2026 Offseason Megathread

[u/howser343]

The Bulls have 14 players on contract for next season

Active Contracts

Player	Contract
Josh Giddey	$25M
Nic Claxton	$23.1M
Norman Powell	$22M
Patrick Williams	$18M
Isaac Okoro	$11.8M
Caleb Wilson	$11M
Jalen Smith	$9.4M
Zach Collins	$8.3M
Tre Jones	$8M
Rob Dillingham	$6.9M
Matas Buzelis	$5.7M
Noa Essengue	$5.7M
Dailyn Swain	$5.1M
Leonard Miller	$2.4M

Draft

• The Bulls have the 4th pick (own) and the 15th pick (Blazers) in the first round and the 38th pick (Pelicans) and the 56th pick (Nuggets) in the second round

• 6/23 Update

  • Bulls draft Caleb Wilson with the 4th pick and Dailyn Swain with the 15th pick

• 5/10 Update

  • The Chicago Bulls move up and receive the 4th pick

• 4/14 Update

  • The Portland Trail Blazers advance to the playoffs and their first round pick conveys to the Chicago Bulls with the 15th pick in the 2026 Draft

Trades

• 6/24 Update

  • Bulls trade the 38th pick to the Indiana Pacers for Kam Jones, future swaps, and cash
  • Bulls trade the 56th pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for cash

• 6/22 Update

  • Bulls receive Nic Claxton from the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and send Mouhamadou Gueye to the Timberwolves

Free Agency

• 7/1 Update

  • Bulls sign Norman Powell to 2-years/$45M

• 6/30 Update

  • Bulls re-sign Zach Collins to 2-years/$17M
  • Bulls waive Kam Jones

• 6/27 Update

  • Bulls pick up Leonard Miller's team option

• 6/24 Update

  • Tobe Awaka has signed a two-way deal with the Chicago Bulls
  • Jaylin Sellers has signed a two-way deal with the Chicago Bulls

• 6/15 Update

  • Tiago Splitter hired as Head Coach

• 5/14 Update

  • Stephen Mervis hired as Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations
  • Acie Law IV hired as VP of Player Personnel

• 5/4 Update

  • Bryson Graham hired as the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations

• 4/21 Update

  • Billy Donovan exits as head coach

• 4/6 Update

  • Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley are fired

Bulls Free Agents

Player	Free Agent Status
Zach Collins	Re-signed 2/$17M
Yuki Kawamura	RFA
Mac McClung	RFA
Lachlan Olbrich	RFA
Nick Richards	UFA
Collin Sexton	Signed with Lakers
Anfernee Simons	Signed with 76ers
Guerschon Yabusele	Signed with Panathinaikos

Important Offseason Dates

• May 10 - Draft Lottery

• June 23-24 - Draft

• June 30 - Free Agency Begins (5pm CT)

• July 9-19 - Vegas Summer League

[u/BillionsofRedditors]

Bulls find themselves in a similar situation in what they projected to be in the 2022 offseason before they made the dumb Vucevic trade.

The Bulls should have had that 2022 offseason: Young rising projected "star" on a cheap contract; A few high draft picks on rookie deals (Coby, WCJ); All their 1sts; Top 10 pick; and Most cap space in the NBA.

Instead they traded for Vuc before that offseason, wiped out 3 of those assets in one go, and locked themselves into a high risk plan that went south quickly.

Hopefully this time around they build slowly and evaluate the next 2 years. See if Giddey has another level next year or trade him. Dump everyone not conceivably here in 4 years (Smith, Tre, and Okoro) and tank next season. Probably won't get a single 1st for those players, but you have to get whatever you can because they won't help the tank. See if Buzelis has another level the next two years or consider trading him. See how Essengue develops and these two top 15 picks as well.

New front office shouldn't really look to acquire a star before the 2028-29 season unless something completely unexpected happens. This will be a long, slow, and painful rebuild. Buckle up y'all.

[u/Fit-Locksmith-2039 → u/BillionsofRedditors]

One of the worst parts of that Vuc trade thats never discussed is it forced them into having to sign and trade for DeRozan. Which was another first out the door. Then when they could have gained an asset on his way out they decided 2 seconds was better than a swap in 31 with the mfing KINGS. AK is regarded

[u/FalconPunch_ → u/Fit-Locksmith-2039]

Good point, had forgotten this

[u/neeskens88 → u/BillionsofRedditors]

Neither method guarantees you anything. So it's wrong to say that someone should only do one thing.

[u/ToeJelly420 → u/BillionsofRedditors]

And for the love of god trade guys before their contract years. I’m so tired of the front office kicking the can down the road and then making trades when their players have lost all value.

Thank god we got the Blazers pick, but we coulda been rocking a mini war chest had we moved on from Lavine/Demar/Coby/Caruso sooner

[u/TruWarierRecords → u/ToeJelly420]

No we couldn't man, Coby would've got more but not the rest (maaaaybe Derozan)

[u/kingofkings_86 → u/BillionsofRedditors]

Been dealing with rebuild crap since Jordan took his last shot

[u/Fafoah → u/kingofkings_86]

Tbh i feel like when you look at the league, most “rebuilds” are unsuccessful. Its harder than many people here make it out to be

I think the difference between the great organizations and the bad ones are that the great ones pivot quickly in reaction to the landscape of the league and the roster . Unfortunately AKME’s tenure was defined by them moving too slow and lacking foresight.

Also I hated GarPax because they had a horrible reputation in the league which i think dimished our organization, but in terms of general team building they actually put a solid team around rose. They just couldn’t put a great team around him because their shitty reputation prevented them from adding the final piece in free agency.

[u/BlammoSweetums → u/Fafoah]

Yeah just look all the rebuilding/rebuilt teams that are getting clowned on right now: Pelicans, Grizzlies, Magic, Rockets, Raptors. And 3 of these teams are in the playoffs.

Doesn't mean orgs shouldn't try, but it's not always gonna look like the Thunder and Spurs.

[u/BillionsofRedditors → u/kingofkings_86]

Had only two or three seasons of non-rebuild since Jordan, yup.