Bulls Lose Again: Caleb Wilson Benched, Warriors Eye Jalen Smith

The Chicago Bulls lost again on Wednesday night, falling 135-105 to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

It was their sixth straight loss.

The Bulls are now tied for the NBA's worst record at 1-7.

They also own the league's worst net rating at minus-17.5.

According to Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune, the team ranks 28th in offensive rating and 29th in defensive rating.

Chicago is dead last in three-point percentage at 27.2 percent.

Veteran guard Norman Powell summed up the mood after the game.

"Teams are coming at us and looking at us like it's lunch," Powell said.

"Like they're going to get their numbers and it's going to be an easy win."

"We've got to figure out how collectively to have the mentality and approach of some grittiness, some toughness, some way to compete."

The most notable development of the night involved rookie forward Caleb Wilson.

Wilson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, received what Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times called a "soft benching."

He did not return to the game after subbing out midway through the third quarter.

Wilson finished with five points on 2-for-12 shooting, including 1-for-7 from three-point range.

He also grabbed five rebounds and committed three turnovers in 22 minutes.

Head coach Tiago Splitter explained his decision after the game.

"I didn't think he had a great game," Splitter said.

"He wasn't doing the right things on offense, defense, body language, he's got to get better."

Splitter said he wants to see more resiliency from the 20-year-old.

"Caleb probably has never been in this situation in his life," Splitter said, per Cowley.

"He's always been on the winning side, winning games, and now you've got to be resilient even when you're down 20, 30, 40 (points), it doesn't matter."

"It's a learning experience, for sure."

Wilson did not disagree with his coach's assessment.

He admitted that he got "frustrated" over the course of the night.

"It's never been like this for me, but I've just got to figure out a way through it," Wilson said.

"Never been through this my whole life."

Before his NBA career, Wilson was accustomed to winning.

As a freshman at North Carolina last season, he helped lead the Tar Heels to a 19-5 record before needing season-ending surgery on his left hand.

UNC had a two-game losing streak one time.

As a senior at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta, Wilson led the program to its first-ever Georgia state championship with a 27-4 record.

He dropped 33 points in the title game.

By the time the Bulls play Atlanta next week, they could realistically have their 10th loss of the season in 11 games.

That would be one more loss than Wilson suffered in his previous two years of basketball combined.

Wilson acknowledged the difficulty of adjusting to a losing environment.

"Of course I've got to be resilient and help us come back from those big deficits," Wilson said.

"I have before but I just didn't do that (Wednesday)."

"It's kind of difficult out there right now because some games it's hard for me to get touches and things like that so I have to kind of figure out other ways to affect the game."

"It's hard to catch a rhythm that way but I'll figure it out."

Veteran guard Norman Powell was seen giving Wilson tips in the locker room after the loss, reminding him to keep his head up.

Wilson said he takes a lot on himself.