The Chicago Bulls spent $44 million this summer on Norman Powell, hoping an experienced scorer could help steady a young roster. Less than a month into the season, though, his name is already surfacing in trade talk.
That’s a sharp turn for a team that entered the year expecting Powell to be part of a push toward competitiveness. Instead, Chicago sits at 1-6, has dropped five straight, and looks far from ready to make noise in the standings.
According to NBA insider Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, Powell could become a trade candidate if the Bulls keep sliding. Deveney noted that some around the league originally believed Chicago signed Powell with the idea of moving him later, but the team’s real hope was that he would help a competitive roster take a step forward.
That part hasn’t gone according to plan.
Powell has done his job individually. He’s averaging 20.7 points per game, and he added 18 points in Monday’s 126-107 loss to Philadelphia.
The issue isn’t his production. It’s that his scoring hasn’t changed the bigger picture around him.
Chicago didn’t bring in another veteran bucket-getter just to make losses look cleaner. The Bulls needed someone who could help turn a young group into a legitimate playoff team, and that hasn’t happened yet.
Deveney suggested Powell could draw interest across the league, though landing a first-round pick in return might be a stretch. That leaves Chicago with an awkward question: if the Bulls move him for less than that, what was the point of the signing?
There’s nothing wrong with adding a productive veteran. Young players can absolutely benefit from having someone like Powell in the locker room and on the floor. He’s proven he can score at the NBA level, and his contract runs through next season, with a team option for 2027-28.
But the Bulls have spent years drifting between two timelines, never fully rebuilding and never fully committing to winning now. Eventually, the front office has to choose.
If Chicago truly believes this roster can chase a playoff spot, then keeping Powell makes sense. If the losses keep stacking up, holding onto him just because he arrived a few months ago becomes a tougher sell.
The bigger issue is the young core. Caleb Wilson, Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey matter more to Chicago’s future than squeezing a few extra wins out of this season.
Trading Powell wouldn’t automatically mean the Bulls made a bad signing. They could still recoup value from a player on a contract that gives another team flexibility. But settling for a weak return just to get out from under the deal would only deepen the problem.
For now, there’s no sign a move is close. Still, the fact that Powell is already in the rumor mill says plenty about where things stand. Chicago spent the summer trying to speed up its rebuild, and now it may have to explain why it’s thinking about changing course before Thanksgiving.
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