The Chicago Bulls are in full 2026 NBA Draft mode, hosting workouts and having conversations behind closed doors about how to right the ship.  

Bryson Graham--the Bulls new Executive VP of Basketball Operations--is inheriting an intriguing mix of young talent that includes 21-year old Matas Buzlies and 23-year old Josh Giddey. 

Although Giddey and Buzelis are clearly the de facto "faces of the franchise," the big difference is that Giddey has already been paid, recently re-signing with the Bulls for four years, $100 million. The flat $25 million per year price tag makes the Giddey contract moveable. It may be high for Giddey depending on who you talk to, but overall it is a reasonable figure based on his age and production. 

Since Graham is inheriting Giddey already on this deal, there is no guarantee that he feels that Bulls paid appropriate value for the star. Giddey isn't on the chopping block, but the fact that Graham is inheriting this team makes it more likely that he will be willing to trade players perceived as core pieces. That is where the Los Angeles Clippers and the No. 5 pick come into play. 

There have been reports that the Clippers are the most likely trade back candidate. They likely aren't looking to move out of the lottery entirely, but could possibly be convinced if the opposing team sweetened the offer enough. 

Here is our mock Los Angeles Clippers-Chicago Bulls trade:

Because I'm a reasonable--I think--man, I'll start off with the obvious elephant in the room of why the Clippers would not want to do this deal. 

The Clippers are slated to have nearly $90 million in cap space in the next offseason, and taking on Josh Giddey's contract would obviously cut into that. That being said, if the Clippers plan to continue building around Kawhi Leonard (and to a lesser extent Darius Garland), then you are obviously trying to win now.

At the same time, the Bulls collection of assets gives the Clippers a rare opportunity to have their cake and eat it too. 

In this mock trade, the Clippers are open to sacrificing some of their role player depth for an overall talent upgrade and a premium future asset.

Giddey isn't the cleanest fit next to Garland, but at 6-foot-7-inches, he would give Tyronn Lue the ability to play a variety of big lineups without worrying about if enough playmaking will be on the floor. 

Over his past two seasons in Chicago, Giddey is shooting 37.1% from the 3-point line and 77.2% from the free throw line on 3.6 attempts per game. He has improved his outside shooting considerably, to the point where he could actually be an intriguing scoring threat playing next to someone who has as much offensive gravity as Leonard. 

Giddey's biggest strengths are his passing and nose for the ball when hitting the glass on defense. Giddey averaged a career-high 9.1 APG and 8.3 RPG over the 2025-26 season. Based off of this season's numbers, Giddey would have led the Clippers in assists and been second on the team in rebounds per game. 

Acquiring Giddey would allow the Clippers to move forward with a core of Leonard, Garland and Giddey, which would eventually transition into a Giddey-Garland backcourt leading the next generation of Clippers ball. It's a terrible backcourt defensively on paper, but one that Lue could figure out. 

The Clippers would be sending out Isaiah Jackson in this trade, but would presumably be grabbing their center of the future at 15 overall. Moving down 10 spots, picking up Giddey and a 2027 1st round pick swap with Chicago would be a good piece of business for the Clippers if they truly aren't in love with any of the prospects at five. 

For Chicago, it's an easy explanation as they would be giving up a lot to essentially lock-in their long-term core on draft night.

Giving up a 2027 1st pick swap is bold, but if Graham and Co. truly believe in Keaton Wagler or Darius Acuff as a franchise-changing talent, pairing them with Matas Buzelis and (presumably) Caleb Wilson would give the Bulls a intriguing core of players with size and two-way ability.