Could Lady Luck be on the Bulls' side this year?
The 2026 NBA Draft has the potential to completely alter the trajectory of the Bulls' rebuild. Chicago has just a 4.5% chance at the No. 1 overall pick and a 20.3% chance at a top-four selection, but anything is possible.
After all, the Dallas Mavericks won the 2025 lottery — and the right to draft Cooper Flagg — despite having the 11th-best odds to do so. The Atlanta Hawks similarly earned the top selection in 2024 with the 10th-best odds.
Could luck finally be on the Bulls' side? Excluding the 2021 and 2023 first-rounders sent to Orlando in the Nikola Vucevic trade, Chicago has been a part of the NBA Draft Lottery 14 times since 2000. The Bulls have earned a better pick than their odds twice, moved down five times and stayed put eight times.
Here's how every NBA Draft Lottery since the turn of the century worked out for Chicago:
2025 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 12th
Pick: 12th
Result: F Noa Essengue
2024 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 11th
Pick: 11th
Result: F Matas Buzelis
Jun 26, 2024; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Matas Buzelis poses for photos with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected in the first round by the Chicago Bulls in the 2024 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images2020 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 7th
Pick: 4th
Result: F Patrick Williams
2019 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 4th
Pick: 7th
Result: G Coby White
2018 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 6th
Pick: 7th
Result: C Wendell Carter Jr.
2016 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 14th
Pick: 14th
Result: F Denzel Valentine
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Denzel Valentine (Michigan State) walks off stage after being selected as the number fourteen overall pick to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-Imagn Images2008 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 9th
Pick: 1st
Result: G Derrick Rose
2007 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 9th (Pick Swap via New York Knicks)
Pick: 9th
Result: F Joakim Noah
2006 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 2nd (Pick via New York Knicks)
Pick: 2nd
Result: F LaMarcus Aldridge, Traded to Portland Trail Blazers for F Tyrus Thomas
2004 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 2nd
Pick: 3rd
Result: G Ben Gordon
2003 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 7th
Pick: 7th
Result: G Kirk Hinrich
2002 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 2nd
Pick: 2nd
Result: G Jay Williams
2001 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 1st
Pick: 4th
Result: C Eddy Curry
2000 NBA Draft Lottery
Odds: 2nd
Pick: 4th
Result: F Marcus Fizer
What odds do the Bulls have for each pick in 2026?
The Chicago Bulls have the ninth-best odds overall, and the following odds at each draft slot:
- Pick 1. 4.5% chance
- Pick 2. 4.8% chance
- Pick 3. 5.2% chance
- Pick 4. 5.7% chance
- Pick 5. Not Possible
- Pick 6. Not Possible
- Pick 7. Not Possible
- Pick 8. Not Possible
- Pick 9. 50.8% chance
- Pick 10. 25.9% chance
- Pick 11. 3.0% chance
- Pick 12. 0.1% chance
- Pick 13. >0.0% chance
- Pick 14. Not Possible