As trade talks heat up around Bulls, players make statement comeback

Did the Bulls hold an all-hands-on-deck staff meeting to discuss the future of the organization with the trade deadline bearing down on them Thursday?

Of course not.

‘‘But certainly there were discussions,’’ coach Billy Donovan said of how he spent his Tuesday afternoon at the Advocate Center.

Let’s call that progress.

While the Bulls’ 129-123 comeback victory against the Timberwolves was the nightcap of Donovan’s day, what went on earlier was likely more important for the future, with the front office beginning to push the pedal on trade talks.

‘‘I did talk to [executive vice president of basketball operations] Arturas [Karnisovas],’’ Donovan said. ‘‘He said that he’s had conversations with a lot of different people. I did not, from him in our conversations, have like there’s anything definitive or anything like that, but he did come in and talk to me about having different conversations.’’

What those conversations will turn into by the trade deadline remains unknown.

Donovan was right about one thing: Nothing is imminent. That was evident by the fact backup big man Andre Drummond — maybe the best trade chip Karnisovas has if he isn’t looking to blow up the roster — was in the starting lineup against the Timberwolves.

And forward DeMar DeRozan and guard Alex Caruso weren’t held out of the game, either.

Donovan said the season-ending surgery guard Zach LaVine is expected to have on his right foot later this week likely affected some of the Bulls’ plans. What those plans were, however, Donovan couldn’t detail.

‘‘I did not get from Arturas or [general manager] Marc [Eversley]: ‘Hey, we were kind of going down this path, and now we’ve kind of had to course-correct and go here,’ ’’ Donovan said. ‘‘That has not happened at all.

‘‘I’m sure they have to look at that, right? Because the hope was that when [LaVine] did go out that second time with his foot that he would return, and that was the anticipation of everybody. I’m sure those guys are looking at all the scenarios.’’

Hopefully, they weren’t being fooled by the Bulls’ latest performance.

As they did in their loss Saturday to the Kings — and as they have done far too often this season — the Bulls dug themselves a huge hole in the first half, only to climb out of it and make a run in the second.

It fell short against the Kings, but it was a different story against the Timberwolves.

Thanks to 21 points in the fourth quarter by Coby White, the Bulls battled back to send the game to overtime. White shot 7-for-8 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range in the quarter.

After White got the game to overtime, DeRozan brought it home. As he has since joining the Bulls three seasons ago, he took over in the clutch, scoring eight of their first 12 points in the extra period.

The Timberwolves cut their deficit to four with 41.6 seconds left, but that was as close as they could get after failing to slow DeRozan and White in the second half. Both finished with 33 points.

‘‘Just in the second half, we played with better pace,’’ White said. ‘‘[A victory like this] can do wonders. We just have to carry it over.’’

But will it be the same roster that will do so?

‘‘We have to be able to deal with that,’’ Donovan said of the trade rumors surrounding the team. ‘‘We’ve all got a job to do. Those decisions, in reality, are out of all of our control.’’