The Chicago Bulls were one of just three teams that completely sat out the NBA trade deadline festivities. The result is surprising after weeks of speculation surrounding some of its core players such as Zach LaVine.

Sitting in the ninth seed after the February 9th deadline at three games under .500, the Bulls are in the dangerous middle of the Eastern Conference. Too good to tank but not good enough to contend for a top seed in the East.

Instead of committing one way or the other, Chicago stood pat. Bulls executive Artūras Karnišovas explained the reasons behind it, via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago:

“There were so many buyers, so there were a lot of teams that didn’t want to take a step back, including us. So we tried to improve our team, but at what cost? That price was not OK with us, so I think the next stage for us now that we’ve passed the trade deadline is to evaluate this group the next 28 games,” Karnišovas said. “Mediocrity and average is not OK with us. But the next step is what’s going to happen for the rest of the season and then how we can address—during the draft and free agency—our shortcomings.’’

With the league appearing as wide open as it's been in a while – at least until the Kevin Durant-led Suns show otherwise – several teams kept their chances alive by not selling off their talent. That led to buyers far outnumbering the sellers during the 2023 NBA trade deadline, just as the Bulls exec indicated.

That doesn't specifically answer why they didn't lean more towards being sellers given their unlikely contending status this season. Moving on from Zach LaVine might be a drastic in-season move, but a piece like Alex Caruso could have potentially yielded a late first with impact players in such high demand.

Instead, the Bulls decided to sit on their hands.