Bobby Portis still upset after Bulls ‘blindsided’ him with trade 2 weeks ago

SHARE Bobby Portis still upset after Bulls ‘blindsided’ him with trade 2 weeks ago
cavaliers_wizards_basketball.jpg

Washington Wizards forward Bobby Portis (5) reacts next to forward Jabari Parker (12) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, in Washington. The Wizards won 119-106. | Nick Wass/Associated Press

Bobby Portis was going to be a Bulls for life. He loved the pride that came with wearing “Bulls” across his chest despite the team’s struggles in Year 2 of the rebuild.

Unfortunately for Portis, the Bulls had other plans for his future.

Two weeks ago, the Bulls “blindsided” Portis by trading him and Jabari Parker to the Washington Wizards for sharpshooter Otto Porter Jr. just 20 minutes before tip-off at the United Center.

On Wednesday, Portis still seemed upset with the Bulls’ decision to trade him.

“I was very disappointed,” Portis told TMZ. “I was getting ready for a game, not knowing it was gonna happen. I was blindsided. But now, I’m just happy to be with a team now that really wants me. I can’t wait to get back started.”

Though Portis seemed optimistic about the “good basketball culture” in Washington D.C., his most recent reaction to the trade shows that the wound hasn’t fully healed yet.

Portis, whom the Bulls drafted in the first round of the 2015 NBA draft, made his return to the United Center just two days after the trade went down. After the game, he revealed the pain of betrayal he was feeling.

“Everybody knows how much pride I had playing for the Bulls, pride playing for the city of Chicago,” Portis told reporters. “Obviously, I got my first taste of the business side of basketball. You don’t really get your way all the time.

“I was hurt the last 48 hours, but when I got into the game [Friday], those emotions went away. I took it really tough, didn’t see it coming. Never thought I would get traded. I’m with an organization now where they really like me.”

And this is the new normal for Portis, who is trying to make the best of his situation with the Wizards.

“I’m just happy to be apart of it,” Portis told TMZ.

The Latest
Notes: Lefty Justin Steele threw in an extended spring training game Friday.
Imanaga held the Red Sox to one run through 6 1/3 innings in the Cubs’ 7-1 win Friday.
Hundreds of protesters from the University of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago and Roosevelt University rallied in support of people living in Gaza.
Xavier L. Tate Jr., 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the early Sunday slaying of Huesca in the 3100 block of West 56th St., court records show.
Amegadjie played for Hinsdale Central High School before heading to Yale.