The Bulls have lost eight straight. As of Wednesday morning, they own the league’s second-worst record and second-worst point differential. Tank you very much for all the questions.

You wrote a #FreeJabariParker column and Parker has played the last two games and scored and rebounded well in his limited minutes. Coincidence? — Andrew, Chicago

Yes. And if the Bulls are basing decisions on what beat reporters write, they’re in worse shape than thought.

It has been reported since the day Jim Boylen removed Parker from the regular rotation in mid-December that Parker’s poor defense and practice habits were the main culprits. Boylen also talked about no individual being bigger than the team. Even in the column I wrote suggesting Parker should get a second chance, I acknowledged how Parker’s lack of consistency with effort and strong practice habits were on him and hurting his chances to play. Those have improved — and the Feb. 7 trade deadline is approaching. It’s time to remind teams of his offensive ability.

Look, I understood why Boylen initially benched Parker. He’s attempting a culture change, and Parker served as an easy example. I rarely express opinion, but I just reached a breaking point of watching second units featuring Antonio Blakeney at shooting guard and Shaquille Harrison at small forward. Parker isn’t better than those guys? The Bulls signed Parker as their premier offseason addition. Plus, from my seat, he was actually playing better defense in late November/early December than he was at the start of the season.

The rebuttal was that Parker isn’t a small forward. And indeed, his latest reprieve is coming at backup power forward for an injured Bobby Portis against the Jazz and, with Portis back for the Lakers game, a benched Robin Lopez. That’s fine. But Harrison isn’t a small forward either. And the Bulls’ second unit has been unwatchable at times. Whatever the case, Parker is back — for now. As he has repeatedly said, he held up his end of the bargain.

At what point are John Paxson and Gar Forman held accountable for the awful Parker signing as well as the handling of it? It was clear from his time in Milwaukee that he was a huge negative due to his love of the long 2-pointer and extreme lack of effort on defense. He was finally getting the appropriate amount of playing time for a stretch — zero minutes — but now he’s playing again? — Eric G., Chicago

I’ll address the larger answer in a second here, but what has stymied me the most about this situation is management acknowledged that Parker isn’t a fit at small forward when it signed him but said the franchise planned to play him there anyway. Why not try that for longer, particularly in a rebuilding season in which you’re not expected to win?

Jabari Parker, the former Simeon star, joined the Bulls after 4 seasons with the Bucks.

I get it: Fred Hoiberg was coaching for his job and felt Parker at small forward would’ve been a disaster defensively. But, man, if the Bulls had stayed healthy and committed to at least trying Parker at small forward, the offensive possibilities could’ve been fun. Make the other team score more than you. Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, Parker, Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr. could’ve presented some matchup problems and some shootouts. It might’ve at least been fun.

Let’s pause here to remember two things: I wasn’t coaching for my job. And my Twitter bio addresses my views on offense versus defense.

As for management’s accountability, another aspect of this crazy saga that has surprised me is how much management supported both Hoiberg’s decision to move Parker from starter to reserve and Boylen’s decision to bench Parker. Management also would point to its misses being of the short-term variety. Similar to the Dwyane Wade experiment that didn’t fully pan out, the Bulls can cut and run from Parker after this season. But I think everyone within the organization would acknowledge the signing didn’t work. If you’re asking if that’s a fireable offense, I’m guessing the Reinsdorfs would say the short-term mistake makes that answer no.

How decisive would you say the Bulls are when it comes to acting on their self-scouting? For instance, let’s say internally they’ve soured a bit on a member of the core. Would they gauge trade opportunities while his value remains relatively high? Or would they simply hope his game improves and live with his diminished value if it does not? — KB, Chicago

This is a great question. And its premise could be rooted in an inaccurate story that the Bulls wouldn’t part with Luol Deng to trade for Kobe Bryant. Then again, this management team has fallen in love with some of its draft picks. But the notion the Bulls won’t move important pieces if there’s a deal that will make them better flies in the face of the time they traded Kirk Hinrich for nothing but salary-cap space to pursue LeBron James in 2010 free agency. Then, when the Bulls received some encouraging signs that they could sign the same Big Three of James, Wade and Chris Bosh that landed in Miami, they held discussions with the Clippers on a Deng trade that would’ve created the salary-cap space to sign all three free agents.

The Bulls worked out Collin Sexton and Trae Young last year. Sexton landed prominently in some internal draft-night discussions. If they were blindly in love with Kris Dunn, that wouldn’t have happened. It’s why this summer and what the Bulls do with Dunn will be intriguing to monitor. He’s up for an extension of his rookie deal.