Bulls’ defensive weak spot hits a new nadir in loss to Pelicans

The Chicago Bulls dropped to 9-8 after a 13-point loss to the reeling New Orleans Pelicans. New Orleans had lost nine consecutive games before defeating the Bulls, and to make matters worse, they did so without several key contributors, including Jordan Poole and Herbert Jones.

Chicago struggles to protect the paint

However, the loss to an injury-depleted Pelicans team wasn’t even the most alarming part of the night. Without starting center Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls surrendered a staggering 78 points in the paint. And it’s not as if Vucevic is some elite rim deterrent—opponents shoot just 2.1 percentage points worse at the rim against him—but his absence still exposed how little resistance the Bulls have inside.

But it wasn’t just the collapsing interior defense. The Bulls also surrendered 19 offensive rebounds, which New Orleans turned into 30 second-chance points. Between the porous rim protection and the inability to secure a board, Chicago was behind from the opening tip.

Sure, plenty of excuses are available. Vucevic was out, and so was Zach Collins, who was arguably the Bulls’ most impactful defender last season after arriving at the trade deadline. But this is the NBA, and excuses don’t carry much weight, especially when you lose to a team that entered the night with only two wins. Allowing 143 points, 78 of them in the paint, and giving up 30 second-chance points is the kind of performance that makes for a very quiet flight home.

It’s getting to the point where the Bulls can’t just sit back and hope things magically improve. Vucevic had already made headlines for publicly voicing his concerns after a one-point win over the one-win Washington Wizards. And Billy Donovan keeps preaching physicality—a concept this team still hasn’t managed to grasp.

The rumor mill has been churning around Chicagoan Anthony Davis. Nothing concrete has surfaced, but the struggling Dallas Mavericks are at least expected to gauge the market for the talented, albeit oft-injured, big man. Davis would be a massive get for the Bulls, but Chicago doesn’t need to completely sell out to acquire someone of AD's stature.

The Bulls have shown they can be competitive, opening 5-0 with wins over talented teams like the Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, and New York Knicks. What those victories had in common was hustle, physicality, and solid defensive execution. Chicago still was gashed in the paint, but overall, they managed to keep their defense stingy and effective.

A five-game losing streak in mid-November was already a wake-up call for Donovan’s squad, but the loss to the Pelicans marked a new nadir. The Bulls allow the most points in the paint per game, and unless they find resistance soon, Chicago will continue squandering winnable games.

Why Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson didn’t care about breaking Micah Parsons’ contract record

Week 12’s wild escape against the Giants left Aidan Hutchinson thinking more about lessons than style points. Detroit blew coverages, missed tackles, and still found a way to win 34-27 in overtime, a result Hutchinson called the mark of a good team that can survive “all the bad stuff” and still finish. At 7-4 heading into a Thanksgiving showdown with the Packers, the Lions are learning how to win ugly.

That same perspective carried straight into Hutchinson’s contract negotiations. As detailed by ESPN, his camp had a clear choice: take Detroit’s latest offer, heavy on guarantees but shy of Micah Parsons’ massive $47 million-per-year deal with Green Bay, or drag things out in an effort to nudge the market even higher. The second route would have meant public pressure, holdout noise, and likely trade chatter. Hutchinson wanted no part of that.

Agent Mike McCartney told ESPN the talks were sometimes frustrating but never hostile, with both sides committed to staying at the table until they were satisfied.

In the end, the Lions put down roughly $180 million over four years, with about $45 million per season in new money, a figure that trails only Parsons among non-quarterbacks while still locking Hutchinson into Detroit long term.

Hutchinson admitted he understands the unwritten responsibility stars have to push the market, but he was blunt about his priorities. Chasing an extra one or two million or insisting on topping Parsons’ number simply was not worth prolonging the process when he already knew where he wanted to be.

Parsons remains the financial and statistical benchmark. As ESPN’s Rob Demovsky noted, the Packers star has posted at least 10 sacks in five straight seasons, a streak topped only by Reggie White since sacks became official in 1982. That is the rarefied air Hutchinson now lives in competitively, even if he chose not to chase Parsons dollar-for-dollar.

In his mind, securing life-changing guarantees, avoiding drama, and staying exactly where he wanted to play mattered more than winning the headline battle. If the Lions turn this core into deep playoff runs, no one in Detroit will care that his contract came in just below Micah Parsons’.