Crafting The Chicago Bulls' Best Offensive Lineup

The Chicago Bulls weren't great on either side of the ball last year, but they were slightly better on the defensive side of the ball by most advanced metrics. 

Per NBA.com, the Bulls finished 22nd in defensive rating (117.4) and 25th in offensive rating (112.1). 

As they head into the 2026-27 season, new Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter can breathe easy in knowing he at least has plenty of options when it comes to crafting the best lineups. It was announced on Sunday that Chicago swung a trade for veteran sharpshooter Buddy Hield, shipping out young guard Rob Dillingham to the Charlotte Hornets--who was later waived--in the process.

Whether or not he is a consistent fixture in the lineup, Hield will have obvious value in Chicago as a career 39.5% 3-point shooter. Just like offseason addition Norman Powell, Hield should help a Bulls team that was top-10 in 3-point attempts last season, but 19th in 3-point percentage. Powell arguably is coming off of the best season of his career, posting 21.7 PPG for the Miami Heat and making his first All-Star team.

Powell and Hield's floor-spacing ability will be necessary pieces on a team that projects to get most of their offense in transition and on drives to the rim. 

Looking at the Bulls available players, it's not exactly easy to craft an offense-first lineup, as the roster is full of lanky wings who are not dependable shooters as of yet.

Using last year's data--similar to what we did when crafting the Bulls' best defensive lineup--we see that the best Bulls' offensive group was Tre Jones-Josh Giddey-Leonard Miller-Matas Buzelis-Jalen Smith. That lineup is not what you would necessary think of as offensively potent on paper, but they posted a 129.8 offensive rating. 

Small sample size always means we have to take the numbers with a grain of salt, but there is one thing that is clear about that lineup: they are a strong offensive rebounding group. 

For a team that loves to jack up 3-pointers but isn't the most accurate, having some strong offensive rebounding is a must. The Jones-Giddey-Buzelis-Miller-Smith lineup posted an elite 39% offensive rebound rate during their time on the floor together. 

Despite having the Bulls' two best playmakers in the lineup, that group posted one of the lower assist rates at 58.3%. Because of this, I don't think Jones nor Giddey is essential in this group as passing is not what made them so potent. 

Splitter can create an offense-first lineup with a high ceiling if he takes out Jones and Giddey, adding Norman Powell and Caleb Wilson in their place.

This lineup would be Powell-Buzelis-Wilson-Miller-Smith, with the 6-foot-3 Powell as the shortest player in the lineup flanked by players 6-foot-8 or taller.

That group would be able to punish the offensive glass with the duo of 6-foot-10 forwards in Wilson and Miller. You also have some solid balance in terms of floor spacing with this group. 

Buzelis was a high volume 3-point shooter last season at 6.4 attempts per game (34.9%), while Wilson erased any doubts about him working on his perimeter shooting at the NBA summer league in Las Vegas (41.9% from 3-point range on just under 8.0 attempts per game). Smith shot 37% from 3-point range on 4+ attempts per game last season.

Leonard Miller was the lowest volume shooter of the bunch, and even he shot a respectable 35% on 87 total attempts from 3-point range. 

This hypothetical lineup is full of lanky players who can get to rim and punish defenses in the paint, but aren't afraid to shoot the open 3-point shot should the opportunity present itself.

The only fear with this lineup is you simply don't have enough passing to generate open looks, but Powell, Buzelis and Wilson all figure to range anywhere from solid-to-great as isolation scorers. This lineup has you putting the ball in the hands of Powell or Wilson, surrounded by players who excel at cutting, offensive rebounding and 3-point shooting.