The Chicago Bulls are reportedly being very active ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft.
The Chicago Bulls are reportedly looking to make an aggressive move ahead of the 2026 NBA Draft.
Per Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, the Bulls appear to be angling for another lottery pick.
Chicago currently possesses the No. 4 and No. 15 overall picks in the first round, as well as the No. 38 and No. 56 overall picks in the second round.
...the overwhelming belief is that Wilson will be the fourth pick. But that isn't where the conversation centered around Chicago and the NBA Draft is. Instead, rival teams and personnel continue to talk about the Bulls exploring possible avenues to move up from the No. 15 pick, potentially adding another top-10 selection.
The Bulls have considerable salary cap space as they don't have many players under contract. At the time of this writing, the Bulls only have eight players under contract in Matas Buzelis, Rob Dillingham, Noa Essengue, Josh Giddey, Tre Jones, Isaac Okoro Jalen Smith and Patrick Williams.
It is conceivable that any--yes any--of the eight players currently under contract could be a part of a bigger trade package that the Bulls put together to try to move up in the draft.
Chicago has hosted a number of pre-draft workouts, with elite guard prospects Keaton Wagler, Darius Acuff, Kingston Flemings and Mikel Brown Jr. all included. One look at that group tells me a few things on paper.
Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations either doesn't feel Josh Giddey is the franchise point guard he should move forward with, or Graham feels that Giddey would be best served playing next to an an elite ballhandler.
But no matter how you slice it, Chicago hosting private workouts for all of those elite guard prospects is significant.
The Bulls aren't in need of guards if you plan on keeping the status quo, but at the beginning of a rebuild under a new regime, it seems that they are open to truly starting from scratch.
Giddey is signed at a flat $25 million per year through 2029, and Tre Jones makes $8 million guaranteed this season ahead of a non-guaranteed $8 million for the 2027-28 season.
If any teams in the NBA Draft lottery--top-14--are looking for guard help, Jones $8 million salary is manageable for most clubs, and it would just come down to how much Chicago would be able to sweeten the deal in terms of future 1sts.
In terms of the specific target, Graham's preference for long, athletic players would suggest that Brown or Wagler are the players Chicago is intrigued by.
Brown comes in at 6-foot-3.5-inches and a 6-foot-7.5 wingspan, and is one of the more explosive guard prospects in the class with his ability to pressure on the rim. Wagler stands at 6-foot-5 with a not-impressive-for-his-size 6-foot-6 wingspan, but is nonetheless a big guard who should be able to play the wing as he adds strength.
If Chicago was able to come out of the 2026 NBA Draft with one of Caleb Wilson or Cameron Boozer, and one of the elite guard prospects projected to go top-10, there is almost no price that would appear too high on paper. This 2026 class appears to be loaded with enough talent to get the Bulls' rebuild back on track in a big way.
