Following years of speculation, the news that NBA fans have been waiting for finally came to fruition on Wednesday morning: the National Basketball Association is expanding to 32 teams.

ESPN insider Shams Charania reported that the NBA's Board of Governors had voted in favor of bringing franchises to Seattle and Las Vegas, setting the stage for potential ownership groups to place bids for those respective teams.

The landmark realignment would also come with an expansion draft, which hasn't occurred in the NBA since the Charlotte Bobcats joined the league in 2004. Seattle and Las Vegas would get to build out their rosters by selecting players from the existing 30 teams, with some exceptions.

In prior expansion drafts, each team has been able to protect eight players from being selected by the upstart franchises. The teams have not been able to protect players who are on expiring contracts or would be restricted free agents. Although it's been more than two decades since the last expansion and over 30 years since the NBA last added two teams at once, there's no reason to think that those rules would change this time around.

Seattle and Las Vegas are targeting the 2028-29 season as their start dates, per Charania, and most of the players in the league will not be on the same teams they are on now when the draft occurs in two years. However, the topic of the expansion draft remains interesting because when every player is up for grabs, it forces teams to reconsider what they truly value most.

Contending teams will prioritize protecting their best players. Rebuilding teams, like the Chicago Bulls, would presumably focus on youth and potential if the expansion draft were to happen in 2026.

We can't predict which Chicago Bulls will still be on the roster in two summers, but we can analyze which players are most valuable to the team's rebuild and long-term future. With those priorities in mind, here's how the Bulls' current roster would look in a 2026 expansion draft:

The following numbers indicate the player's age at the time of writing and the year in which they will hit restricted (RFA) or unrestricted (UFA) free agency under their current contracts. Players who will be restricted or unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2026 were not included in this exercise.

Matas Buzelis (21, RFA 2028), Josh Giddey (23, UFA 2029)

Buzelis and Giddey check each of the three boxes that the Bulls would be looking to protect from Seattle and Las Vegas. The two are talented, young and contractually locked in for at least the next two years.

It remains to be seen whether Buzelis will develop into a true superstar or if Giddey can be the second-best player on a winning team, but the Bulls should feel strongly that those two are the key components in their upcoming rebuild.

Rob Dillingham (21, RFA 2028), Noa Essengue (19, RFA 2029), Leonard Miller (22, UFA 2027)

Essengue had a rough rookie campaign, playing just six minutes before going down with a season-ending shoulder injury. However, he is still a lottery pick from only a year ago, and it's hard to believe the Bulls would give up on the French teenager after he never really got a fair shot in Chicago.

Dillingham and Miller have shown flashes since arriving from Minnesota in the Ayo Dosunmu deadline trade, but are mostly here because of their age. Miller's potential as a two-way player is intriguing, and he's taken full advantage of the opportunity that he's received in Chicago. I expect the Bulls to pick up his team option this summer and give him a full season to prove he is a long-term rotation player.

Turnovers and shooting woes still plague Dillingham. At 6-foot-2 and only 175 pounds, the undersized guard is already fighting for his NBA life just two seasons after the Wolves drafted him with the No. 8 overall pick. He's a shoo-in to make the roster next season because of his age and draft status, but it should not come as a surprise if the Bulls pull the plug and decline his team option in 2027.

Isaac Okoro (25, UFA 2027), Jalen Smith (25, UFA 2027), Tre Jones (26, UFA 2028)

Smith and Jones have been great additions to the Bulls since joining the team a season ago. Both are arguably having their best seasons as a pro and would certainly be focal points of Chicago's long-term rebuild, if not for their age. The veterans do not match the Bulls' timeline and move toward younger development, but they should be valuable trade candidates for contending teams looking to solidify their depth at next year's deadline. An expansion team selecting either Smith or Jones would leave the Bulls with nothing in return and they should look to sell high in 2027 instead.

Okoro's play has been a mixed bag during his first year with the Bulls. Chicago is undeniably better at defense with him on the floor, but the former top-five pick has battled injuries and is shooting only 32.6% from deep. Okoro's contract status and defensive ability make him the final of Chicago's eight protected players in this exercise.

Jaden Ivey (23, RFA 2026), Guerschon Yabusele (30, UFA 2026), Nick Richards (28, UFA 2026), Zach Collins (28, UFA 2026), Lachlan Olbrich (22, RFA 2026), Yuki Kawamura (24, RFA 2026)

Each of these players would be ineligible to be protected in a hypothetical expansion draft due to their impending free agency this summer. Ivey is the most likely candidate for the Bulls to bring back — purely because of the talent he displayed before his knee injury with the Pistons — and could join one of the first two categories if he manages to recover from the recurring ailment. Olbrich and Kawamura would likely not be selected in an expansion draft and could return to the G League's Windy City Bulls.

I expect Chicago to be interested in Yabusele, Richards and Collins in free agency because of the team's lack of size. However, their age makes them less valuable than the aforementioned eight protected players, even if they are better right now.

Anfernee Simons (26, UFA 2026), Collin Sexton (27, UFA 2026), Mac McClung (27, RFA 2026)

Simons and Sexton have lit up the scoreboards since coming to Chicago at the trade deadline, but they are both too expensive to retain and will be blocking playing time from younger guards like Dillingham and Ivey, who need to develop. It's far more likely that they earn a larger free agent contract elsewhere. McClung seems destined for the G League, as a record-breaking season still hasn't resulted in the Bulls elevating him to their active NBA roster.

Patrick Williams (24, UFA 2029)

The Patrick Williams contract extension was an abomination when he signed it, and it's still an abomination now. Williams has been a fine player off the bench this year at times, but the former No. 4 overall pick is set to make $18 million a year until 2029 while averaging a career-low 6.8 points per game. Among players currently under contract for Chicago next season, only Giddey ($25 million) will make more than Williams.

I could see a future in which Okoro finds his way into this category as well. The versatile wing is only making $11 million and has one year on his contract, though, which could entice contending teams into trading for him this offseason.

With two years remaining until the anticipated 2028-29 expansion draft, a lot can change in between now and then. The Bulls' 2026 and 2027 first-round draft picks will very likely be protected as part of the "Young and Have Potential" group. A third prospect could enter the fold as well if the Portland Trail Blazers reach the playoffs and their lottery-protected pick finally conveys.

NBA teams don't need to protect eight players, but they cannot protect more than that. The selection of those three first-rounders means three of the currently rostered players would be the odd men out. Would it be Smith, Jones or Okoro, who will all be older than 27 by then? Or perhaps Dillingham, Ivey, Essengue or Miller, who may not live up to their expected potential?

The expansion draft is far too distant in the future to make any realistic predictions about what will or will not happen. By 2028, maybe Bulls general manager Bob Myers and head coach Jon Scheyer will have completed the team's rebuild and be looking toward returning to playoff contention instead. There's no way to know, but for now, the Chicago Bulls should be prioritizing youth and development over everything else.