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Margot McMahon says her father called himself an innocent bystander, but if this exhibition of graphite and watercolor pictures is any guide, I’d call him an engaged, active witness. Comprising some 40 pieces that portray protests, court scenes, political gatherings, as well as portraits and cityscapes with historic significance, the work dates from the 1940s to the early 2000s. If there’s a through line, it is a palpable sense of being there. 

Franklin McMahon was a POW in the waning months of World War II, and his daughter believes that experience shaped his worldview. The earliest pieces show the gates of Auschwitz, the Berlin Wall under construction, and a decimated building in Hiroshima. Subsequent pictures depict the Emmett Till trial, Martin Luther King Jr. on Madison Street in Chicago, Shirley Chisholm giving a campaign speech, protestors against Nixon, and street demonstrations against the Iraq War. These subjects and dozens of others are always from the perspective of the man in the crowd rather than the hero on stage. McMahon would park himself on the sidewalk and draw what he saw before his eyes as it happened. Then he would take the large sheets of paper home to his studio and add watercolor. Some pieces still bear his handwritten notes on what color to use and where.

Scarred by war, McMahon devoted his entire working life—he passed away in 2012—to championing righteous causes with his pencils and brushes. Talking about the country’s recent history, Margot laments that the lessons her father worked so hard to impart through his art weren’t heeded. He reminds us that an artist’s greatest responsibility is to bear witness.

“Resist!: A Visual History of Protest”Through 2/12: Wed-Sun noon-4 PM, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 W. Chicago, uima-chicago.org, admission donation-based

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After a dismal start to their season, one filled with conflicts and controversy, the Chicago Bulls have found their footing. From an 11-18 start, the Bulls find themselves at 19-21 and firmly in playoff contention.

Their schedule going forward does them a lot of favors as well – the Bulls have one of the easiest schedules the rest of the way. So, with LaVine supposedly back to 100% and the team back in sync, could the Chicago Bulls continue to climb the standings by the All-Star break?

So far all indications are that the Bulls appear on their way to doing just that, which begs the question: How will the Bulls’ performance in January impact their plans at the trade deadline?

If the Chicago Bulls continue to win, AKME may continue to preach continuity at the trade deadline.

The interesting thing about the Chicago Bulls is that if they win, AKME could convince themselves that they are last year’s Boston Celtics who also turned it around at about this point last season and made the finals. As a result, the Bulls’ management could just choose to let this season ride out and deal with the fallout at the end.

However, what complicates the continuity plan is their upcoming free agency decisions. Currently, Nikola Vucevic is slated to be a UFA, Coby White an RFA, Ayo Dosunmu an RFA, and Derrick Jones Jr and Andre Drummond with Player Options.

Even if most think that the Bulls were fleeced in the Nikola Vucevic trade, it doesn’t deny the fact that he’s been a pretty productive player for the Bulls. This season he’s averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds with 38% shooting from 3 and 85% shooting from the stripe.

Even though he’s not an “All-Star”, he has had an All-Star impact on the Bulls as his versatility all over the floor has given the Bulls a safety blanket to work through when either (or sometimes both) of their star wings can’t seem to get it going.

At 32 years old, the prospect of a max contract extension is surely off the table, but that doesn’t mean he won’t demand a lucrative deal. In my opinion, Nikola Vucevic projects to finish out his career in an Al Horford/Jonas Valanciunas type of role. A high basketball IQ big man with the ability to hit open jumpers, rebound, and play unselfish.

Horford is on an expensive contract (~27M AAV) – one that has not aged well but is likely what Vucevic will look to receive this offseason. However, the Bulls probably value him closer to what Valanciunas makes (~15M). If there is mutual interest in an extension between Vucevic and the Bulls, a compromise of around 18-20M AAV over 5 years is what AKME may need to fork over.

Then there’s Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu who both need contract extensions and could sign offer sheets with other teams for the Bulls to match. With both guards only 22 years old and showing improvement each year, they could be more valuable on the FA market than anticipated thereby adding yet another wrinkle to the Bulls’ continuity plans.

Lastly, the Chicago Bulls have to consider a potential DeMar DeRozan extension. A Nikola Vucevic extension is very telling in this case because it makes almost no sense for them to extend one of them without extending the other.

If the Bulls intend to let both leave, then they should start dealing now. Otherwise, extending both seems imminent, and DeMar’s All-NBA appearance more than puts him in range for a max extension, if not supermax.

All in all, for what many like to call a dumpster fire of a situation, the Chicago Bulls have a number of talented assets worthy of contract extensions. For AKME to continue along the continuity path they’ve been preaching, the checkbooks will have to open this summer and with ownership unwilling to go into the luxury tax, difficult decisions will have to be made.

This is what makes this upcoming trade deadline so intriguing. The Bulls seemed to have turned the corner, yet also have to make huge financial commitments this summer to keep this team together. There’s still a pressing need for 3-point shooting, but more importantly, the Bulls need cash flexibility.

This brings me to the final conclusion:

The Chicago Bulls could consider a Lonzo Ball trade at the deadline.

For all the things the Bulls have said about continuity, they have a 20 million dollar contract on the books that has played the least minutes of anyone of this core group. It’s been unclear for a while how he’s progressing, if at all, off of a second surgery and if the Bulls stay competitive with him on the sideline, it may cause issues in the locker room by simply slotting him back into his old role.

Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, Goran Dragic, and Alex Caruso have done a more than respectable job holding down the point guard rotation and combined make barely 2 million more than Lonzo has this season.

After all, regardless of Lonzo’s elite 3 point shooting, the best ability is availability, and thus far the Lonzo contract has provided the prospect of three-point shooting more than actual three-point shooting itself.

Lonzo Ball, as he’s only 25, is still an incredibly valuable player himself. One, that if he were healthy, would be untouchable in a trade given his size, defensive acumen, passing, and shooting ability. However, if the Bulls are serious about embracing continuity, then moving one of their most expensive pieces who has contributed least to the Bulls’ continuity has to be on the table.

In fact, to properly embrace continuity while also making sure they don’t hit the luxury tax, moving Lonzo Ball almost feels like a necessity as unfortunate as it sounds for someone who had such a promising start to his Bulls career.

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THE TORONTO RAPTORS are a rarity in the modern NBA: a franchise with options.

Plenty of teams have sold off their draft picks to chase contention immediately. Plenty more have moved their stars to pursue futures built around young talent and the NBA draft.

But Toronto is stuck somewhere in between.

The Raptors control all of their first-round picks moving forward. They are considered leaguewide to be an elite organization at every level of management — from ownership (Larry Tanenbaum) to front office (team president Masai Ujiri Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster) to coach (Nick Nurse).

They have a roster featuring an All-NBA forward (Pascal Siakam), an All-Star guard (Fred VanVleet), arguably the NBA’s best 3-and-D wing (O.G. Anunoby) and the reigning Rookie of the Year (Scottie Barnes).

And yet, Toronto (17-23) finds itself sitting six games under .500 and having lost 14 of its last 20 games heading into Tuesday’s matchup with the Charlotte Hornets.

“They are a talented team,” an Eastern Conference scout told ESPN, “and yet it just hasn’t worked.”

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The nature of today’s NBA leads to teams cycling through rebuilds after four or five years at the top of the sport. That is the result the salary cap, age curves and the draft are designed to produce.

The Raptors have defied the odds in a way few other teams can — they’ve won an Eastern Conference-best 466 games since the start of the 2013-14 season and have reached the playoffs eight out of nine seasons.

But they are finally showing signs of wear.

Not having cap space since the summer of 2015, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks, has prevented the Raptors from adding a significant player via free agency. While Kawhi Leonard, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka were all key in Toronto’s 2019 NBA championship run — the first in franchise history — all three leaving with the Raptors receiving nothing in return sapped the team’s depth.

And, after Toronto had one of the great player development runs in recent memory, landing Norman Powell, Siakam, VanVleet and Anunoby all after the 23rd pick in the draft between 2015 and 2017, it’s been unable to recreate that draft magic since.

Combined with a shooting slump that has lasted over a month, Toronto has been put in a position where the rest of the NBA is waiting to see which direction the franchise will take with its underperforming roster.

With exactly one month until the Feb. 9 deadline, what’s happening north of the border has become a massive trade season storyline.

“Their guys are better than whoever else might be available,” an East executive told ESPN. “They’ll have plenty of interest if they’re out there.”

TORONTO ENTERED THIS season projected to finish as a top-six team in the East. The formula was simple: Siakam, VanVleet, Anunoby and Barnes needed to play at a high level to keep up with the heightened competition in the top half of the conference.

And while the Raptors have problem areas — a lack of depth and shooting and defensive woes that have plagued Toronto all season — the heart of the Raptors’ issues are the regressions of both Barnes and VanVleet.

Reigning Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes has yet to build off the success of his debut season. Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP

After gliding through a rookie season that saw the 6-foot-8 forward outduel Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley for the league’s top rookie honor and showing off a versatile skill set that teams covet in today’s NBA, Barnes has failed to live up to that standard in his sophomore campaign.

“I would say [I’m] still developing,” Barnes told ESPN when asked to assess his second season. “Still trying to find the right places, still working, just finding different ways on how I can impact the game.”

His stats have flatlined or regressed, and he’s been cajoled at times to be more assertive on the court. Consider during last week’s losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks, when Barnes didn’t make a single shot through the first three quarters of either game.

Offensively, Barnes is scoring fewer points (15.3 to 14.9), shooting fewer free throws (2.9 to 2.7) and shooting a lower percentage from the field (49.2 to 44.8). Defensively, per Second Spectrum’s tracking data, opposing players are shooting 49.9% when he is the closest defender this season, compared to 46.5% last season.

Wednesday

Bucks-Hawks, 7:30 p.m.Suns-Nuggets, 10 p.m.

Friday

Warriors-Spurs, 7:30 p.m.Nuggets-Clippers, 10 p.m.

*All times Eastern

“He’s going to have a long career, so this is good for him to struggle a little bit,” VanVleet told ESPN. “We would wish that there wasn’t so much weight on every performance for him, but we do need him to play good in order for us to have success, which is how a team is built. That’s unfortunate in terms of his development, but it’s good for him. … It’s going to make him better, and it’s good for him to go through these struggles.”

“He was pretty much a golden child all last year and then nobody said any bad things about him, and so [he can] get it out the way now,” VanVleet added with a smile. “Let people talk about him, and he’ll be able to bounce back and push through that.”

VanVleet is in the midst of his own share of struggles. Since Kyle Lowry went to Miami prior to last season, VanVleet has assumed his mentor’s role as the heart and soul of the Raptors. He’s the team’s leader, constantly playing through injuries and doing whatever he can to help win games.

VanVleet has also been the face of the team’s shooting slump. Toronto is 29th in the NBA in 3-point percentage since the team’s slide began with a blowout loss in New Orleans on Nov. 30. Up to that point, VanVleet was shooting 37.8% — right in line with his career average of 37.5%.

Since then, he’s shooting 29.2% from beyond the arc on nearly nine attempts per game.

“There’s going to be nights where you make some, and nights where you don’t,” VanVleet said. “But overall, this season has not been a great shooting year for us.”

That’s especially been true over the last month. Per Second Spectrum’s tracking data, Toronto has generated the 11th best looks from 3-point range by quantified shot probability (qsP) since Nov. 30. But over that same stretch, the Raptors are dead last in quantified shot-making (qsM), which is the difference between a team’s effective field goal percentage and its qsP, over that same period, hitting 6.2% below what they are expected to on 3-pointers.

For a team that struggles in a variety of metrics in half-court offense, combining that with open looks is a recipe for disaster, which is why Toronto has ranked 22nd in offensive rating over that span.

Even after a couple of improved performances over the last week, the Raptors sit 18th in the league in defense rating since Nov. 30, in large part because of porous transition defense.

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Through Nov. 29, Toronto ranked second in transition defense, per Cleaning The Glass. Since then? The Raptors have been 25th — a fatal flaw for a roster already lacking in traditional size, thanks to Toronto’s preference to build out a team full of long-limbed, interchangeable wings instead.

“I think the shots not going in are affecting our transition defense, and it’s affecting our energy and fight a little bit,” Nurse told ESPN.

Add it all up, and a franchise that has grown accustomed to winning has been left wondering what direction it is headed.

THE ARRIVAL OF the play-in tournament has altered the NBA trade landscape.

With 10 teams from each conference now guaranteed, at minimum, the chance to win two games and make the playoffs, it’s both given more teams the opportunity to wait for standings to shake out and has decreased the pool of selling teams.

So while scouts and executives pointed at teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards joining Toronto as potential active teams ahead of next month’s trade deadline, there’s less urgency for middling teams to make moves.

“It makes team less inclined to throw in the towel,” another East executive told ESPN.

That is certainly how the Raptors view things, as they’ve insisted they’ll take until the end of the month, at least, to decide where they are headed.

And, as they evaluate their situation, a few factors will play into the choice they ultimately make.

Fred VanVleet high-fives teammates OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam at Madison Square Garden. All three stars could become major NBA trade deadline targets. Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

One is the presence of Victor Wembanyama atop this year’s draft boards. The 7-foot-4 French phenom is one of the best prospects in a generation, and Toronto currently sits tied for sixth in the draft lottery standings and just two games ahead of the Orlando Magic in fifth. When combined with the flattened lottery odds, it puts Toronto in a potentially prime position to lean into chasing lottery luck this spring.

Then there’s the pending unrestricted free agency of both VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. Before the season, sources said Toronto offered VanVleet the full amount it could in an extension off his current contract: four years and $114 million, per ESPN’s Marks.

VanVleet told reporters after Toronto’s win Sunday that both sides agreed to wait, in part because VanVleet has the ability to sign the extension anytime between now and June 30 if he turns down his player option for next season.

But one thing is clear: VanVleet believes he’s worth more than what Toronto can currently give him.

“Without going too far into it … [I’m] just trying to put myself in a good position business-wise, and not take an extension on a deal that was made three or four years ago,” VanVleet told ESPN.

“I felt like I’ve outplayed that contract thus far. So just trying to get myself in a position to put the cards in their hands. They got to make a decision from an organization standpoint.

“I love being here. I love being a Raptor. I got a great relationship with Masai and Bobby, so I’m confident that we could find [a deal]. It’s a great partnership that we have, so going forward, I’m not going to make it easy on them and they’re not going to make it on me either, and that’s the way it’s going.”

All eyes are on 7-foot-4 French prospect Victor Wembanyama, the 2023 projected top pick. We’ll have complete coverage leading up to the June 22 draft on ESPN.

o Teams contending for Wembanyama o Givony’s mock draft: Victor still on topo Stock watch: Wemby’s developmento Can Wemby end Team USA’s dynasty?

Trent, meanwhile, can opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Two years ago, when faced with a similar situation when Powell was headed to free agency, Toronto flipped him to Portland for Trent, who was going to be a restricted free agent.

The Raptors could choose to go a similar direction with both guards, either getting draft picks or controllable players moving forward. Or, conversely, could hang onto them and have the ability to retain them using their Bird rights this summer.

And virtually every team is watching to see if either Anunoby, a dream addition for any contending team as one of the NBA’s best wing defenders who is a career 37% 3-point shooter, or Siakam, who has evolved into a complete star forward and could be in line for a supermax extension this summer if he earns another All-NBA selection, become available.

“What does Toronto want to do?” a Western Conference scout said. “Do they want to stockpile assets? Do they want to just rearrange what they have?”

The rest of the NBA is waiting to find out, too.

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Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

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Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

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It actually happened. The Chicago Bears lost to the Minnesota Vikings which was amazing for their draft stock. With Nathan Peterman in at quarterback, it could have been worse but they did find a way to lose to the NFC North Champions at Soldier Field.

Luckily for the Bears, they got a little bit of help. The Houston Texans defeated the Indianapolis Colts in week 18 which pushes their record to 3-13-1 which isn’t as bad as the Bears’ record of 3-14. Now, the Chicago Bears have the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Chicago is now on the clock. The season got off to a good start when they beat one of the best teams in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers, but have only won twice since. Ryan Poles clearly came into this season with a plan to be bad as he stripped the roster down to nothing.

Departures by guys like Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks came before the season began which signaled the fact that they were redoing it all this year. They traded stars like Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn in the middle of the year which helped the cause.

The Chicago Bears officially have the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

It wasn’t all bad for the Bears this year either. There were plenty of games where the Bears saw Justin Fields play well. Obviously, more than anything, that was the most important thing this year. They were bad enough to earn the first overall pick but the quarterback showed some development.

There are plenty of ways that the Chicago Bears can handle this pick and everybody is going to have a different opinion. All of that is going to be the topic of conversation all off-season long which should make it incredibly fun.

Are they going to trade it? Will they make a selection? Who would they take if they kept it? A lot is on the table for Ryan Poles and his staff as the draft season approaches.

The Bears didn’t have a bad record for a lack of effort. It is clear that all of these guys bought into what Matt Eberflus and his staff were preaching. They just didn’t have enough talent which is going to change over the years. After this off-season, the future might be bright.

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The Chicago Bears opened Week 18 after what’s been a tough season in terms of wins and losses.

The breakout of Justin Fields has been something marvelous to watch, but the wins haven’t come just yet. Hopefully, following the 2022 season, this franchise can make some moves to help build around their quarterback.

One of those moves, though, appears to be heading in the opposite direction. The Bears have a key free agent in running back David Montgomery, as his contract ends following this year.

Montgomery, knowing very well the situation at hand, posted on his Instagram account prior to the Bears’ game against the Minnesota Vikings. The words were simple, and quite saddening to read.

“LAST RIDE 32 !!!!”

To view the post in its entirety, you can do so here.

Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery appears to think his time is over in the Windy City.

The Bears also have second-year running back Khalil Herbert who has proven he could handle a full-time role, which might be the sole reason why the Bears could let Montgomery walk in the offseason.

But, the two of them have been a dynamic one-two punch together, and it is worth asking why Chicago wouldn’t bring Montgomery back in order to keep them a duo.

Montgomery has been a staple in this Bears offense and one of the few bright spots on a team that hasn’t been able to consistently put points on the board over the last few seasons. Still, no one can ever question Montgomery’s work ethic and attitude. He’s a true professional.

Going into his Week 18 contest, Montgomery had run for 3,588 yards and 26 touchdowns in four seasons. He has also caught 155 passes for 1,240 yards and four scores through the air.

With so many needs at other positions, running back is one of those spots that can be easily addressed in free agency or the draft, and not necessarily one they would have to spend big on.

If this is Montgomery’s last ride with the Bears, it’s been four incredible years with 32. He’s a Bear for life, and fans will always remember and appreciate the work he’s put in.

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The Chicago Blackhawks earned a big win over the Arizona Coyotes at the United Center on Friday night. That isn’t great for the Connor Bedard sweepstakes but most of the teams around them in that also earned a couple of points this weekend so it is no big deal.

Jake McCabe and Tyler Johnson each scored a goal in the 2-0 shutout victory. This win came without Patrick Kane because he was missing due to a lower-body injury. It is obvious that they are just being cautious with him because of his potential contract/trade status.

In this win over Arizona, however, the best player on the ice played for Chicago but he didn’t show up on the score sheet. Lukas Reichel is up with the team right now and the has looked amazing in recent days. This was his best game as a pro for a variety of reasons.

Again, he didn’t score or have an assist but those are coming. He played the game with pace, won some battles, created for himself and his teammates, and just passed the overall eye test. He looks like he can move well out there and didn’t look out of place at all.

The Chicago Blackhawks would love for Lukas Reichel to become an NHL star.

The Blackhawks are evaluating a lot of their prospects right now, especially following the World Junior Championships. There are prospects that didn’t play there though that everyone might be able to be excited about and Reichel is one of them.

This is a kid that looks like he could be a piece on this team in the long term. Out of every prospect not named Kevin Korchinski, he has the best chance of sticking in the long term.

If they add a forward like Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, or Leo Carlsson in the 2023 NHL Draft, Reichel’s offensive output could increase even more in the NHL if he gets put with one of them. That is the hope for the core of the next great Blackhawks team.

He has the pedigree of a top forward in the NHL as the Hawks used a first-round pick on him as well when they took him with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

If he continues to play as he did in this win over Arizona, he will be a great player in this league for a long time as he develops. The sky is the limit for him.

Lukas Reichel’s next chance to play will come on Sunday night when the Chicago Blackhawks host the Calgary Flames. Don’t be surprised if he gets his first career NHL goal in this one. It is coming very soon.

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