Coach Tiago Splitter's 2026-27 Chicago Bulls are one day away from the start of the NBA season in Toronto against the Raptors, and already, analysts are making bold predictions.

One came from Illinois Fighting Illini legend and 15-year former NBA veteran Kendall Gill, who compared Splitter's team to an interesting squad of recent NBA lore on Monday. 

Gill is looking forward to watching the Bulls' athletic young core this season, giving them an NBA comparison that will fire up Chicago fans. 

The 2026-27 Bulls were compared to the 'Lob City' Los Angeles Clippers of the early-to-mid 2010s by Gill, which featured 2011 Slam Dunk Contest winner Blake Griffin and legendary point guard Chris Paul. 

Athletic center DeAndre Jordan, JJ Redick and Matt Barnes were also on that team, along with explosive sixth man Jamal Crawford. Those Clippers teams were mostly known for the exciting point guard play of Paul combined with the slam dunk theatrics of Griffin and Jordan.

This year's Bulls have an underrated fast-break maestro at point guard in Josh Giddey, along with Matas Buzelis, who competed in last year's dunk contest, and rookie Caleb Wilson, who has looked like one of the fastest and most explosive players every time he's set foot on an NBA Summer League or exhibition court. 

Fellow first-round rookie draft pick Dailyn Swain also has potential as one of the better athletes in the Eastern Conference. 

Gill doubled down on his take in comments made on the Bulls on CHSN's season preview show.

"Because you have so many different high-flying athletes on this team, watching these guys in the preseason, this could be the second coming of Lob City," Gill said. 

"The way that these guys get up and down the floor, Matas is flyin', Caleb is flyin', Jaylin Sellers, comes out of nowhere, left-hand dunks at will, so, I am really, really excited to see this young team play." 

Giddey could be the straw that stirs the drink for Splitter's Bulls after averaging 9.1 assists in 51 starts last season, which would have placed him third in the NBA behind Nikola Jokic and Cade Cunningham, had he played enough games to qualify. 

Tre Jones also chipped in 5.4 assists for the Bulls last season, showing promise as a point guard who knows how to set up his teammates for good looks at the basket. 

The Bulls have plenty of time to figure out what type of team they're going to be going forward, but they'll have to do it in the fly with the new season just hours away. 

If the Bulls come close to the success of those Lob City Clippers teams, Splitter's first season as coach will be a memorable one for Chicago fans everywhere.