Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Ricky O'Donnell eviscerates Bulls: 'Worst team in the NBA that tries to win'

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

Marshall Harris and Mark Grote were joined by Ricky O’Donnell of SB Nation to discuss the Bulls’ aimless direction as the trade deadline looms in a week.

I'm Emmergreed, host of Aspire with Emmergreet, a podcast where I sit down with people who don't just dream big, they build big. From culture-shaping voices like Mel Robbins to leaders redefining success like Tracy Ellis Ross to game-changing entrepreneurs like Mark Cuban. Aspire is about mindset, ambition and doing the work that actually moves the needle. If you're ready to raise your standards and take charge about the life and career you're building, Aspire is where you start. Follow and listen to Aspire with me, Emmer Creed, and Odyssey Podcast available wherever you get your podcasts. 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 on the field.

Come on, Marshall. Bring it home, baby. We're ready for you. The Rahimi Harris and Grody Show. Midday's 10 to 2 on 670 to score. Murphy again at the strive. It is up and it is good. 113, 110.

Bowles 94 feet away with 2.3 left. Giddy. And the past, deflected. Stolen by Nemhart. The ball game is over. 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. 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 six and one if they were actually a serious team.

And if that were to happen, they'd be sick. getting 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 Arturus, Karas Chavez, and Mark Eversley have treated previous trade deadlines and off-season? 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 onto 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 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 Sal. lottery, 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 upside. 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 tournament, 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 Karas Cháasovas, 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 from 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 Ross. 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 Jalen 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 and 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-friendlyest 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 asses. assets back for them. But I mean, the reality of the matter is that the Bulls 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 our. Arturis Karnas Cháovas. And, you know, you guys asked me for my plan if I was running the Bulls front office. I gave it to you. But, you know, from an ownership level, the first move should be firing Arturis Karnas Chavez. 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. Hey, this is Richard Ditch, the host of the sports media podcast. If you're interested in what's happening with all the places where you consume sports, the sports media podcast has you covered. I've been turning down interviews all week, Hoda copy. reached out, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no, I

was booked on the Deich podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. I mean, is the attendance that great? Is it that great? Yeah, I was going to say.

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 Senate. of 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 this place is falling. Jokim 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-Sovis is getting another chance with another new contract.

And the difference is they hired Ben Johnson and they have a quarterback. They have their star and 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 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 Dumas said on draft night about offering the unprotected pick to teams above, where they 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, Lonzo, he got Vooch, he got no first round picks for any of those guys. They reacquired their own first round pick and the Levine deal.

Honestly, the Levine trade was pretty good. Arturis 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 and 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 and 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 balls 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. 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 Yacup Pertl, 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, I 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 Carnassova 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 Donnie. He's a hall of favor. Are you excited about the play in series? Oh, yeah. 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. It might be a really nice time to get that. The Bulls get a week in, oh, Miami. Just make sure they don't get the Miami flu while they're down there. I wouldn't blame them 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. And 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 Grotty on the score. What you heard right there was the power of audio. And audio is what we do with Odyssey. That true crime podcast you spent hours listening to? We produced that. That radio station where you discovered your favorite artists? That's our station. That weird playlist of bongo music? We ain't judging. One of our curators made that. Advertise with Odyssey. We can get your message in front of a broad or targeted audience.

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