has achieved what he achieved in his NBA career and has that moment.

And we'll get to some sound from the ceremony in a minute. it. But I got to say, there was some news that comes out of that as well. Michael Jordan sending the video and saying, I look forward to coming back to the United Center and seeing my jersey up there with yours. Mike might actually come to the United Center. Folks, that is progress. That qualifies as progress in this city. So that's one thing. And that is I'm watching the thing, man. I don't know who the band was. Band was pretty killing actually. I had a live band there that sounded really good and the sound system sounded good and there were some live strings there and then like all the black velvet couches and the high top chairs,

right? The high top chairs with like Taj and Jo Kim and Tom Fibito all with the headset microphones so it all sounded good. Like the production, the production was on point. I will give that up for the Bulls and CHSM with the production on there. So lots of cool stuff. And then some folks talked. This story from Tom Fibito was awesome. Absolutely. I've been asked numerous times about what my fondest memory of Derek is, and there's so many.

Like, it's hard to choose one. But one that keeps coming back to me is the 2011 playoff series against Atlanta. We had lost the first game at home. We won the second and we were heading to Atlanta for game three with the series tied 1-1. And the plane was ready, traffic was a mess, Joaquin was running late. I was upset. We don't wait on anyone. And suddenly Derek comes up to the front of the plane, calm is B, which he always is, the Marcus Aurelius moment, Stoet, and he's advocating for Joe, giving me a million reasons about how bad the accident was, traffic's not moving, I think he could make it,

then he sends Luaul up, then Luaal sends Tage up. Finally, Joe comes running across the tarmac, we waited, and the next night, Derek put on one of the most dominant playoff performances I have ever seen. 44 points, 7 assists, game over early, home court reestablished, we win the series in six games, and we go to the Eastern Conference final. All the things that he did for our team, for the city, for everyone. And I think about his leadership style, which was the main. because he was an expert on the game of basketball, and we all knew that.

He was a basketball savant, and he had great courage. He was never afraid of a big moment, never afraid to take a big shot, and all the responsibility that went along with that. But the thing that probably stood out more than anything else was his humility. To have a leader like that made our team special, it made them coachable, and it made them together through thick, then. His leadership was also about trust, accountability, and then performance.

He showed everyone what it takes to be a great Chicago Bowl and a great man. Congratulations to Derek and his entire family for this well-deserved honor. The next stop, in my opinion, is the Hall of Fame, and there is no doubt about that. How about that? Tom Fibidow, a basketball lifer who got a chance to coach Derek Rose and made the most that he could of those opportunities. Tom Thibbido happens to not be employed right now as the New York Knicks just broke out of a really bad slump that they were having after winning the NBA Cup. But a controversial firing of Thibbs last year in the offseason has him

available to come and be a part of things there on Saturday night? The applause, the joy, the excitement that was there, because I certainly hadn't heard beforehand that Tibbs was going to be there. And so him being in the house and the crowd seeing him on the court with everyone else, there was just so much excitement for that to see him be a part of it. And we don't think of Tom Tibado being a guy who like, takes joy in the moments, takes joy in the accomplishment, takes joy in the process of kind of going through things

because he's kind of this hard driving coach. So to see him just on the court, casual and comfortable, and just enjoying his former players and enjoying singing the praises of Derek Rose and soaking that in. And you can tell Bulls fans at the UC enjoyed being able to shower the praise on tips for that, because obviously it didn't end well with the first.

franchise here. You know, it's not usually going to end well when a successful coach gets fired. But to have him back in the house and have Bulls fans get that opportunity to shower him with some love on a night where D. Rose was getting so much love. The entire team on a night for D. Rose, Tom Tibito was one of the individuals. So you could tell the crowd wanted to make sure he knew there was an appreciation for him as well. Well, and it wasn't just the crowd.

Derek wanted to make sure. We'll talk about Derek's speech in general in a moment. but speaking of Tibbs, this is, you know, Derek took a point in his moment. I think, what, 22 minutes Derek went? That's the number I heard, yeah. And you can't do that at halftime, Tanny. You know, you can't do it at halftime. Well, apparently I found that out that the NBA is tightening up these half-time restrictions.

That's why they did not do that. That's why they didn't do it. And it was good if they'd do it late because you get to work a little blue, you know, for the late night time. So I enjoyed that, obviously. It was. People always kept mentioning kids right after you drop an F-bomb, every once in a while. I was like, yeah, this is going to get blue. Jersey, Jersey retirement ceremony after dark.

It did have a few of those in there. Death comedy jersey retirement. Yeah, I thought it was weird when Mario Joyner came out there, but I get what they were going for, you know? I understand what they're doing. Here is Derek Rose talking about Tom Tibdo in his retirement, his jersey retirement speech. This pick right here, I feel like this would be a powerful pick

because the imagery of it where when this happened I didn't know what was going to go on in my life when I talked to Dr. Cole the other day and he said do you remember the first thing you said after you got hurt I'm like nah he was like man you said your life was going to be over I'm like you sure I said that he was like yeah you said that so it made me start to think about just Chicago and it made me think about just the history that we can't

where we came from when you think about the 1855 shipwreck when you think about how we had to reverse the Chicago River when you think about the World Fair that we had two times when we had to lift up every building downtown 10

feet in the air we had to do that together and that's only how I got from there to here is you all and us being here together tears I know a lot of people don't like tears because of that

But let me tell you. Let me tell you. It's a reason why I say that, because they look at Tibbs as the injury, the injury part. But I'm here to say, f*** that. It's a reason why.

Everything is meant to be, bro. If Tills was the first person that coach, I swear, that made me feel special when we used to watch films. I used to do games just to make sure that he saw on tape that between me and him, I pick him. that play. I know you saw that. I know you saw me read that play because he felt like he loved

the game more than me and which he don't. Tips, you may have went to Harvard. You may have did physics, but I showed you physics. I got chills all over again. That is just phenomenal. There's so much there that that's great. I mean, Tom Thudeau has carried that around his entire career, that he was the guy who shouldn't add Derek out there with a double-digit lead in less than two minutes to play, right? And he's carried that around, and the way that he drives players hard is part of why he got fired in New York. Yeah. It remains part of his MO. And Derek knows that. So for him to say, I'm here to say, F that, and tell you what Tibbs did for him is just amazing. And, but you may know physics. I showed you physics for

kid to be able to elevate like that. I got to say, though, how about the quality of knowledge for Derek Rose on Chicago history to drop all that out there? We raised the buildings by 10 feet. How many people know about that? Like, all those different things. Do you think he's been on a couple of river cruises? He was taking notes on a river cruise or two?

Yeah. Or like, whatever, just that is a guy. Man, you go to one year of college. have to, you don't have to become educated to know all about your city if you don't want to. I mean, not if you become a multimillion. Yeah, which you did right away. Yeah, you don't need to go learn that stuff.

He likes learning stuff. He's a great chess player. Like, a guy loves to learn and get better. I know a lot of people don't like tips. What if you just put a period on the end of the kids? I know a lot of people don't like tips.

All right. Let's move on. And they're right about that. Tage is here. All right. Everybody likes Tosh. They don't know some stuff that I know. I got some stuff I would share. I'll send you a video. I was blown.

I haven't spent a lot of time seeking out Dero's monologues in recent years. I didn't know he had become this orator like that. And it had the feeling of a Hall of Fame acceptance speech. He might not ever get that. This might be that. It's possible. Well, and you're missing out. If you haven't seen the Friars Club roast of.

C. C.J. Watson. Derek's, he was so good during that. So was Jeffrey Ross, though. So is Jeffrey Ross. He's Rost. He's Rost. Yeah, it's different.

I didn't know he had this in him. I didn't know he'd achieved this gear at this point in his life. I was so surprisingly impressed. Was Gilbert Godfrey still alive for that one? I think he was. C.J. Watson. What he's doing here? I don't know.

It's got a little too much A little mad dog It kind of evolved in the midst of it I know I have a limited palette Okay I know I have a limited palette Did you know D Rose could like hold court Like this

As a public speaker I didn't know I expected 10 minutes Some thank yous You know a couple of photos And I thought it would be like heartfelt And he was just gonna move on with his night But it was 22 minutes

It was a TED talk. Of exceptional and well-planned, well-thought-out, exceptionally delivered. I just, I didn't know D. Rose was this guy as an orator at this point in his life. And I was so pleased. And as a guy, like, I was born and raised in Englewood as well before we moved out to Bolandbrook. And so hearing him talk about that from a neighborhood perspective and from that being a part of his journey and his family's journey and being able to describe it in detail. and he and his siblings, his mom, and everything that he sort of went through, and that that symbolizes the journey that he's taken to get to this point

to be able to stand there in front of, you know, whatever, 20,000 people in the house, however many people are in there that night at the UC. That comfortable. Hundreds of thousands watching at home and how this video is going to continue to be aggregated over and over again, just holding court comfortably taking his time, not skipping a beat here and there, talking to his kids, talking to his wife, talking his teammates, talking to his former coach, every level of his basketball journey and what he is now versus what he was then and how the city itself, what it all means to him,

I was just so, so impressed and gratified by his ability to deliver that in that moment. That's awesome. That's Anthony Aaron. He was there in the house and tells you what it feels like. It's a great watch. And if you haven't watched the whole speech, I'd recommend going to YouTube, We're going to the Bulls website. It's worth your time. It really is worth your time, especially when you think of if you're old enough to have remembered when the kid got here and was shy with the media and didn't want to let his whole personality out to see what he is. It's absolutely beautiful. I totally agree.