The once proud franchise known as the Chicago Bulls has been in the wilderness for a decade now. There have been many issues in Windy City, but perhaps their biggest fault is them not picking a direction. For far too many years, the Bulls spent their season finishing between 35 and 40 wins, finishing right on the fringes of the playoffs, and either getting spanked in the first round or picking late in the lottery. It’s hard to improve when, as a franchise, your ethos is being too good to stink while
also being too bad to be actually good.
Enter last year’s Bulls, who finally decided to pick a direction after the All-Star Break. That direction was down, so tank commander Donovan and the group of guys they pulled out of the morning run on the Blacktop courts at Jackson Park lost many games down the stretch. Heck, even the tanking Mavericks couldn’t help but beat them by a million in game 82. Of course, that loss put the Bulls into a coin flip for ninth in the lottery, which they went on to win. Naturally, they then jumped into the top four of the draft. Quite the turn of events!
After the summer, the Bulls look dramatically different and there is no confusion about what the goal is. They want to build a winner around Caleb Wilson, and this year is the start of making that dream a reality.
Chicago Bulls: Over/Under 29.5 wins (-115/-110)
To win Central Division: 65/1
To win Eastern Conference: 175/1
To win Finals: 1000/1
Last season: 31-51, 12th in the Eastern Conference
Key additions: Caleb Wilson (4th pick in 2026 Draft), Dailyn Swain (15th pick in 2026 Draft), Norm Powell (via Miami), Nic Claxton (via Brooklyn)
Key losses: When you’re terrible, no one is a key loss
Coaching change: Billy Donovan OUT (now lead assistant in San Antonio), Tiago Splitter IN (via Portland)
To be honest, the Bulls new front office did some nice work this offseason. Obviously, the two rookies are headliners for the organization. But beyond that, Claxton is a fun piece to work with at center, especially after years of the Nikola Vucevic experience. Norm Powell and Buddy Hield should be nice vets to have around for this team. Plus, internal development from Matas Buzelis should have fans excited for a Wilson/Buzelis pairing for years to come. And hey, Noa Essengue grew again and, just maybe, is better at the game of basketball.
What can’t be overlooked here is the cultural shift that happened in one offseason. With Brysen Graham heading up basketball ops and Tiago Splitter at head coach, there are actual adults in the room. Combine that with a young core of Wilson, Buzelis and Swain, there’s actually something worth getting excited about in Chicago. I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but I’m bullish on the Bulls.
