Chicago Bulls Listed Among Bottom Tier of NBA Teams Entering 2026-27

After years of being stuck in the middle of the pack and floating around Play-In Tournament contention, the Chicago Bulls finally chose a direction by committing to a rebuild.

Chicago flipped half of its roster at last season's trade deadline and now has a team built around youth. The franchise has drafted Caleb Wilson, Dailyn Swain, Noa Essengue and Matas Buzelis with top-15 picks over the past three years, then acquired veterans Norman Powell and Nic Claxton this summer.

By all measures, the Bulls should be worse than the 31-51 record they had last year, especially considering how young the team is. But Powell and Claxton's experience — combined with potential leaps from Josh Giddey and Buzelis — could lead Chicago to being better than expected.

The Bulls will be attempting to stay out of the lottery's relegation zone, which is made up of the bottom three teams in the league. Analysts covering the league don't seem to have high expectations for Chicago, though, and ESPN's Zach Kram anticipates that the Bulls will be among the NBA's five worst teams.

In a recent ranking, Kram divided his bottom tier into two groups: noncompetitive with their pick and noncompetitive without their pick. The Bulls and the Kings each possess their own draft pick in 2027, while the Brooklyn Nets, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks do not.

"[The Bulls are] incentivized to win enough games to maximize their lottery odds, due to the new rules that penalize the teams with the three worst records in the league," Kram said. "The Bulls should be good enough to avoid that fate, after adding veterans Norman Powell and Nic Claxton in the offseason; although Chicago's primary goal should be developing the young frontcourt duo of Matas Buzelis and rookie Caleb Wilson."

According to the new NBA Draft Lottery rules, the teams with the three-worst records will receive two ping pong balls in the drawing, while teams that finish with the fourth-worst through 10th-worst records will receive three balls and a higher chance at winning the No. 1 overall pick. The four Play-In teams that earn Nos. 9 and 10 seeds are slated to receive two balls and the losers of the No. 7 seed vs. No. 8 seed Play-In game receive one ball apiece.

Chicago embracing a youth-centered approach will very likely lead to fewer wins, but Bryson Graham's decision to bring in veterans like Powell and Claxton shows he intends to stay out of the relegation zone.

The Kings have incentive to try to win, but they may not have the talent to do so, even with former Bull Zach LaVine on the roster. Milwaukee and Los Angeles are in purgatory after trading stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard this offseason, respectively, and will not receive a top pick even if they finish poorly.

Chicago begins its 2026-27 season on Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Toronto Raptors.