One day before the NBA trade deadline, the Chicago Bulls still aren’t showing their hand.

While the Bulls have been linked to plenty of rumors the last three months, executive vice president Arturas Karnišovas has remained tight-lipped on what they are shopping for — or if they’ll make a move at all — before Thursday’s 2 p.m. deadline.

Coach Billy Donovan said Sunday that while the front office keeps him closely attuned to any trade machinations, even he hadn’t been briefed about a big move.

“I know (Karnišovas) and his staff have been in a lot, they’re working and doing what they need to do,” Donovan said. “It’s allowed me to focus on our team.”

When it comes to player involvement, DeMar DeRozan put it bluntly: “We don’t talk about it.”

So what should fans think of the front office’s decision as the Bulls push for a high playoff seed? While the team could benefit from acquiring a new player, there are pros and cons to making a move.

Pros: Absorbing injury losses and beefing up the frontcourt

Injuries have been an inescapable and enduring focus throughout this season, which started with Patrick Williams’ long-term recovery from torn ligaments in his left wrist. Current injuries to Alex Caruso (broken right wrist) and Lonzo Ball (torn meniscus in left knee) have left the Bulls reeling on defense.

In the two weeks since Caruso and Ball were sidelined, the Bulls have dropped from 12th in defensive rating to 21st. They’re now allowing 110.2 points per game, which ranks 18th.

Both guards are expected to return by the end of March, but uncertainty will persist until they’re back on the court. In the meantime, the Bulls could use a reliable backcourt addition to support rookie Ayo Dosunmu as the short-term starting point guard.

“I think they’re going to really, really look at (when) March comes, can we really get whole? What is that going to look like?” Donovan said. “Do we need to stay who we are and let this group play itself out? Or is there something that says: ‘You know what? This could really make our team better’?”

Although guard depth feels like the most pressing concern in the short term, the team’s lack of size has been a more acute problem throughout the season. Center Nikola Vucevic recently has found his rhythm, but the Bulls don’t have reliable secondary options to bring size against larger opponents.

The 6-foot-5 Javonte Green is always willing to body up to bigger players, and the 6-10 Tony Bradley has been getting more minutes. But the Bulls are consistently outrebounded and bullied in the pick-and-roll because of their size discrepancies.

That feeds back into a long-looming question for the Bulls: When will Williams get healthy? The Bulls applied for a season-ending injury exemption earlier in the season, but they have become increasingly optimistic that Williams will return before the regular season ends.

There’s more to Williams’ return than just a healed wrist. The second-year forward will need a transitional period to return to full-speed fitness. He’ll also need to fold himself into a team dynamic that’s completely new to him; only Vucevic, Zach LaVine and Coby White were on the Bulls roster during Williams’ rookie season.

Those barriers are likely big enough to keep Williams from fulfilling his potential for the Bulls this season. A trade for a power forward could provide a quicker payoff, especially if they feel prepared to make a deep playoff run.

Cons: Disrupting rhythm and losing out on player development

Ever since the Bulls climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference at the start of 2022, the front office has been clear about one piece of prevailing wisdom: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The Bulls like playing together. All-Stars DeRozan and LaVine are clicking as a one-two punch. Dosunmu is thriving under the watchful eye of veterans. During an interview on WSCR-AM 670 last month — when the Bulls still were on a winning streak and atop the conference standings — Karnišovas said they were open to trades but didn’t want to risk breaking up the band.

“I like this group,” Karnišovas said. “I like this group a lot. ... Teams that are close by (in the standings) like Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Philly, they’ve had their group for two or three years at least, and we’ve had this group for three months. We’re still learning, we’re still adjusting and I like this group a lot. There’s a lot of games that we came back (in). We didn’t fold.”

Things have changed since then, and the Bulls entered Tuesday’s games tied for third in a tightly packed Eastern Conference, diminishing their margin for error. With postseason goals on the line, Williams’ position stands out as the most obvious area for optimizing the roster.

The Bulls have to balance two concerns: whether Williams will contribute meaningfully this season and whether his long-term development would be enough of a payoff to warrant short-term sacrifice. Acquiring a new power forward — whether the deal includes Williams or not — could help the Bulls with this season’s playoff push, but they previously committed to his development as the No. 4 pick in the 2020 draft.

DeRozan emphasized the injuries after scoring 45 points in Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, underscoring the potential in this Bulls team — if Caruso and Ball heal on schedule, if Williams returns and if the rest of the squad stays reasonably healthy.

That’s a lot of ifs to hedge the season on. But the hope of a healthy roster stands at the forefront of players’ minds as the team continues to march toward the All-Star break.

“We don’t need to worry or stress about having nobody else,” DeRozan said. “Those three right there, I guarantee every team in the NBA wish they had those three guys. We’re going to get those guys back and we’ll be fine.”