Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls 2026-27 Season Preview: A Real Rebuild, Finally
Season opener: Wednesday, Oct. 21 at Toronto Raptors
Home opener: Saturday, Oct. 24 vs. Washington Wizards
The Bulls have spent years stuck in the least useful place in professional basketball — good enough to miss the lottery, not good enough to matter. That era is over, and it ended the only way it could have: all at once.
At the February 2026 trade deadline, sitting at 24-27, the front office tore the roster down. Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter all went out in separate deals, netting nine second-round picks. Chicago went 7-24 the rest of the way and finished 31-51.
Then the lottery did them a favor. The Bulls jumped from the ninth-best odds to the No. 4 pick — the biggest leap any team made — in a draft class widely considered one of the strongest in years.
New everything
Billy Donovan stepped down on April 21, 2026. The organization used the opening to reset the entire basketball operation: Bryson Graham runs it now, with Stephen Mervis brought in as senior vice president of basketball operations and Acie Law IV as vice president of player personnel. Tiago Splitter was hired as head coach and introduced in June.
That is a clean break from a regime that spent six years holding onto players too long and selling them at their lowest value. Whether the new group is better remains to be seen. It is, at minimum, different.
Caleb Wilson is the reason to watch
Chicago used the No. 4 pick on Caleb Wilson and then watched him back it up immediately at Summer League, where he looked like one of the most NBA-ready prospects on the floor. Guard Dailyn Swain came off the board at No. 15.
Wilson has not been shy about his intentions. He has talked openly about chasing Rookie of the Year, and he went straight at Cameron Boozer — the Duke-North Carolina rivalry renewed — in their first Summer League meeting.
The schedule gives him every chance to make the case in public. The home opener on Oct. 24 puts him directly across from No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa and the Wizards. He’ll see Darryn Peterson and Utah on Dec. 16. Boozer and Memphis come to the United Center on March 13. And on Nov. 13, Wilson gets his first NBA game in front of an Atlanta crowd — the hometown game he told reporters he was most looking forward to.
The supporting cast is more competent than you’d expect
Rebuilding teams usually field rosters that are hard to watch. This one shouldn’t be.
Matas Buzelis enters his third season as the closest thing Chicago has to an established building block, coming off a year in which his jumper improved even while he was creating most of his own looks. Norman Powell, a reigning All-Star, signed a two-year deal — a sensible add for a team that wants to be competitive without pretending to contend. Josh Giddey is expected in the backcourt alongside him, with Nic Claxton at center.
There’s a strategic logic to not bottoming out, too. The league’s new lottery structure gives the bottom three teams worse odds than they used to have, which makes outright tanking a losing play. Landing in that 4-through-10 range is now the efficient place to be. Powell and Wilson are what gets Chicago there.
The schedule is brutal early
The Bulls open with six of their first eight games on the road, and the first twelve include the reigning champion Knicks, the LeBron James and Jaylen Brown-led 76ers, and the Celtics — each twice — plus San Antonio and Minnesota.
For a team with a rookie starter, a new coach and a lineup that has never played together, that is an unkind way to begin. A slow October says less than it normally would.
Chicago also drew just three nationally televised games all season (Dec. 1 vs. New York, Jan. 4 at Indiana, Jan. 20 at Brooklyn), which is the league telling you exactly what it expects. NBA Cup group play includes home dates against Atlanta on Nov. 13 and Washington on Nov. 20, with road games at Boston on Oct. 30 and Charlotte on Nov. 25.
Two returns worth circling: Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu, both of whom spent their entire careers in Chicago before the deadline sell-off, come back to the United Center this season.
What success looks like
Not a playoff berth. The honest markers for 2026-27:
- Wilson’s development curve, and whether the Rookie of the Year talk survives contact with an NBA schedule.
- Buzelis taking another step, ideally as a second option rather than a first.
- Splitter establishing an identity — this roster’s ceiling depends more on system and effort than talent.
- Keeping the flexibility. The front office left a roster spot open and stayed well clear of the tax and aprons. That optionality is an asset.
The Bulls aren’t going to be good this year. For the first time in a while, that’s the plan rather than the accident.
Chicago Sports Wire covers Bulls news, schedules and game coverage all season. See the Bulls schedule for tip-off times and broadcast info.