With nearly half the Chicago Bulls roster entering contract years, head coach Billy Donovan has made it clear that maintaining a team-first mentality is crucial to the group’s early success.

As Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times reports, seven of the Bulls’ 15 players are in the final year of their deals – a situation that could easily create tension or selfish play.

Donovan addressed the matter directly when training camp began, emphasizing unity and trust over individual agendas.

“Right when training camp started, I addressed all of this, because we have seven or eight guys that are in the same situation,” Donovan said. “I think it’s very easy if you’re not in the rotation or you’re not playing well to start to press, start to think about yourself.”

He went on to explain that the key to sustaining success would be selflessness and commitment to the collective.

“There’s a level of unselfishness [we needed] where you can start thinking about others – other than yourself, certainly – when your situation is uncertain going forward,” Donovan added. “Like I told those guys, [free agency] will get here in July. Why worry or think about that when you have things in front of you now?”

Donovan stressed that the Bulls don’t have the kind of roster where players can dominate in isolation, instead needing full cooperation on both ends of the floor.

“We don’t have a team that can [isolate] or guys just go get theirs,” he said. “We’ve got to rely on each other.”

So far, the message appears to have resonated – Chicago has opened the season with strong chemistry and an impressive start despite multiple players facing uncertain futures beyond this year.

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