If Bulls fail in play-in, the blame will fall squarely on players

With coach Billy Donovan given an extension before the season and most of the key front-office personnel also quietly locked up contractually, it’s the players who will be held accountable if the Bulls lose in Toronto .

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Patrick Beverley and Billy Donovan.

Veteran guard Patrick Beverley knows the play-in game in Toronto will come down to the players in the locker room.

Nell Redmond/AP

There’s a simplicity in guard Patrick Beverley’s approach to the Bulls’ do-or-die play-in game Wednesday.

Beverley was downplaying the magnitude of it, but he also understood the accountability angle.

The coaching staff can put together two great practice days leading up to the game in Toronto, coach Billy Donovan can put together a top-notch game plan and the front office could have added the perfect personnel for this time of the season, but it still comes down to the players: Make or miss, execute or freeze up. It’s really that simple.

“I’ve been playing this game since I was a kid,’’ Beverley said. “The game really doesn’t change. The people in it [do]. The speed of it changes. The amount of three-point attempts changes. But it’s still the same game. Being selfless. If you’re supposed to cut, cut. If you’re supposed to pass it, pass it. Just being a basketball player.’’

Beverley, maybe more so than any other Bull, understands what will happen if he and his teammates can’t deliver. When you’ve been on four teams since 2021 like Beverley, that lesson is clear.

Failure against the Raptors undoubtedly will mean major changes in the locker room.

Donovan and his staff received contract extensions during fall camp. The Sun-Times learned that most of the major players in the front office also have received extensions. The Bulls rarely detail front-office contracts; there was no announcement or leak.

So if the Bulls fail to reach expectations — at least the second round of the playoffs, according to executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas — the players will be the ones held accountable despite the flawed roster.

On paper, Toronto is a bad matchup for the Bulls. Long, athletic, physical opponents have more often than not been the Achilles’ heel of a Zach LaVine-led team.

Unlike the Bulls, however, the Raptors’ house is broken. Coach Nick Nurse is rumored to be on his way to another job, and there’s talk about the players already quitting on him before he officially quits on them. A season of promise turned into one underachieving moment after another.

Starting point guard Fred VanVleet and bench scorer Gary Trent Jr. have player options for next season, so they can always get off the sinking ship, and big man Jakob Poeltl will be a free agent.

The Raptors might be more talented than the Bulls from top to bottom, but will they be motivated enough to overcome the adverse moments that occur in a one-and-done scenario?

That remains to be seen.

Bulls guard Alex Caruso had no problem expressing where his money was going.

“I have all the confidence in the world in our guys,’’ Caruso said. “Everything resets every night. We’ve had some downs this season, but when you’ve put the money on the line for us, big games, big moments, we’ve put our best foot forward.

“We’ve got great leadership with Pat, me, DeMar [DeRozan] has played in a ton of playoff games, [Nikola Vucevic] is experienced, Zach a little bit now, and I’ve got faith in our young guys taking that big step. I just think that we have the tools to win a game like this, and that’s all I need to see or believe in.’’

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