With under five hours until the trade deadline, Arturas Karnisovas is staying busy. After making a deal late last night with the New York Knicks to add some size and rebounding in a swap of Dalen Terry, he’s right back at it this morning, sending another core Bulls player over the last several seasons out the door. To nobody’s surprise, Chicago adds another guard in the deal, and a slew of late-round draft picks. This trade, as with the previous five trades, leads many to wonder if Karnisovas is still building toward a bigger picture, or what the final destination is with the flip. This is the full trade, and the marking of an era ending in Chicago.
Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller, Second-Round Picks
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Bulls are bringing in a 21-year-old point guard and a 22-year-old forward, both of whom were not consistently in the rotation for the Timberwolves. Both players average fewer than 10 minutes per game and score fewer than 5 points each time out. While the idea is that in Chicago, they’ll be granted more opportunities to develop and reach their full potential, it stings to send a polished starting-caliber guard that’s having a career year and posting one of the most efficient scoring seasons in the NBA. Paired with a few low-grade prospects, the Bulls also add four second-round picks to their growing stockpile, raising the question of whether they’re packaging them all for a larger return elsewhere.
Minnesota traded Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-round picks to Chicago for Dosunmu and Julian Phillips, sources said. https://t.co/bVhLA9Sb3f
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2026
With the level of play Dosunmu was on this season, and the flashes of athleticism and potential Julian Philips has shown in his limited minutes, this return is weak for the Bulls. Initially, the goal was to get at least one first-round pick out of Coby White, Nikola Vucevic, and Dosunmu. To see all three are now gone with zero first-round selections and no surefire young prospects added is sickening. In White and Vucevic’s case, only expiring-contract guards were added, along with some late-draft capital.
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Still Can’t Be Done
It’s going to be said after each trade that, because AK fails to lower the net number of guards on this roster, the Bulls still have work to do. While they lost a guard in Dosunmu, they added one in Dillingham, leaving them with a surplus at the position again. This adds to the curiosity of the plan for the guard positions, as now Chicago has Josh Giddey and Tre Jones, probably immovable pieces; they’ve added 23-year-old Jaden Ivey, 26-year-old Anfernee Simons, 27-year-old Collin Sexton, and 21-year-old Rob Dillingham. That’s six guards total for four or five rotational spots. Looking at the frontcourt, while they’ve added two forwards with size over the last 12 hours, they still lack a true center. Getting aggressive with a few of these incoming new backcourt assets and some late-round draft capital they’ve absorbed in exchange for a young, athletic center needs to be done immediately.
24 hours before the deadline, and the Chicago Bulls are currently employing one lone Center on their entire roster, a 6'8" dude named Lachlan Olbrich who wears #47. https://t.co/xDXgS6BeR9 pic.twitter.com/1ZvpOmgNR2
— BucksRealm (@BucksRealm) February 4, 2026
The last three deals executed by Karnisovas and the front office have taken a sharp turn for the worse. No first-round draft capital for White or Dosunmu, and adding a 30-year-old forward locked under contract through next season. One final trade for a rising-star center could right all of the wrongs over the last 24 hours, and complete the marathon of a trade deadline Chicago has undergone.
