With trade options stalling out for Zach LaVine, the NBA rumor mill has moved on to DeMar DeRozan as the next possible target for the Chicago Bulls to move before the Feb. 8 deadline.

DePaul fired men’s basketball coach Tony Stubblefield, beginning another reset for the long-struggling program.

And after petitioning a federal court to lift his suspension from the team following a rape charge in Kansas, Terrence Shannon Jr. returned for Illinois.

Every Wednesday throughout the season, Tribune writers will provide an update on what happened — and what’s ahead — for the Bulls, Sky and local basketball.

DeMar DeRozan named in latest round of trade rumors

A list of potential suitors for DeMar DeRozan is growing ahead of the Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline, reported Sam Amico of Hoops Wire. This group includes the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Miami Heat, according to the report.

All three teams share common traits: top contenders in the Eastern Conference who could benefit from the addition of clutch shooting and veteran leadership that DeRozan would bring. But this interest is unlikely to move the needle over the next two weeks.

DeRozan told the Tribune in December that he is uninterested in a trade away from the Bulls this season — and still hopes to sign an extension with the team to continue a future in Chicago.

“Chicago is Chicago to me,” DeRozan said. “I love it here. Obviously it’s a place I want to be in my career. None of that has changed. I don’t have no other type of doubts or feelings or suggestions to be elsewhere. That don’t cross my mind.”

And there’s no sign the Bulls are interested in moving DeRozan. Despite a reported lack of movement toward a deal, the front office has been consistent in wanting to re-sign DeRozan as a veteran cornerstone for the team’s future.

DePaul fires men’s basketball coach Tony Stubblefield

DePaul announced Monday the school had fired men’s basketball coach Tony Stubblefield, 18 games into his third season at the helm of the program. The Blue Demons are 3-15 this season without a single win in the Big East. They could finish the season without beating a conference opponent.

Under Stubblefield, DePaul went 9-38 in the Big East. They lost 20 of their last 21 games against Big East opponents.

“After evaluating the current state of our men’s basketball program, a decision was made to make a change in the head coaching position,” athletic director DeWayne Peevy said in a statement.

Stubblefield was a first-time head coach, joining DePaul in 2021 after serving as an assistant at Oregon for 11 seasons. He was in the third year of a five-year contract.

“I came here to win,” Peevy told the Associated Press on Tuesday. “I didn’t leave Kentucky to be last place or struggling through seasons. I didn’t just need another job.”

DePaul will once again seek out a head coach who can restore success to the program. The Blue Demons have not had a winning season since 2007. They have not qualified for the NCAA tournament since 2004 and have not finished higher than seventh in the Big East since 2005 when they joined the conference.

Peevy also told the Associated Press that DePaul is at the bottom of the Big East in NIL opportunities. He said the struggles on the court were limiting the “opportunity for people to give money to NIL because they’re in wait-and-see mode.”

Terrence Shannon Jr. returns after court orders Illinois to lift suspension

Terrence Shannon Jr. returned for Illinois on Sunday after he was suspended for six games following a rape charge in Kansas.

Shannon was suspended Dec. 28 after he was arrested on a rape charge for an incident in September in Lawrence, Kan. After Shannon filed a petition, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless ruled Friday the university was violating Shannon’s civil rights through the suspension and granted an injunction forcing the school to reinstate the All-Big Ten guard to the team.

Illinois went 4-2 in Shannon’s absence. He played four games for Illinois between the charges being filed on Dec. 5 and his arrest and suspension.

In his first game back, Shannon tallied 16 points and four assists to lead the No. 14 Illini to an 86-63 win over Rutgers. Shannon was met with a resounding ovation from Illinois fans when he checked into the game.

“Our team feels whole again,” teammate Justin Harmon said. “We have our best player back.”

Number of the week: 12

The Bulls tallied 12 assists in the first quarter of Monday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns — and assisted all 10 of their opening made baskets.

It was a near-perfect start for a team that struggled with stagnancy in the early weeks of this season. The Bulls are not a high-assist team relative to the rest of the NBA. They rank third-to-last in the statistic with an average of 24.4 assists per game.

Coach Billy Donovan noted this statistic is tricky — one reason assist numbers trend upward during wins is that an assist reflects a made shot, so a higher volume of assists reflects a good shooting night as well as a good ball movement night.

“The biggest thing I tried to look at is potential assists,” Donovan said. “If you don’t make shots, the assists sometimes are not going to be there. So I really try to look to potential assists to see what kind of shots are we generating with the pass, what’s that number in relationship to the rest of the league, those kinds of things. I think generally when you’re taking shots off the pass, shooting percentages generally go up.”

But stretches like that first quarter in Phoenix show how the Bulls can improve their standing by making the extra pass. At times, the Suns defense ground to a halt after making three or four rotations, leaving shooters like Patrick Williams and Ayo Dosunmu wide open for corner 3s.

If the Bulls can keep the ball popping, they can continue to take early advantages against high-performing teams like Phoenix.

Week ahead: Bulls

Wednesday: off
Thursday: at Lakers, 9:30 p.m., NBCSCH
Friday: off
Saturday: off
Sunday: at Trail Blazers, 8 p.m., NBCSCH
Monday: off
Tuesday: vs. Raptors, 7 p.m., NBCSCH

What we’re reading this morning

Chicago Bulls’ Lonzo Ball experiencing ‘no setbacks’ in recovery but has not been cleared to sprint
Column: Chicago Bulls core could be on its last legs with the NBA trade deadline approaching
What will the Chicago Sky — and first-year coach Teresa Weatherspoon — do in free agency?
Caitlin Clark’s collision with a fan raises court-storming concerns. Will conferences respond?
The Utah Jazz are one of the NBA’s hottest teams — and ex-Chicago Bull Kris Dunn is a major reason why
DeMar DeRozan is adapting to fit the Chicago Bulls’ needs — even if it results in lower scoring for the 6-time All-Star
Tracking Zach LaVine: Chicago Bulls star sidelined for at least 1 week with a right ankle injury
Dejan Milojević’s death has the NBA’s Serbian players ‘hurting a lot,’ Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vučević says

This week in Chicago basketball

Jan. 28, 1967: Lew Alcindor leads UCLA past Loyola at Chicago Stadium

Though a massive snowstorm dropped 23 inches on the city, basketball fans still made it to Chicago Stadium to watch sensational UCLA sophomore Lew Alcindor, who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Only one lane of traffic to the Stadium was open, as legendary UCLA coach John Wooden remembered it, but 17,024 turned out to watch his Bruins face the Loyola Ramblers.

Alcindor warmed up by scoring 35 points and grabbing 20 rebounds as UCLA beat Loyola 82-67. The next day he had 45 points and 12 rebounds as the Bruins romped 120-82 over Illinois.

“Every place we went, people were anxious to see him,” Wooden recalled. “It was the same thing years before when Wilt Chamberlain went to Kansas. The media, everybody was primed up for him.”

UCLA ended the season 30-0, winning the first of a record seven straight NCAA titles.

Quotable

“Without a doubt. If he got it rolling or even if he looked at me and said he wanted it, wouldn’t be no problem. That’s how much trust we got in him.” — DeMar DeRozan on whether Coby White should start attempting game-winning shots for the Bulls

The Associated Press and former Tribune reporter Skip Myslenski contributed to this report.

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