Wes Unseld Jr. reveals the reason Jaden Ivey was benched in the loss to the Raptors
The Chicago Bulls they lost their seventh straight game to the Toronto Raptors 110-101. It was their first game after the All-Star break. One thing that stood out there was a noticeable absence of Poor Ivey.
He didn’t play the whole game. After that, interim head coach Wes Unseld Jr. explained why that was the case, according to Gavin Dorsey of The Roundtable Network. All in all, it came down to basketball and the fact that the Bulls are overloaded with guards. Plus, they had Josh Giddy and Tre Jones both return after being out with hamstring injuries.
“Strictly a basketball decision,” Unseld said. “It’s really hard to play six guards. I wanted to push to see if I could get Josh and Tre’s minutes. I think we were comfortable, considering where they were.”
He later added: “I just felt those guys gave us the best chance. We had some pretty good stretches, some pretty good combinations. He was just the odd man out tonight.”
Ivey arrived in Chicago from the Detroit Pistons as part of three-way trade who sent Kevin Huerter to Detroit. He played in four games with Chicago and averaged 11.5 points per game.
As a result, the Bulls are now 24-32. This weekend they have back-to-back games at home against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday and the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Anfernee Simmons led the way with 20 points. Additionally, Isaac Okoro finished with 16 points and five rebounds. Jones had 12 points and six assists. Colin Sexton had 11 points.
Meanwhile, Giddei finished with 5 points and was 1-for-7 from the field. Also, Matas Bouzelis had only four points, but finished with six rebounds.
2026-02-20 04:07:00
