The Bulls are armed with the 4th and 15th overall picks, but should they make an aggressive move to move up in the back half of the lottery?
The Chicago Bulls are sitting in a great spot for a rebuilding team. Chicago has the 4th overall and 15th overall picks in the 2026 NBA Draft, a class loaded with top-end talent. Chicago is almost guaranteed to get one of the prospects who has long been regarded as the top-four prospects in their class in AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson. But at 15th overall, the options are obviously a lot less clear.
What is clear is that there will be some great talent that slips through to 15th overall, especially considering all the prospects who will be late risers in terms of draft stock after their combine performances.
With all of that being said, if the Bulls truly want to attack their rebuild as aggressively as possible, they should attempt to trade up from the 15th overall spot to acquire a second lottery pick.
It would seem like that distinction between a top-14 and top-15 pick is silly, but in the NBA where winning on the margins is absolutely necessary, a few spots could be the difference between getting your guy. This includes players like Cameron Carr, the Baylor wing who recently dropped 30 points in a 2026 NBA Draft Combine scrimmage, likely boosting his stock into the late lottery range.
Other high ceiling prospects who sit right on the cusp of lottery or later range include lanky shooter Nate Ament, oft-injured defensive ace Jayden Quaintance and high-motor big Morez Johnson.
I trust Bryson Graham--based off of his words and actions in terms of hiring a competent front office staff to surround him--to scout high upside prospects with two-way potential. And since I trust Graham's record and the type of players he has helped select in the past--Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Trey Murphy III--I believe it would serve the Bulls well to try to grab Graham's top-targets no matter what.
The key to Chicago moving up from 15th overall is what they can attach to the pick. The Bulls own all of their 1st round picks moving forward. In terms of players, it is unlikely that many players from the Bulls drum up a ton of interest, but Tre Jones and Jalen Smith stand out as role players who could have a decent amount of value on a team trying to compete in the postseason.
Jones has two years and $16 million left on his deal, with the second year being a team option at $8 million. He averaged a career-high 14 PPG on an also career-high 55% from the field. Jalen Smith averaged a career-high 10 PPG and shot 37% from the 3-point line on 4.2 attempts per game, before nagging calf injuries shut down his season at 53 games.
Smith, Jones, the 15th overall pick and any combination of future 1st or 2nd round picks--possibly protected--isn't likely to blow teams away. But I believe that a package resembling that could be enough for Chicago to entice one of the teams in the 8-through-14 range to move off of their pick.