With the Bulls not in playoff contention, Lopez started seeing less floor time in mid-FebruaryNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The Bulls now plan to play veterans C Robin Lopez and G Justin Holiday "more extensively the remainder of the season" after the NBA "issued a warning" to the team this week about resting healthy players, according to sources cited by Shams Charania of YAHOO SPORTS. Sources said that the dialogue between league officials and the team was "cooperative and productive, with the league providing advice and the Bulls open to guidance on the nuances of the new rest rules." The Bulls, who have lost 14 of their past 17 games and are currently 21-42, "publicly stated in mid-February that they would begin sitting Lopez and Holiday." The NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver "formally informed team owners about resting healthy players" after the league "moved up the start of this season to spread games out for coaches and players" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/6). In Chicago, K.C. Johnson cites sources as saying that no fines were issued to the Bulls because they "cooperated so readily" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/7).
TANK WARS: ESPN.com's Nick Friedell wrote the NBA is being "extremely wary of teams intentionally trying to lose games to help their draft positioning." The NBA fined Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban $600,000 last month after he said that he "talked to his players about how it was in the organization's best interest to lose games down the stretch." The Bulls have been "very cautious not to make any reference to tanking or losing games," with Exec VP/Basketball Operations John Paxson and coach Fred Hoiberg "repeatedly saying they would like to get a look at the prospects they have" (ESPN.com, 3/6). However, in Chicago, Joe Cowley writes the Bulls' plan was "always to go back to Lopez and Holiday -- possibly as starters -- at some point, but not because of some non-existent warning" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 3/7).
