Cunningham missed 11 games following the injury, which occurred against the Washington Wizards on March 17. The Pistons have gone 8-3 and on Saturday clinched home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference throughout the playoffs.
It was initially believed Cunningham would miss the rest of the regular season and only be able to ramp up in the week leading up to the playoffs, which begin on April 18.
But he’s ready for the final three games of the regular season after being listed as doubtful the last couple of days.
If Cunningham plays in the last three regular season games, he would fall one short of the 65-game minimum for post-season awards honors. However, there is language in the collective bargaining agreement, called the “extraordinary circumstances challenge” that would allow Cunningham’s situation to be reviewed by an independent arbitrator.
The independent arbitrator would be jointly selected by the NBA and the NBPA and the language is broad, so Cunningham could have a chance to qualify.
Cunningham is averaging 24.5 points, 9.9 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 34.4 minutes per game this season.
OpenAI is in a relatively precarious position. The company is and has been a funding behemoth — just over a week ago, it closed $122 billion in funding at a post-money valuation of $852 billion. It’s potentially planning for an IPO later this year. ChatGPT’s longtime lead in consumer-facing AI led it to name-brand status akin to “Kleenex” for tissues. But in recent months, a slew of executive reshufflings, discontinued projects, and other news has raised questions about how stable the company really is — and how long it may be able to stay on top.
OpenAI’s current batch of public controversies started early in the year. At the end of February, the company agreed to an apparently expansive Pentagon contract that its competitor Anthropic had refused to sign out of concerns about autonomous weapons and domestic mass surveillance. The move created controversy both internally and externally, and even CEO Sam Altman acknowledged OpenAI had come off as “opportunistic and sloppy.”
Then came the product announcements. Last month, OpenAI unexpectedly announced it would discontinue Sora, an AI video-generation app that it had planned to roll into ChatGPT. It exited its Disney partnership so rapidly that the companies had reportedly been working together just 30 minutes before Disney found out about the shutdown. The company said it was shelving long-gestating plans for the ability to sext with ChatGPT last month as well. “We cannot miss this moment because we are distracted by side quests,” OpenAI’s Simo reportedly told employees last month, as the company announced it would pivot to focusing on enterprise and coding tools. Even its once-heralded Stargate data center project may have largely stalled.
Just last Friday, the company announced a laundry list of changes to its C-suite. Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of AGI deployment — who was until recently the company’s CEO of applications — is stepping away from her role “for the next several weeks” due to medical leave, with company president Greg Brockman stepping in to run the product organization and run its super app initiative. CMO Kate Rouch decided to depart to focus on her health. Brad Lightcap decided to leave his role as OpenAI’s COO to instead start a role “focused on special projects” and reporting directly to Altman.
At the start of this week, a piece in The New Yorker expanded on yearsofreports of Altman potentially misleading OpenAI’s board, former company executives, and even contemporaries in roles he held before co-founding OpenAI.
And later this month, OpenAI is scheduled to defend itself in a potentially nasty court battle with cofounder Elon Musk, whose suit against the company has already revealed extensive internal communications from its early days.
The barrage of recent changes, and headlines, have seemed to leave the company reeling — and looking to control its narrative. Last week OpenAI announced that it was acquiring TBPN, the online viral news show. Simo wrote that it made the deal to “help create a space for a real, constructive conversation about the changes AI creates—with builders and people using the technology at the center.” She wrote, “As I’ve been thinking about the future of how we communicate at OpenAI, one thing that’s become clear is that the standard communications playbook just doesn’t apply to us.”
OpenAI is vulnerable, especially as it nears its potential IPO. As investors pour in billions of dollars, all eyes are on its balance sheet. CFO Sarah Friar has reportedly expressed concerns that the company isn’t ready to go public as soon as Altman desires. There’s never been more pressure to generate revenue. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.
In the past, Altman hadn’t expressed much concern about when and how OpenAI would turn a profit; in 2024, reports suggested that the company didn’t expect to do so until 2029. At OpenAI’s annual Dev Day in October, Altman told reporters, “Obviously, someday we have to be very profitable, and we’re confident and patient that we will get there.” But he appeared defensive later that same month on a podcast appearance, when host Brad Gerstner told him “The single biggest question I’ve heard all week, and hanging over the market, is ‘How can a company with $13 billion in revenue make $1.4 trillion in spend commitments? You’ve heard the criticism, Sam.” Altman interrupted to respond, “First of all, we’re doing well more revenue than that. Second of all, Brad, if you want to sell your shares, I’ll find you a buyer. I just… Enough.” And in December, Altman reportedly announced that the company was declaring a “code red” amid competition to ChatGPT.
As the pressure builds to square OpenAI’s revenue with its nearly unprecedented spending, the company is looking to put its compute behind projects with the highest profit potential.It’s attempting to catch up to leading rival Anthropic’s current popularity in coding, while also facing significant competition from Google, since Gemini is well-integrated within Google’s ecosystem of apps and tools. It’s possible the company will find a way to pull ahead — but things may not be going as smoothly as Altman hopes.
Having a bad headache at the gym, “I reached the toilet, sank to my knees, and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill,” the actress wrote. “Meanwhile, the pain—shooting, stabbing, constricting pain—was getting worse. At some level, I knew what was happening: my brain was damaged.”
She was taken to the hospital for a brain scan.
“The diagnosis was quick and ominous: a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a life-threatening type of stroke, caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain,” the Emmy nominee added. “I’d had an aneurysm, an arterial rupture.”
Emilia had immediate surgery to seal the aneurysm, calling the pain “unbearable.” While she was recovering, she continued, she experienced aphasia and was “muttering nonsense.”
A week later, “the aphasia passed,” Emilia added, and she left the hospital a month after being admitted.
At a 2013 brain scan, she learned a growth “doubled in size” and that she needed surgery again.
“When they woke me, I was screaming in pain,” she wrote. “The procedure had failed. I had a massive bleed and the doctors made it plain that my chances of surviving were precarious if they didn’t operate again. This time they needed to access my brain in the old-fashioned way—through my skull.”
Thankfully, Emilia shared, she’s now “at a hundred per cent.”
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Charlie Creme projects the women’s NCAA tournament bracket for ESPN.com.
Multiple Authors
The women’s college basketball transfer portal officially opened Monday, and by day’s end more than 1,000 players had entered.
In past years the portal opened during the NCAA tournament. New regulations this year prevented any official activity until after the season concluded Sunday with UCLA beating South Carolina for the championship. The transfer portal window is also shorter this year, closing on April 20.
Iowa State‘s Audi Crooks, the nation’s second-leading scorer, is the biggest impact player in the portal to date. The Cyclones’ roster was decimated, with 10 players entering the portal. Georgia lost nine players after letting go of coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, but no program was hit harder, or more publicly, than Tennessee.
Lady Vols coach Kim Caldwell is now tasked with replacing her entire roster. She also lost the No. 2 recruit in the country, Oliviyah Edwards, who had committed to the Lady Vols but has requested a release from her national letter of intent. Every player from Caldwell’s No. 2-rated recruiting class from a year ago is gone.
Few players have announced where their next destinations will be, but that process will play out over the next few weeks. As players find their new teams, and as more players enter the portal over the next 14 days, this list will evolve and change. And we’ll continue to update the rankings.
Crooks is the best of the available transfers and also the most intriguing. While she’s a nearly unstoppable post presence and ranked second in the nation in scoring (25.8 PPG), Crooks doesn’t fit every system and has limitations. Incorporating her could require coaches to alter their approach. Crooks could be the big scorer that a contender needs to take that next step, but a program’s willingness to make big philosophical changes for just the one season she has left might shrink Crooks’ market.
In the wake of the firing of coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, Virginia has lost multiple players to the transfer portal, but none more impactful than Johnson. One of the best players in the ACC, who broke into the national spotlight with her sparkling NCAA tournament performance, Johnson helped the Cavaliers reach the Sweet 16. She ranked second in the ACC in scoring (19.5 PPG) and first in assists (6.3 APG).
The only player in the country to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, McGill was the cornerstone of the Gators for two seasons but will not be sticking around for new coach Tammi Reiss. McGill, who is from Minnesota and played at the same high school as Paige Bueckers, can score in a variety of ways and would have the potential to be a game changer for a top-tier program that needs to replace a top offensive player or two.
Cooper is eligible for the WNBA draft but has decided to play one more college season — but at a third school after stops at South Carolina and Tennessee. One of the few Lady Vols that consistently produced in Kim Caldwell’s unorthodox system in Knoxville, Cooper might still benefit from more consistent minutes. She averaged 16.0 points per game and shot an improved 34.3% from 3-point range. Her length is an asset both as a perimeter defender and a finisher at the rim.
One of the best under-the-radar portal acquisitions a year ago (from Georgia Tech), Carnegie was named first-team all-SEC, averaging 17.8 points per game, and helped the Lady Dogs to their best season in eight years. An even better scorer than she was with the Yellow Jackets, Carnegie is a shot creator, for herself or teammates, and can handle the responsibility of being a No. 1 option.
Doubling her minutes, point production and assists in her second season, Jones appeared on the verge of becoming one of the ACC’s top guards. She and Zoe Brooks might have been the conference’s best backcourt next year had Jones elected to stay in Raleigh. She was second on the team to Brooks with 14.9 points and 3.8 assists per game. Jones was also the Wolfpack’s best 3-point shooter and excels in transition.
The 11 games Brown missed this season derailed the Cyclones’ season. Her versatility was the perfect complement to Crooks, but now they are both leaving Ames, Iowa. She was all-Big 12 honorable mention as a freshman and second-team all-conference last season, averaging 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists over her career. Brown has proved she can be impactful playing off the ball and should fit nearly any system.
The best mid-major player in the portal, Barbot is a two-time CAA player of the year who averaged 20.1 points per game, good for 17th nationally. She showcased her ability for the Power 4 conferences by scoring 36 points against Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Her sister, Taylor Barbot, was 12th in the country at 6.0 assists per game. Taryn and Taylor have played together for three years at Charleston, so expect a package deal.
The move to Iowa State was a good one for Williams despite staying just one year after two with Arizona. Williams became a better shooter, a more disciplined point guard and ranked third in the country with 7.7 assists per game. With her quickness and experience, Williams could step into another major conference program to fill a one-year gap at the point, much like Tonie Morgan did at Kentucky this season.
After averaging more than 15 points per game in consecutive seasons — but no NCAA tournament appearances to show for it — Agara is looking to finish her career elsewhere. Limited as a 3-point shooter but outstanding in the lane, Agara shot 51.3% on 2-point field goal attempts and pulled down 8.7 rebounds per game. Not being the No. 1 option and a primary focus of the defense might help Agara’s efficiency and her WNBA draft standing.
Health was an issue for Crump in her lone season with the Longhorns, but the talent was clearly there. The highest-rated recruit for Vic Schaefer at Texas — No. 5 overall — and a starter to begin the season, Crump suffered a foot injury in November that forced her to miss two months. She averaged 7.9 points per game and had 16-point outings against LSU and Arkansas in February. Texas is bringing in two highly regarded freshmen wings in this recent recruiting class, but Crump was a likely starter next season and a possible No. 1 scoring option in 2027-28 after the departure of Madison Booker.
A native of Sweden, Trygger spent the first two years in the United States in Raleigh. She was productive with 10.6 points and 7.0 rebounds after being more of a role player as a freshman. With good shooting range and improved physicality, Trygger has a high ceiling and has all-conference potential for her final two seasons.
Of all the departures from the Lady Vols, this one might hurt the most. Pauldo was Kim Caldwell’s biggest get in 2025’s No. 2-rated recruiting class. The entire recruiting class is now gone after one season. Pauldo was Tennessee’s third-leading scorer (10.4 PPG) and its best 3-point shooter (36.5%). Pauldo is also a pure point guard but was seldom able to show off those skills to their fullest in Knoxville. She is joined by her sister, Mya Pauldo, in the portal.
The least surprising player in the portal, St. Rose could not stay at Princeton because of Ivy League rules prohibiting redshirts. She missed most of the 2024-25 season with a knee injury, so St. Rose has eligibility left that she can’t use with the Tigers. St. Rose could help any national contender at either guard spot after averaging 15.8 points on 47.9% shooting this season.
A volume shooter with electric offensive abilities, McMiller is looking for her third team in as many years. A clash with the coaching staff her freshman season at Rutgers pushed her to Penn State, where this season was calmer and more productive for McMiller (21.6 PPG). A coaching change for the Lady Lions opened the door for another transfer. McMiller’s raw talent should necessitate being higher on this list, but her two teams were a collective 14 games below .500, and where she might fit best is the biggest question mark.
With noticeable improvement in her second season in Athens, Woolfolk played some of her best games against Georgia’s best opponents. She had 29 points against Oklahoma, 19 points and seven rebounds in the upset of Vanderbilt and 27 in the NCAA tournament loss to Virginia. Woolfolk’s strength is in the low post, but she moves well and uses her quickness facing up to get by taller opponents and to the rim.
The Cardinal roster suffered some big losses when the portal opened, but none bigger than Somfai. Losing Agara hurts, but Somfai and fellow freshman Hailee Swain were supposed to be the building blocks that brought Stanford back to prominence. Somfai has three years of eligibility remaining. She averaged 10.8 points and 9.1 rebounds.
A 28-game starter for a Final Four team this season, Carlton appeared to gain more and more of Vic Schaefer’s trust as the season progressed. Her strength is elite and she uses it to score from close range against taller defenders. Carlton averaged 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds that included a 15-point effort in the SEC tournament championship game. Her physicality made her an ideal fit for Texas, and her loss is a big one for the Longhorns.
Health is the question mark, otherwise Smikle might be higher in these rankings. She was first-team all-Big Ten in 2025 after scoring 17.9 points per game before being limited to seven games this season and then opting for knee surgery. That preserved Smikle’s final year of eligibility, which will now be used at her third school. Smikle, who began her career at Rutgers, has never averaged fewer than 16.1 points in a full season.
The numbers were modest (6.4 PPG, 4.0 PPG), but Civil demonstrated defensive skills and athleticism that should fit anywhere. Ranked No. 20 in that recruiting class that also featured the Pauldo sisters and Deniya Prawl, Civil’s playing time swelled in February before those minutes were trimmed again in the postseason.
The Artemis II astronauts have already captured some incredible sights of the Earth and Moon during their journey. Now we can add a new visual to that list: a total solar eclipse as seen from deep space. It looks almost too perfect; the Moon has crisp, but uneven edges, while bright stars dot the area around it.
The four-member crew witnessed the eclipse while beyond the Moon, creating a vastly different visual experience from what we would typically see on Earth, as noted by CNN and Scientific American. In addition to experiencing a longer total eclipse totality from space — lasting nearly one hour instead of just a few minutes here on Earth — the Artemis II crew got a glimpse at the Sun’s corona wispily peeking out from behind the Moon without interference from the Earth’s atmosphere.
”It’s just indescribable. No matter how long we look at this, our brains are not processing this image in front of us,” Commander Reid Wiseman told NASA mission control during the eclipse on Monday. “It is absolutely spectacular, surreal… there’s no adjectives, I’m going to need to invent some new ones, there’s absolutely no words to describe what we are looking at out this window.”
In case you’re curious, here are the details about the solar eclipse image embedded at the top of this article:
And here are the details for Artemis II’s take on Apollo 8’s earthrise:
Update, April 7th: Added metadata for two of NASA’s photos.
There are only 10 days left in the 2025-26 NHL regular season. Seven teams have clinched a playoff berth, and five teams have been mathematically eliminated.
As for the other 20, their postseason plans remain in the air — and there’s also the matter of final playoff seeding to sort out.
Tuesday is another relatively heavy day on the NHL calendar, with 11 games on the schedule. Here are the six that will have the biggest impact on the postseason picture:
This isn’t completely a “loser leaves town” match, but we’re getting close to that point for both clubs. (And to think, both of them seemed like locks at various times this season.) Both teams are just two points behind the Senators for the final Eastern Conference wild card, but both trail Ottawa in regulation wins (the first tiebreaker) by more games than they have left. So, they will need to be ahead in points, which is a tall task given how they’ve both performed lately. A regulation loss by either will be a major swing.
The Predators have been battling the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks for the second wild card in the West. Following Monday’s games, the Preds are a point behind the Kings with 82 points and 26 regulation wins through 77 games, with the Sharks (81 points, 25 RW through 76 games) right there.
On the other side, the Ducks are no longer the “surprising Ducks” anymore, and they still have a shot to claim the Pacific Division title. They enter Tuesday’s game tied with the Oilers in standings points, but with six fewer regulation wins (with fewer than six games remaining); they’ll need to finish with more points than Edmonton to take the crown.
Speaking of the Oilers, they do hold the RW tiebreaker over the Ducks but would like to salt away the division title on points alone if possible. At stake for the division winner? A first-round matchup against these very same Utah Mammoth, who are poised to bring postseason hockey to the Beehive State for the first time in its 130-year history.
Like an RKO, the Flyers’ playoff push came “outta nowhere,” and they begin play Tuesday as the Metro Division’s No. 3 seed. But they are anything but secure in that spot with three teams within three points of them — all of which have higher regulation win totals. And though they are tied with the Senators in the potential wild-card race, they are 10 RW behind Ottawa. In other words, Philly needs all the standings points it can get.
As for the Devils, they have already reached 40 wins this season, but are on the edge of mathematical elimination thanks to too many regulation losses. Nevertheless, they would certainly relish a chance to submarine the playoff chances of their I-95 rivals.
It has been a dramatic season for the Senators for various on- and off-ice reasons. But as of Tuesday, they are in a playoff spot thanks to a recent 6-3-1 run, and are in the driver’s seat when it comes to the regulation wins tiebreaker, with 34. Getting points here (via a win or overtime/shootout loss) would be a bonus, given that their four games after this one are against teams currently outside of playoff position (Panthers, Islanders, Devils, Maple Leafs).
The Lightning are tied with the Buffalo Sabres in standings points and two points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens atop the Atlantic Division; they are also two behind the Hurricanes for first in the East.
Should the Atlantic Division champ overtake the Hurricanes — or the Bruins fall to the second wild card — this would be a first-round matchup. But even without that backdrop, this is a crucial set of points for both teams, as the Bruins can still theoretically catch the teams ahead of them in the division, and the Canes want to maintain their home-ice advantage for as long as possible this postseason; only the Colorado Avalanche outrank them right now.
Every team has six or fewer games remaining before the regular season concludes April 16, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch every day. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2026 NHL draft lottery.
Note: An “x” with a team’s name means the club has clinched a playoff spot. An “e” means that the club has been mathematically eliminated. Teams clinch a playoff spot when their magic number reaches zero, and are mathematically eliminated when their tragic number reaches zero.
Atlantic Division
play
0:27
Jack Quinn tallies goal vs. Lightning
Jack Quinn lights the lamp for Sabres
Metro Division
Central Division
play
0:45
Kyle Connor tallies goal for Winnipeg Jets on the power play
Kyle Connor scores on the power play for Winnipeg Jets
Pacific Division
play
0:51
Adrian Kempe lights the lamp
Adrian Kempe lights the lamp
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Atop draft boards for this summer is Gavin McKenna, a forward for Penn State.
*Note: The Maple Leafs’ pick belongs to the Bruins, unless it lands in the top five.
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The Chicago Bulls don’t make changes to their front office often. So, Monday’s news that the Bulls were firing president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley was surprising — no matter how futile the past six years of Bulls basketball have been.
Since they took over the Bulls at the start of the 2020-21 season, the number of roster errors the duo has committed has only grown. They made transactions that baffled the league, such as trading Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey; misjudged the value of their own players, such as Patrick Williams and his five-year, $90 million contract; and frequently waited too long to trade players who were coveted around the league — most recently, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu at this season’s trade deadline.
All the while, the Bulls weren’t winning. They went 224-254 across six seasons under Karnisovas’ leadership. Their lone winning season came in 2021-22, and the Bulls were quickly dispatched in a five-game, first-round exit to the Milwaukee Bucks. They currently sit at 29-49 and 12th in the Eastern Conference.
So, although the change seemed swift with a week remaining in the regular season, team sources said ownership had been mulling the change for weeks, especially in the aftermath of the team’s dismissal of Jaden Ivey and questions about whether the Bulls did enough homework before acquiring him last February, team sources told ESPN.
The front office defended its approach in acquiring Ivey, but one source described the Bulls as having a “credibility” problem around the league and with their own fans.
Bulls team owner Michael Reinsdorf acknowledged fans’ frustrations in a statement released by the team, announcing the news and a commitment to getting it right.
Now Chicago is about to conduct a search for a new head of basketball operations for only the third time since the start of the millennium.
Here’s why the team decided to fire its front office with just days left in the regular season, what these moves might mean for coach Billy Donovan and what Bulls ownership should look for in its next front office. — Jamal Collier
Why did the Bulls decide to make this change now?
Team sources described a “growing disconnect” between the front office and the rest of the franchise, with several people across the organization unsure about the direction of the team after a surprising trade deadline.
“People didn’t know the plan,” one team source told ESPN on Monday. “They didn’t know the process. We needed to move on — with a clean slate and start this thing over.”
The puzzling roster moves also began to stack up over the years. The same team source described the team’s initial trade for Nikola Vucevic in 2021 — the Bulls traded Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two first-round picks for Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu — as the team’s “original sin.”
Team sources said recently Karnisovas has expressed remorse for the move, saying a deal like that to give away two first-round picks should have been the team’s final move toward contention instead of an initial one.
When Chicago did select players in the first round, the results were inconsistent. The Bulls’ highest draft pick was No. 4 in 2020, which they used to select Williams, and they re-signed him to a five-year extension in July 2024 after middling performances.
The Bulls began the 2021-22 season with promise — they were No. 2 in the Eastern Conference by the All-Star break — but clung to their nucleus of Vucevic, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine for years after, even as the trio became a perennial play-in contender following injuries to Lonzo Ball.
Karnisovas’ failure to pivot from that core quickly enough, and the paltry returns from trading those players, did not leave the team in position to contend. Karnisovas finally made moves at the deadline, attempting to avoid another play-in tournament appearance, but the team’s meandering direction, the embarrassment of the Ivey situation and Karnisovas’ lack of definitive direction left the Bulls looking for new leadership to take the reins. — Collier
Why did it take so long for the Bulls to decide on a direction for their roster?
Karnisovas and Eversley maintained throughout the past few years that they were working under the constraints of ownership, team sources told ESPN. The team’s ownership and coach Billy Donovan were hesitant to “tank” in order to prioritize a high draft pick, which, they said, limited the team’s options.
Karnisovas and Eversley were also victims of their own initial success, however. Chicago was 38-21 before the All-Star break during the 2021-22 season, but Ball’s injuries that season derailed the team’s trajectory and took more than 1,000 days off his NBA career. Ball did not play in another NBA game until the start of the 2024 season, but the front office kept the core of that team intact for two more full seasons without Ball ever appearing in a game. Eventually, the Bulls traded away the top six players (LaVine, DeRozan, Vucevic, Ball, White and Caruso) from their February 2022 team. The only first-round pick they received in return? A return of their own first-round selection in 2025.
“We took too long to pick a lane,” the team source told ESPN. “The Lonzo thing just really messed them up. We saw that success early on and didn’t have the foresight to pivot early.”
Chicago slowly began making changes to its roster, trading away LaVine at the deadline last year; Ball this summer; and then Vucevic, White and Ayo Dosunmu this past February to pivot toward a new core featuring Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue, who was drafted in the first round last season.
The Bulls currently have a record of 29-49, the ninth-best odds in the league in the upcoming NBA draft lottery and more than $60 million in projected cap space this upcoming offseason. With cap space, draft picks and without much money tied up long term going forward, team sources said, the Bulls thought it was the right time for a new direction. — Collier
What is Billy Donovan’s future with the franchise?
Chicago remains high on coach Billy Donovan and plans to meet with him in the offseason to see how the team can retain him, sources told ESPN on Monday. Donovan has been with the team since 2020, and despite a 224-254 record (.469 winning percentage), he is well respected by players and staff alike within the organization.
The Bulls have struggled mightily on the court this season, including four separate losing streaks of at least five games and a roster overhaul at the deadline that had Bulls coaches scrambling with so many new faces.
Donovan had a rough season personally as well. His father, Billy Sr., passed away earlier this year, and then his mother-in-law, Patricia, died eight days later. Donovan missed only one game, on Feb. 19, and a few practices around the funerals, and team sources have in recent weeks wondered whether Donovan would decide to take a step back after the season, especially faced with a Bulls roster almost certain to require a rebuild.
The team has made it clear, though, that it wants him back in the organization as coach or in some capacity going forward, sources told ESPN. — Collier
What characteristics should Bulls ownership look for in a new front office?
Someone who can offer a true vision. Ever since the franchise traded Jimmy Butler III in 2017, Chicago has vacillated between short-circuited rebuilds and a misguided attempt to move into contention. The Bulls’ series of moves in 2021 — notably adding veterans DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic — left them hovering in the middle with no path to relevancy, which is why the team won 39 or 40 games in three consecutive seasons before the 2025-26 campaign.
There are reasons for optimism for whoever takes over. The Bulls have a fairly clean cap sheet, potentially two first-round picks this year (if the Portland Trail Blazers reach the playoffs) and an attractive market for free agents. — Tim Bontemps
What is the Bulls’ draft outlook?
After losing their past seven games, the Bulls will likely finish with the ninth-best odds in May’s draft lottery — a 4.5% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 20.3% chance at selecting in the top four.
That’s gives them a fair, if unlikely, shot at moving up for one of the top-tier prospects in what NBA executives view as an excellent draft class. Chicago still has a chance to add a quality player if it stays put at No. 9, but the options at that spot aren’t necessarily franchise-changing.
Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey had been considered the Bulls’ cornerstone players, but the roster is still far from taking shape. How a new decision-maker views them long term could impact the direction Chicago takes positionally with its selection.
The Bulls also own the Trail Blazers’ lottery-protected first-round pick. If Portland (8-2 in its past 10) makes it out of the play-in and into the playoffs, Chicago would get another first-round selection in the mid-teens. Beyond that Portland pick, which has rolling lottery protection through 2028, the Bulls are light on extra draft capital and have only their own first-round picks.
Landing a stroke of luck on lottery night would be a massive coup for whomever Chicago hires to run the organization next. Drafting well is imperative regardless, but without a friendly bounce, picking a direction will be more of a challenge: A protracted nosedive in 2027 and 2028, two draft classes NBA execs are presently less excited about, will not be the most direct path to a playoff return. — Jeremy Woo
What roster and financial decisions will the new Bulls front office inherit?
The Bulls wiped their cap ledger clean at the deadline, making seven trades that netted them eight second-round picks and former lottery pick Rob Dillingham, as well as Anfernee Simons and Jaden Ivey, who was waived on March 30.
As a result of the trades, Chicago is projected to have nearly $60 million in cap space to use in free agency.
The new front office will inherit a roster that includes Josh Giddey, Tre Jones, Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue. The Bulls picked Essengue in last year’s draft, but he played only two games this season before season-ending shoulder surgery in December.
The free agency path is more unclear and requires a methodical roster-building approach. The Bulls have the spending power to sign players, but they are not at a stage to commit long term, which ultimately takes away flexibility in the future.
Chicago will need a checklist for free agents and trade candidates who fit its identity on the court both now and moving forward. — Bobby Marks
Jessi Draper is prioritizing her inner peace.
