The Bulls shouldn’t be letting the new lottery rules scare them off a full teardown.
That’s the wrong lesson to pull from the early chatter around Chicago’s 2027 trade deadline. The league’s revised system is already shaping how teams think about the bottom of the standings, but if the Bulls are treating the “relegation zone” like a reason to hold onto useful veterans, they’re missing the bigger picture.
The discussion picked up Wednesday when The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer reported that the Golden State Warriors reached out to the Bulls to talk through possible trade ideas tied to their roster availability issue with center Kristaps Porzingis. Fischer also pointed to Jalen Smith as the kind of player Golden State would have interest in, citing his age, contract value and ability to shoot threes.
That part of the read makes sense. The part that doesn’t hold up is the idea that Chicago should hesitate because of where it might finish in the standings.
“Chicago - like any rebuilding team across the next three seasons - has to factor in the league's new lottery rules when surrendering any player who can help them stay competitive. ”
“Those teams no longer have the same incentive to pursue draft assets and financial flexibility in every deal when a bottom-three record reduces your chances of winning the lottery in May.”
If that logic is driving the Bulls’ thinking, then Bryson Graham and his staff are looking at the rebuild the wrong way. Avoiding the league’s bottom three should not be the priority. It should be the last thing on the list.
The reason is pretty simple: the 2027 draft class is expected to be weaker than other classes from the 2020s. So if Chicago winds up in position to land a top-five pick in 2027, that may not be the best use of the opportunity anyway. Under the NBA’s anti-tanking rules, a team also can’t pick in the top five in consecutive draft years, which makes the 2028 draft even more important.
That’s why the Bulls should be thinking less about protecting their 2027 draft slot and more about turning veteran pieces into value while they can. Players like Jalen Smith and free-throw attempt enthusiast Norman Powell fit that category, and any chance to extract return from that group should be on the table.
More than anything, Chicago needs to speed up the roster teardown that should have started when Graham took over the front office. Seven games into the 2026-27 season, the Bulls are 1-6 and still look like a collection of pieces that don’t fit together. Outside of Caleb Wilson, there isn’t much here that looks like it will grow alongside him.
The real task for Graham is not managing draft-position anxiety. It’s finding a credible first version of a roster built around Wilson, and doing it quickly.
In Other News...
Bulls Linked To A Defensive Guard With One Huge Top Pick Concern
The early buzz around the 2027 draft has already started to circle back to Chicago, and one name tied to the Bulls is Arkansas freshman guard Smith. Jonathan Wassermans latest mock has the 6-foot-2 prospect landing with the Bulls near the top of the board, which is enough to get attention given the franchises need to keep adding young talent with two-way upside. Smith arrived with a reputation built on strong high school production, and his first taste of college ball hinted at why evaluators are intrigued.
What makes him such a compelling fit is also what keeps the conversation from getting too far ahead of itself. Smith showed defensive strength and enough scoring pop to look like a real lottery-level prospect, but the next step is proving his decision-making and shooting can hold up against NBA pressure. For a Bulls team watching the draft landscape this far out, the appeal is obvious, even if the biggest question around him is still very much unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Already Face A Tough Call With Dailyn Swain And The Frontcourt
The Bulls are taking a measured approach with Dailyn Swain as the season opens, with head coach Tiago Splitter saying the No. 15 overall pick will be assigned to the G League. It is the kind of early developmental decision that can be easy to overlook in October, but for Chicago it speaks to how carefully the team wants to handle a young player who has had limited NBA minutes and is still working through the adjustment period.
Chicagos frontcourt picture adds another layer to the decision. Jalen Smith is dealing with a wrist injury, though there is optimism he could be back soon, and the Bulls are also waiting on Nic Claxton to return and help stabilize the defense. For a team trying to balance immediate rotation needs with long-term growth, the timing of Swains assignment only sharpens the questions up front. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Have A Bigger Problem Than Their 1-7 Record
The early-season record is ugly enough, but the deeper concern around the Bulls is how completely they have been overwhelmed on both ends of the floor. Through the first stretch of the 2026-27 season, Chicago has struggled to score efficiently, has been leaky defensively and has not shown the kind of consistent effort that usually gives a young team a chance to survive rough patches.
There is still a long season ahead, and that is the one thing working in the Bulls favor. With a roster built around youth, the hope is that the group can stabilize as the schedule goes on, but right now the bigger issue is not just losing games - it is how historically lopsided those losses have been, and how much ground Chicago has already dug itself before the season has even settled in. [Read more 🡒]