The Chicago Bulls will be in Group C for the 2025 NBA Cup. The Bulls group includes the New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks. We start off by taking a closer look at how Chicago will matchup with the Knicks in the 2025-26 season.
The Knicks made some subtle additions, and one not-so-subtle addition in new head coach Mike Brown. The defensive-minded Brown is a bit similar to the let go Tom Thibodeau, but some key differences in terms of offensive flexibility and attitude make them different enough to understand why New York decided to shake things up. As far as if it will net significantly different results? We shall see. New York’s other key moves were adding veterans Jordan Clarkson, Guerschon Yabusele, PJ Tucker and Malcolm Brogdon.
Even with a new head coach, the Knicks are likely to continue to lean heavily on their starting lineup, and that means having depth options who can step in at a moment’s notice is extremely valuable. This was apparent last season, as the Bulls won the season series 2-1 against the Knicks.
Chicago found surprising success against a tough Knicks defense that finished 13th in Defensive Rating (113.3) last season. They averaged 124.7 PPG over three contests against the Knicks, with everyone getting a moment to shine offensively.
On January 4th, the Bulls defeated the Knicks 139-126, with Giddey dropping 15 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, Coby White knocking down nine 3-point FGs, and Zach LaVine–who was still on the roster at this point– chipping in 33 points. But as mentioned earlier, the bench matchup was a deciding factor in this high-scoring affair. The Knicks received 17 points combined from the only three players to receive over 10 minutes from their bench unit. Meanwhile, Chicago’s bench scored 31 points, led by a combined 18 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks from Lonzo Ball and Jalen Smith.
Of course, heading into 2025-26, the Chicago Bulls won’t have the services of Lonzo Ball after swapping him for Isaac Okoro. The question is, if the matchups play out similar to last season where the starters light it up across the board, will Chicago’s bench still hold the edge?
Brogdon only played 24 games for the Washington Wizards in the 2025 season, averaging 12.7 points, 4.1 assists and shooting a career-low 28.6% from 3-point range. He still has the veteran know-how to get to his spots, and generally run an offense efficiently off the bench. Clarkson is the more explosive guard addition to the Knicks. Over the 2025 season, Clarkson averaged 16.2 PPG with a career-best 29% free throw attempt rate with the Utah Jazz. Clarkson isn’t as athletic as he once was, but even so he still has enough left in the tank to get downhill off of screens and hit 3-pointers at a 36.8% clip. Yabusele joins the Knicks after a year with the Philadelphia 76ers. He is a tough forward who will be intriguing next to Karl-Anthony Towns or off the bench, as he can crash the glass and knock down 3-pointers (38% last season).
Even with New York’s collection of veteran bench talent, I think Billy Donovan has a much deeper bag to go into in terms of options. Zach Collins, Ayo Dosunmu, Jalen Smith, Isaac Okoro, Tre Jones, and even rookie Noa Essengue could be factors off the bench for Donovan in some form. Even with the depth advantage though, I don’t believe the Bulls will deal as well with the Knicks this upcoming season as they did the last. For one, LaVine is no longer here and for as much as Bulls fans have moved on, his scoring was a major factor in several wins including one against the Knicks. And finally, with Brown being a more flexible coach than Thibodeau, it is possible we see some new lineups that cause major problems for a Bulls team that still doesn’t have many counters to opponent’s limiting their transition attack.