Le Journal

MINNEAPOLIS — At last check, every Bulls guard was accounted for after the game against the Timberwolves on Thursday.No one was left behind.But one might be wearing Timberwolves blue by the Feb. 5 trade deadline, especially with rumors circulating about the teams being in talks. For now, however, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Tre Jones were on the team flight.That’s good news for coach Billy Donovan because, as he reminded the media, he needed all of them.The Bulls don’t have an elite talent a la Anthony Edwards. They don’t even have a Julius Randle. But when everyone is healthy, they have a system that uses depth to try to shrink the talent gap. That system worked against Minnesota in a 120-115 victory.“We’ve got to rely on each other,” Donovan said. “For our group, the whole has to be greater than the individual parts. If we can move the ball on offense, space correctly, generate really good shots, make really good decisions, take care of the ball, can we control the backboard defensively? Can we stay true to who we are identity-wise and still stay afloat by playing to that identity and style?”And maybe that’s just one of the issues with this team. A lot of boxes have to be checked on a nightly basis rather than simply having that superstar who can be given the ball and can simply take over.“The mentality has to be we all need each other,” Donovan said. “We have to accept that if we have six to eight guys every night in double figures, if we can share the basketball, there is not one primary guy that teams are trying to stop.”To underline that point, seven Bulls scored in double figures, led by White with 22 points.But it wasn’t easy. With a little more than six minutes left against the T-wolves, the Bulls (22-22) were down a point in the back-and-forth affair.Rudy Gobert scored on a put-back and was fouled — no check for the “control the backboard defensively” box.Nikola Vucevic put up an errant midrange shot. There went the “generate really good shots” strategy.Josh Giddey committed a turnover on a pass to Vucevic. Go ahead and uncheck the “take care of the ball” box.All the good things Donovan saw from his players throughout the game all but disappeared in a two-minute stretch in which Minnesota took a five-point lead.It’s a good thing for the Bulls that this isn’t the same Timberwolves team that went to the Western Conference finals last season. The roster is mostly the same, but the product has been off. That’s why they’ve been discussing adding a guard from the Bulls.The Sun-Times reported in early December that White was on their radar, but the free agent-to-be’s insistence on shopping in July became a stumbling block.The other guard that caught Minnesota’s attention was Jones, and he helped his cause with a driving layup with 31.1 seconds left that gave the Bulls a one-point lead. After two free throws by Jalen Smith, Edwards missed a three-pointer from the corner.White iced the game from the foul line.“We’re feeling good; we like where we’re at,” Giddey said of the Bulls’ third consecutive victory.“We’re at .500 now. This was a really tough test for us. They were pretty whole right now, no real injuries, and a really great win for us on the road against a good team. It gives us momentum moving forward.”

Federal authorities slapped all kinds of sinister labels on Chicago’s Juan Espinoza Martinez when they arrested him last fall, and they did it for all the world to hear.They called him a “high-ranking member of the Latin Kings.” They called him “depraved.” They even called him a “thug” as they accused him of offering $10,000 for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.But Thursday, a federal jury called Espinoza Martinez “not guilty.” In doing so, it put an end to one of the most contentious prosecutions to result from “Operation Midway Blitz.” Related Bovino murder-for-hire trial moving fast at federal courthouse, where it’ll soon be in jurors’ hands The group of regular citizens, led by a teacher who served as the foreperson, answered a call from defense attorney Dena Singer. She urged them in closing arguments to “stand up to the overreaching government.”“You have the power here,” she told them. “Your words now matter. You have the power to stop the overreaching government. … Don’t let them bully. Use your voice. And while the agents and the government did not want to listen to Juan’s voice, they will listen to yours.”After deliberating for about three hours, the jury acquitted Espinoza Martinez of one count of murder-for-hire, which carried a maximum of 10 years in prison. They did so after hearing how Bovino last fall became the face of immigration enforcement in Chicago.Espinoza Martinez, 37, sat stoically in his chair after the verdict was read, but he appeared to be holding back emotions as he briefly lifted his eyes to the ceiling. When the jury left the courtroom, he shared big hugs with Singer and her co-counsel, Jonathan Bedi.Still, his future remains uncertain. His lawyers have acknowledged an immigration detainer exists, telling a judge it’s likely to be acted upon. The question was not addressed Thursday after the verdict, and Bedi and Singer left the Dirksen Federal Courthouse without commenting. Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St. | Rich Hein/Sun-TimesSun-Times Media Several jurors also declined to speak to a Chicago Sun-Times reporter as they hustled out of the building.U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office did not comment. But Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff and an architect of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation campaign, reacted to the news on social media by insisting that “leftist judges and juries are empowering violent insurrection against the government in an effort to stop ICE from removing criminal alien invaders.”Espinoza Martinez is one of 31 known defendants charged in Chicago’s federal court with non-immigration crimes tied to the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign last fall. With Thursday’s acquittal of Espinoza Martinez, 15 of them have now been cleared. At least three of those dismissals resulted from so-called "no bills," where a grand jury found insufficient evidence or probable cause to return an indictment. That was virtually unheard of until recently.Charges against the remaining 11 defendants were dropped for various other reasons. None of the cases have led to a conviction, so far.Espinoza Martinez is the first defendant prosecutors have taken to trial, though. The case against him evolved drastically after criminal charges were first filed in October, when Bedi and Singer insisted on a speedy trial. Prosecutors pressed forward even after U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow ruled crucial evidence couldn’t be seen by the jury. Related Chicago’s first Midway Blitz trial could center on feds’ Bovino murder-for-hire claim The original criminal complaint cited a “source of information,” now known to be 44-year-old Adrian Jimenez, who called Espinoza Martinez a “ranking member of the Latin Kings.” A Homeland Security press release also called Espinoza Martinez a “Latin Kings gang member.”But earlier this month, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Yonan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Minje Shin…

Chad Pinder isn’t far removed from his playing days.He retired after the 2023 season, which saw him spend time at the Triple-A affiliates of the Nationals and Braves. Before that, he spent seven seasons with the Athletics. He said he didn’t know what he would do after playing, but that his former manager, Bob Melvin had planted a seed while he was a player.“Once I got to the big leagues and I was in that non-everyday player role and in a position that was kind of a quiet leadership role, Bob Melvin would always jokingly say, ‘You’re going to manage one day,’” Pinder said Thursday on Zoom. “And in my head I was like, ‘I don’t want to do that.’ And so I stopped playing in 2023 and was really trying to figure out what I wanted to do.”Pinder started grad school, but it wasn’t until his wife gave him the push that he considered coaching. Director of player development Paul Janish offered him a job managing at Single-A Kannapolis last season. On Thursday, Pinder was announced as the Triple-A Charlotte Knights manager.“You trust him to go there and create an environment where guys are going to work,” Janish said. “It can, inadvertently at times, but Triple A can become a little bit of a holding tank and a level where older guys can become a little disgruntled at times. [The organization has] a tremendous amount of trust in Chad, and I’m confident that he’s going to accomplish whatever his goals are in this game and have those opportunities in all likelihood probably sooner than later, but for the time being, we’re fired up and excited about him being in Charlotte.”For a Sox team that had six prospects land in Baseball America’s top 100 list — left-hander Noah Schultz (No. 26) infielder Caleb Bonemer (No. 27), outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 73), left-hander Hagen Smith (No. 91), infielder Billy Carlson (No. 92) and right-hander Tanner McDougal (No. 100) — Pinder will have an important role as he helps develop some of the team’s young players as they are on the doorstep of the majors.Pinder said that his messaging won’t change much as he progresses from Single A to Triple A. He just wants his players to go out and play freely. Having been around an accomplished manager like Melvin, and stars such as Marcus Semien, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman will be critical for Pinder as he begins his Triple-A career. He had to carve out a role and be comfortable playing the outfield. He also learned about analytics from his time in Oakland.“I was a platoon player, and while yes, I wanted to be out there competing every single day, I look back at my career, and I’m extremely grateful for the managers I had and their knowledge to put me in situations to succeed, which ultimately kept me around longer,” Pinder said. “So I do lean on the numbers. I do think there’s an aspect to the game where our job is to put the players in advantageous spots to be successful.”Patrick Leyland will manage Double-A Birmingham. Former Sox player Jayson Nix will manage Single-A Kannapolis. Daniel Gonzalez will manage the Arizona Complex League White Sox.

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