The Bulls spent the offseason tied to two of the more buzzed-about young names in the league, but the reality on both fronts was a little less dramatic than the rumors suggested.
Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic says Chicago’s supposed pursuit of Bennedict Mathurin was overstated, which matches what he has reported before. Lorenzi notes that Mathurin’s game didn’t really fit what the Bulls were trying to build, calling his style “particularly additive” to the roster. He also suggests the team may not have been eager to make a serious long-term commitment, pointing to the two-year deal Mathurin signed with the Pelicans, a contract that includes a second-year player option, as a “level of commitment the Bulls never seemed willing to reach.”
The Jonathan Kuminga interest was more real, Lorenzi writes. Chicago had a reason to be in that mix, too: head of basketball operations Bryson Graham was in Atlanta’s front office when the Hawks landed Kuminga at last season’s trade deadline.
Even so, the Bulls weren’t prepared to sell him on a guaranteed path to major minutes or a featured offensive role. A source told The Athletic that Chicago would have kept prioritizing the growth of Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis.
Kuminga instead chose a Timberwolves offer that gave him a shot to win a starting job on a team with championship aspirations.
Elsewhere in the Central, ESPN’s Zach Kram gave the Cavaliers a B for their summer work. Cleveland did lose depth, but it also stayed out of tax apron territory while re-signing James Harden and adding Peyton Watson, a wing Kram sees as a possible impact piece.
In ESPN’s offseason recap and season preview, Kram also singled out Jaylon Tyson as the Cavs’ X factor for 2026/27, especially with Keon Ellis, Dean Wade, Dennis Schröder, and Max Strus all gone. Tyson is expected to step into a major rotation role.
Kram also weighed in on the Pacers, handing Indiana a B-minus for a summer that basically came down to adding Kelly Oubre Jr. and swapping Micah Potter for Larry Nance Jr. The bigger move came earlier, when the front office traded for Ivica Zubac at the 2026 in-season deadline. Kram views Indiana’s new starting center as the team’s biggest X factor heading into the season.
On the coaching side, the Pistons announced that Steve Scalzi has been named head coach of the Motor City Cruise. Scalzi spent the last three seasons as an assistant on Detroit’s staff and now takes over for Jamelle McMillan, who coached the G League team for three seasons. The Cruise also thanked McMillan in a farewell statement for his work with the club.
In Other News...
Bulls Rebuild Already Faces One Debate Fans Wont Ignore
The Bulls are approaching the 2026-27 season with a clear priority: growth over a quick return to the playoff chase. The front office wants this stretch to be about player development and a deeper look at the roster, with young pieces such as Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson getting the kind of runway that can tell the team what it really has.
Norman Powell and Nic Claxton were brought in to help steady the structure around that youth movement, giving Chicago more support on both ends while the evaluation continues. Even with outside skepticism about where the Bulls belong in the leagues pecking order, the more interesting question might be whether this group can stay competitive enough to make the rebuild feel less like a teardown and more like a meaningful step forward. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Giddey Has Become A Bulls Decision They Can't Dodge
Josh Giddey gave the Bulls plenty to like in the 2025-26 season, delivering steady offense with 17.0 points and 9.1 assists per game while knocking down 1.9 three-pointers a night. He also shot a respectable .448 from the field, .364 from deep and .763 at the line, numbers that helped make him one of the more productive pieces in Chicagos rotation and a player the offense could lean on more often.
The harder question is what the Bulls can live with on the other end, because Giddeys impact still comes with real defensive baggage in perimeter matchups. Chicago can appreciate the playmaking and scoring, but the longer this goes on, the more the team has to decide whether his offensive value is enough to cover the defensive concerns or whether his role needs to be managed in a different way. [Read more 🡒]