Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Elias Shuster: Bulls haven't earned the benefit of the doubt

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

Marshall Harris and Russ Dorsey were joined by Bulls on SI publisher Elias Schuster to discuss the Bulls’ direction and their outlook in the second half of the season.

Rahimi, Harrison Grovey, Midday's Title II on Chicago Sports Radio. Listen, it's an unprecedented situation. It's not going to be smooth sailing. I mean, true to his word, it has not been smooth sailing for Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls entering the All-Star break. Losers of six in a row, they are now down to 11th place in the Eastern Conference. And I say that like they're out of the play-in because they are technically, but they're only a game and a half out of the play-in. And if, I don't know, Billy Donovan gets guys like Jalen Smith, Josh Giddy, Trey Jones,

and O, Isaac or Coral also missed the last game back. They may very well be back in the playing unless decisions are made from an organizational standpoint to talk about those decisions and more. We welcome in from Bulls on SI, a publisher for the site, Elias Schuster. You can follow him on the artist formerly known as Twitter at Schuster underscore Elias. He is on Zoom and he joins us on the Circa Resort and Casino Hotline, Circa Las Vegas.com. Elias, how are you enjoying this All-Star break? First off, thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here. Believe it or not, always ready to

talk Bulls. And, you know, the All-Star break, I'm enjoying it. How could I not? I think we all needed a break after what was a chaotic trade deadline and what has been another underwhelming season in a lot of ways. So I welcomed this All-Star break with open arms. But I also love basketball. We need some more stuff to talk about. So I'm ready for the games to start up again. Okay.

So you're ready for the games to start. Do you expect the Bulls to play their players? And when I say their players, those four guys I just mentioned, are they going to play or are they going to truly go for the tank? Yeah, I think it's, well, what's interesting, right, is that the NBA just decided to throw out that $500,000 warning to the Utah Jazz about how to handle things moving forward here. So I think that there's, you know, I think the Bulls themselves, right,

they've shown over these past few years, even though this trade deadline may suggest they're willing to take a big step back, this doesn't necessarily seem like the organization that will go as aggressively in the taking direction as a organization like Utah. So do I expect guys, you know, like a Josh Giddy, you know, even, you know, Trey Jones, Jalen Smith, do I expect these guys to play? I do. And I think there's some importance, you know, there as well because Josh Giddy, especially,

that's someone that you want to have on the floor next to some of these new pieces that you, that you have welcomed in, especially Jade and Ivy, Rob Dillingham, guys that more so seem like they could be a part of what you're building, what they're building. we still don't know. But if they want to evaluate these young guys, they have to see how they fit with some of these other pieces that could be around. I mean, Jalen Smith's under contract next year, so seeing how he might fit with some of these guys is important. So I expect him to be on the floor. Does that mean I expect him to win many games? That's a different question. Elizma, I look at this tanking situation in the NBA right now, and I say the system is designed for teams to do this,

Right. Like if I'm one of these 10 worst teams in the NBA and the Bulls are the 10th worst team in the NBA for everybody out there at this point, it's probably worth it for me, even with the fines to say, you know, if I have a chance at the big three, we'll call them, you know, in college basketball, that could be available in the draft. It's probably worth it even if I get fined, let's call it a million dollars between now and the draft. Yeah, I definitely understand that point. I think especially in this draft, right? Like you want to be up there. A lot of people have kind of already made the comment. If you were going to decide to go this tanking route, you know,

which is a phrase they'll never throw out there, but go this rebuilding route. Like this should have been done before. That's the biggest problem is once again, whether it be waiting too long to trade players, they've just waited too long to maybe start this new era. So that's going to be something to watch. moving forward is whether or not I think where they go from here and what direction they set

is going to be important for this off season because even going into next year the draft's not as good but can they at least set a standard like we're going to be pushing for that high draft pick or not I mean they just they still have a lot of explaining to do with what this process is going to be but in terms of the approach that they should take I think going for that high draft pick this year is important I still don't see them necessarily sitting these players let's say, but they might just lose the amount of games anyway. We've already seen these last handful of games haven't gone well. When you welcome this many new players into the picture,

it can be really hard to pull off wins, especially in the fourth quarter where they've crumbled, you know, four of the last five games. Yeah, because they didn't have Josh Giddy or Trey Jones or Isaac Akoro or Jalen Smith. This is Elias Schuster joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, the publisher for Bulls on SI. Here's the problem, Elias. They're not catching the Hornets.

The Hornets are a team that is taking big steps this season, but I could easily, easily see them passing the Atlanta Hawks who are a game and a half above them. The Hawks, by the way, have lost three in a row. They've got Jalen Johnson, but not a lot of star power beyond that. And there's going to be games where if the Bulls get those guys back, I'm sorry, Billy Donovan doesn't coach to tank. If they don't sit them down, can you not see a situation

where they fail at this stated goal of getting out of the middle this season? Oh, no, I can 100% see that situation. I think that's what's also scary about the way that they handled this deadline, where you bring back someone like Anthony Simons and you bring back, you know, somebody like Colin Sexton. Like those are guys that a lot of people thought when those trades happened might be flipped, at least one of them or maybe, you know, there's conversations, not to say there's conversations with the team, but just among fans among those online.

Like, hey, is someone going to, is someone going to buy out? Are they going to buy out one of these guys? These are guys that are not only can help them win over these next handful of weeks, but are also going to steal potentially developmental minutes from a guy like Jane and Ivy or from Rob Dillingham, who you need to evaluate. So can they fall flat on their face with this situation? Absolutely. I still think they could end up in that play and mix.

Now, the only thing that's working in their favor, you know, we can talk about getting a boost with Josh Giddy coming back and Trey Jones, but they're still going to be playing with a very different group of play. And it's very hard. We saw this when they first traded for Nicole Obusovich even, and they were pushing for the play in that year or whatever it was in 2021, where they go get a guy like Vooch. They still weren't able to make the playoffs. It's just like when you add in these new pieces, it's really hard to get on a winning track,

especially when other teams are vying for seating in a way. So is it possible? They went too many games. Absolutely. It's the Bulls. Billy Dodovan. You said it exactly right. He does not.

He's not going to coach with just development in mind. he's going to coach with winning in mind. But whether or not they could pull it off, I definitely have questions about that with this group. Elias, I'm sitting here. I'm listening to you. I'm thinking through all of these things. I'm looking at the Bulls roster right now.

And I just keep coming back to, what is the point of all of this? Because you're saying that the Bulls might win enough games to make the play in after Artur's current show says, the playing isn't the goal. but it's clearly been for them. And then you keep guys like Colin Sexton and Afrinay Simons who, look, when Anfrey Simon's got traded to the Bull, I'm like, this is like a bucket.

Like this is a guy that go get you 25 on a night. Like, why is he here? Well, I can see the Simons thing even Elias, but the Sexton thing makes no sense. From a timetable standpoint, and he could be helping someone, I don't know, that's trying to make the playoffs. Right. I think it was this, if you want to keep adding on to, Gershon, you obviously, Buselli going to get him from the Knicks was a confusing move.

Nick Richards, you flip, you know, Usmani Jane, who's now had multiple really strong games for the box. He's a 22-year-old forward that would make a ton of sense for this philosophy they've had of adding these former lottery picks who haven't had a chance. They flip him for Nick Richards because they needed, I mean, they needed center depth, I guess, but also why do you need the center depth if, you know, if your plan here is to go for draft picks, is to go for just development and rebuilding. So it's when, you know, the question is, that's why I kind of brought it up earlier, right? There still needs to be a lot set in stone this offseason of like, what is the plan here?

Because did they change up the whole roster? Yes. Did they take a big step? Like, did they take a step backward? I still think, yes, they took a step backward and they added some second round picks, which I know a lot of people joke about. But I do think in today's league, like we see them packaged in all these deals and stuff. So you can make something of second round picks. So in a way, like they did take this small step back, but wasn't a big enough step back.

Like, we're going to find that out over the next handful of games. And we're also going to find that out in the offseason when, hey, are they just going to start sending a message like, well, actually next season though, we want to get back. We want to compete again. And, you know, we're going to go and sign all these veterans with all this money that we have this off season. Or we'll continue to be this message of like development, trading for more draft picks, all this stuff. Like, that's why this felt like the beginning, or maybe the beginning. of something, but it's a long process. Like they need to, they have not earned the benefit of the doubt, right?

With fans and people in the city about what the plan is for this team. There could be shades of a plan here, but there's so much more work that would need to be done. Shades of a plan. You're cooking right now. We're listening to Elias Schuster, Bulls on SI, here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. This is Russ Dorsey. Elias, all right, let's do this. I'm going to put you in Artur's Karnas Chavez's seat.

Because you and Marshall mentioned something about Billy Donovan is not going to coach to tank. I get all that. And I respect Billy Donovan for that. But you're Arturis Karnas Chavez. At what point do you take it out of Billy's hands? At what point do you say, Billy, we love and respect you. We're going to pull a plug on this thing and we're going to try to get Kambuzer. And Rob Dillingham is going to play 48 minutes and not.

I think if you're asking me like not our not our tourist I think that that that are that should be happening right yeah so and if I am in our turrets of shoes that should be happening right now I think just seeing when I saw jade and I be taken out of that starting lineup in the game before the the all-star break here I was scratching my head because I think you know maybe yeah they just want to see how he looks like with or looks with Dillingham in that second unit or see the two of those guys play together but then why not do that in the starting lineup. And they did at least end up with more minutes than the Sexton Simon's duo in that game, which ease some concerns. But the question is, you know, is that going to

continue to happen? Is that just the first sign of, you know, Billy Donovan leaning on these veterans that they just acquired, who will be free agents in a couple of months anyway? So if I'm in his shoes, like, that's already the messaging for me. That should already be the messaging. I know we talk about the, you know, the fines and the apparent tanking, but there's also a difference between what the Utah Jazz are doing and what a team that's just looking to develop young guys is doing, right? And so if you are the Bulls, you can still not worry about what it looks like in the Lee guy and all this stuff. And I know you were saying, Russ, like, oh, just take the, you can still take the fine. Sure, even do that. But they don't even have to worry about the fines, in my opinion, if they wanted to just lean on these young guys because they have enough of them.

and that's still an okay process. You're not saying like, oh, we're playing to lose. We're just playing Rob Dillingham a bunch because we need to see what we have in him, and he can grow more. And so, you know, I think it's, if I'm in the shoes that's already the messaging. And I don't know if that, you know, maybe over the next few weeks, we see a little bit more of that. But we do know that that front office and Billy communicate a lot. They're very close.

So, you know, they also obviously have a lot of trust in Billy Donovan. They've kept them around this long is what the third longest. and your head coach in the league. And so if he's pushing back on that, I don't know how if they push back again. It's hard to set. Elias Schuster joining us here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Well, last one for you, Elias.

If you're the Bulls and seeing where they're probably going to be landing in this hopefully lottery, who should they be targeting? What should they be going after? What do you see as a realistic target if they're not picking, let's say, in the top four? Yeah, I mean, I think that's like obviously the goal is to be picking in that in that top four. But I think something they've benefited from in recent years has been, you know, the guys falling, you know, kind of into their lap. That happened with Modis Griselles. He was somebody who was expecting, I mean, a lot of time was talked about as a potential number one overall pick.

He stumbles a little bit because his three-point shooting in G-League Knight ends up at 12 spot. You know, Noah Sengay, like he was somebody that was a little bit all over the board. and I know people have been frustrated this year by him not playing. But there's a case you can make that he was still available there when some people didn't expect him to be. And so I think this year, like you're hoping for that situation to potentially play out again if you're around that 10 spot. I know one guy that was obviously used to be seen very highly

who slipped a little is like made a met from Tennessee. You know, he's somebody that is this talented shooter, potential talented score, big wing. They've targeted those players in the past. So I'm looking at like those guys that we see as the draft board forms in this March Madness time that there's some guys that are going to slip that were previously viewed very highly. And I think the Bulls could be in a good position to grab one of them. And speaking to the, you know, we always get the debate every year of, okay, well, should we, do you draft for need all this? That's not going to matter for the Bulls, right?

You just want talent. So I don't care if they have, you know, both a Sengay and Bruegelis on the wing, both have this kind of scoring upside. If there's another player that you believe has extreme potential in that area of the floor, like you still have to take that chance. You're not in a position to draft for need. You're in a position that you need as much star level potential talent as possible. And that's, I think that I do expect them to probably take that mindset going into this draft with how, you know, not set in stone this roster is moving forward.

But yeah, where they're runned up, who will know? I think it's, you brought it up. It's going to be hard for them to move their lottery odds much higher here. So they're going to need some lottery luck. All right, Elias Schuster, joining us, the publisher for Bulls on SI. You can follow him over on the artist formerly known as Twitter, Schuster underscore Elias. Thanks for joining us today on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, Elias.

Thank you guys so much. And, you know, let's see what happens over these next couple of months. I mean, that said was such little confidence. You didn't even believe in. And I get it. I get it. Understand this. The Bulls are 11th in the East.

If they somehow pass the Atlanta Hawks, it will be such an atrocity because the Hawks don't even own their own pick. That means they're trying no matter what. So if you pass a team that's trying and you're a game and a half behind them with less than 30 games of play, that means you did it wrong if you're the Bulls,

if your state it goes true. I don't think it's going to happen. I thought I will just say at the end of day, at least there's going to be a lot to talk about. Always a lot to talk about with these Bulls. Thanks so much, Elias. Coming up next, players that might surprise you.

Russell Dorsey has a pick or two of White Sox Cubs players who he thinks can have a surprise, 2026. I don't know if it's in a good way or bad way, but we'll find out on the other side. It's Rahimi, Harris, and Grotie on 104. 3, the score.