With trade choices not going well for Zach LaVine , the NBA rumor mill has shifted attention to DeMar DeRozan as the next possible target for the Chicago Bulls before the Feb. 8 deadline.The men’s basketball coach Tony Stubblefield was dismissed by DePaul, which is another attempt to restart the struggling program.
After asking a federal court to lift his suspension due to a rape charge in Kansas, Terrence Shannon Jr. has returned to play for Illinois.
The Bulls, Sky and local basketball will be updated by Tribune writers every Wednesday throughout the season.
DeMar DeRozan is mentioned in the latest round of trade rumors.
A report from Sam Amico of Hoops Wire indicates that the list of potential suitors for DeMar DeRozan is expanding before the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline. Teams mentioned in the report include the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat.
The Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat are all top contenders in the Eastern Conference who could benefit from DeRozan's clutch shooting and veteran leadership.
But it's unlikely that this interest will lead to any action in the next two weeks. In December, DeRozan said to the Tribune that he does not want to be traded away from the Bulls this season and hopes to sign an extension with the team to continue his future in Chicago. DeRozan stated, "Chicago is Chicago to me. I love it here. Obviously it’s a place I want to be in my career. None of that has changed. I don’t have no other type of doubts or feelings or suggestions to be elsewhere. That don’t cross my mind."
There's no indication that the Bulls want to trade DeRozan. Despite reports of no progress in reaching a deal, the front office has been consistent in wanting to re-sign DeRozan as a veteran cornerstone for the team’s future.
Tony Stubblefield, the men's basketball coach at DePaul, has been fired.
DePaul announced on Monday that they had let go of men’s basketball coach Tony Stubblefield.
The school fired Tony Stubblefield, who had been in charge of the program for 18 games into his third season.
The team's record this season is 3-15 with no wins in the Big East, and they may end the season without beating any conference opponents. While Stubblefield was in charge, DePaul only won 9 out of 38 games in the Big East and lost 20 of their last 21 games against conference opponents.The athletic director DeWayne Peevy mentioned that they decided to make a change in the head coaching position after evaluating the current state of the men’s basketball program.
Stubblefield took over as head coach in 2021 after working as an assistant at Oregon for 11 seasons, and he was in the third year of a five-year contract.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Peevy stated, "I came here to win. I didn’t leave Kentucky to be last place or struggling through seasons. I didn’t just need another job."
DePaul will once again search for a head coach who can bring success to the program, which has not had a winning season since 2007, qualified for the NCAA tournament since 2004 or finished higher than seventh in the Big East since 2005.
Peevy also said to the Associated Press that DePaul is at the bottom of the Big East in opportunities for college athletes to make money through NIL. He said the team's struggles on the court were reducing the chance for people to give money to NIL because they're waiting to see how things go. Terrence Shannon Jr. is back after a court told Illinois to end his suspensionTerrence Shannon Jr. made a comeback for Illinois on Sunday after he was suspended for six games due to a rape charge in Kansas.
Shannon was suspended on Dec. 28 after being arrested for a rape charge related to an incident in September in Lawrence, Kan. After Shannon filed a petition, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless ruled on Friday that the university was violating Shannon’s civil rights through the suspension and
ordered the school to reinstate him
to the team as an All-Big Ten guard.
Illinois went 4-2 without Shannon. He played four games for Illinois between the charges being filed on Dec. 5 and his arrest and suspension.
In his first game back, Shannon scored 16 points and had four assists to lead the No. 14 Illini to an 86-63 win over Rutgers. Shannon received a strong ovation from Illinois fans when he entered the game.
“Our team feels complete again,” teammate Justin Harmon said. “We have our best player back.”
Number of the week: 12 The Bulls had 12 assists in the first quarter of Monday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns
— and assisted all 10 of their first made baskets.
It was a almost perfect start for a team that struggled with lack of progress in the early weeks of this season. The Bulls are not a high-assist team compared to the rest of the NBA. They rank third-to-last in the statistic with an average of 24.4 assists per game.
Coach Billy Donovan noted this statistic is tricky — one reason assist numbers go up during wins is that an assist reflects a made shot, so a high number of assists shows a good shooting night as well as good ball movement. “The main thing I looked at is potential assists,” Donovan said. “If you don’t make shots, the assists sometimes aren't there. So I really try to look to potential assists to see what kind of shots we're creating with the pass, what’s that number in comparison to the rest of the league, those kinds of things. I think generally when you’re taking shots off the pass, shooting percentages usually go up.” But periods like that first quarter in Phoenix show how the Bulls can improve their position by making the extra pass. At times, the Suns defense stopped after making three or four rotations, leaving shooters like Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu wide open for corner 3s.
If the Bulls can keep the ball moving, they can keep taking early advantages against high-performing teams like Phoenix.
Week ahead: Bulls
at Lakers, 9:30 p.m., NBCSCH
at Trail Blazers, 8 p.m., NBCSCH
vs. Raptors, 7 p.m., NBCSCH
What we’re reading this morning
- Wednesday: off
- Thursday: Chicago Bulls’ Lonzo Ball experiencing ‘no setbacks’ in recovery but has not been cleared to sprint
- Friday: off
- Saturday: off
- Sunday: Column: Chicago Bulls core could be on its last legs with the NBA trade deadline approaching
- Monday: off
- Tuesday: What will the Chicago Sky — and first-year coach Teresa Weatherspoon — accomplish in free agency?
Caitlin Clark’s contact with a spectator raises concerns about fans rushing onto the court. Will conferences take action?
- The Utah Jazz are one of the NBA’s most successful teams — and former Chicago Bull Kris Dunn is a significant reason for that
- DeMar DeRozan is adjusting to meet the needs of the Chicago Bulls — even if it leads to lower scoring for the 6-time All-Star
- Following Zach LaVine: Chicago Bulls star sidelined for at least 1 week with a right ankle injury
- The passing of Dejan Milojević has deeply affected the NBA’s Serbian players, states Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vučević
- This week's events in Chicago basketball
- Jan. 28, 1967: Lew Alcindor leads UCLA past Loyola at Chicago Stadium
- Despite a massive snowstorm dropping 23 inches on the city, basketball fans still managed to
- make it to Chicago Stadium to watch impressive UCLA sophomore Lew Alcindor
, who later adopted the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Only one traffic lane to the Stadium was open, as renowned UCLA coach John Wooden remembered it, but 17,024 turned out to watch his Bruins take on the Loyola Ramblers.
Alcindor warmed up by scoring 35 points and grabbing 20 rebounds as UCLA defeated Loyola 82-67. The next day, he achieved 45 points and 12 rebounds as the Bruins easily won 120-82 over Illinois. “Every place we went, people were eager to see him,” Wooden recalled. “It was the same years before when Wilt Chamberlain went to Kansas. The media, everyone was excited to see him.”UCLA finished the season 30-0, claiming the first of a record seven consecutive NCAA titles.
“Without a doubt. If he got it rolling or even if he looked at me and said he wanted it, wouldn’t be no problem. That’s how much trust we got in him.” —
DeMar DeRozan on whether Coby White should start attempting game-winning shots for the Bulls
With trade options stalling out for Zach LaVine, the NBA rumor mill has turned its attention to DeMar DeRozan as the next possible target for the Chicago Bulls to move before the Feb. 8 deadline. A list of potential suitors for DeMar DeRozan is growing ahead of the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, reported Sam Amico of Hoops Wire. This group includes the Philadelphia 76 ers, New York…
UCLA ended the season 30-0, winning the first of a record seven straight NCAA titles.
Quotable
“Without a doubt. If he got it rolling or even if he looked at me and said he wanted it, wouldn’t be no problem. That’s how much trust we got in him.” — DeMar DeRozan on whether Coby White should start attempting game-winning shots for the Bulls
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