The Chicago Bulls are much like the Indiana Pacers in the sense that they are franchises that simply refuse to commit to "tanking." But unlike the Pacers--who were the most recent NBA Finals representatives for the Eastern Conference--the Bulls have not found an All-NBA player in the later half of the lottery, or through a creative trade.
Chicago may well be on their way to having a Tyrese Haliburton-like success story on their hands if Josh Giddey can prove last season's second-half surge was legitimate, but for now the Bulls are still searching for or developing that clear-cut, star player who will act as the central driving force behind the next great Bulls squad.
While the aforementioned in-house development could be what saves the Bulls--especially now that they have clear and established roles within the player development staff--the best way to find a franchise player is still through the NBA Draft. The Bulls (finally) control their own 1st round draft pick for the 2026 class. What that, of course, means is that if the Bulls choose to "take a step back," in terms of heavy minutes for unproven talents or trades for draft compensation rather than players, they could accumulate the type of losses that lead to a team having a greater than 10% chance to land the No. 1 overall pick.
Bulls fans may not want to stomach a regular season where your team struggles to churn out 30+ wins, but those same fans would no doubt be head-over-heels with glee if Chicago ended up in a position to draft one of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, or a name Bulls faithful should know well, Cameron Boozer, son of former Bulls forward Carlos Boozer. It is obviously too early to say with certainty, but any of those prospects would immediately step in as one of the top-three scoring options for Chicago, allowing Giddey, Coby White and others to settle into a more natural role.
Landing a top-five pick is excellent, however getting enough losses in the 2025-26 East to be in that range seems near impossible.
When looking at the 2024-25 NBA standings, you notice the Bulls red-hot second half surge led them to a 39-43 record and the No. 9 seed in the Play-In. Chicago finished a whopping 9.0 games ahead of a Toronto Raptors team that has comparable talent to them, but was clearly focused on lottery odds down the stretch. The Bulls also finished ahead of the woeful 24-58 Philadelphia 76ers, who return with rookie VJ Edgecombe, and veterans Paul George and Joel Embiid looking to have healthy seasons.
Philadelphia could and are likely to, have similar injury concerns to last season as they add young talent around their aging core. If anything close to full strength, the Sixers are clearly a top-six team in the East, but there could be more spots open in that top-six with Haliburton out for the year for the Pacers, and Jayson Tatum out for likely the entire season for the Boston Celtics. This gives Chicago some margin for error in terms of finally gaining entry back into the club of top-six Eastern Conference teams.
Even when you look at the usual mainstays atop the East like the Milwaukee Bucks, you see dramatic change, like their addition of Myles Turner and jettisoning of Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez. Essentially all of the top teams in the East will be dealing with some key changes to their rotation, while Chicago will be returning essentially their entire roster from their 39-win season.
The only path I see to the Bulls being a team that stacks losses at a high enough rate to be a true power player in the 2026 NBA Draft is if they move on from veteran center Nikola Vucevic at some point in the regular season. Vucevic--despite his lackluster rim protection--is a solid center, good for an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double with several assists (3.5 APG in 2025) every night. The two-time All-Star quite easily led the Bulls in Win Shares (7.3) and by all accounts is still the best player on the team. Giddey and White have no problem spearheading the Bulls offense, but the absence of Vucevic's consistent scoring and ability to draw opposing centers outside of the paint would greatly alter the way the team operates.
Read More Chicago Bulls Coverage
MORE: Could Josh Giddey Take a Leap In 2025-26
MORE: Who Fills the Wing Void for Chicago Bulls in 2025-26 Season
MORE: Dalen Terry Has a Big Season Ahead For the Bulls