The Bulls are heading into a brutal early stretch in 2026-27, and the schedule alone would be enough to test a young team trying to find its footing. Six of their first eight games are on the road, and a heavy dose of likely playoff opponents waits in the opening three weeks.
A surprise hot start like last season’s 6-1 burst is possible, but that group had continuity and a clear identity. This one does not.
That’s the challenge in front of Tiago Splitter. His task is bigger than just managing games; he has to help build a style of play from the ground up.
He comes in with some ideas from his time in Portland, but even that situation wasn’t a clean handoff. He inherited a team early in the season after it had already gone through training camp with a different coach.
So the preseason should matter a lot for Chicago. Very quickly, it ought to show what kind of basketball this new-look Bulls group wants to play. And just as quickly, it may expose the roster issue that could make that vision harder to pull off.
Bryson Graham acknowledged the obvious right after the 2026 NBA Draft ended. With two first-round picks in hand, he joked with reporters about what fans would be asking.
“We’re not addressing every skill yet," Graham said. "A lot of people might say, ‘where is the shooting at!’
I’m not typically worried about that right now. There is a certain mentality and a certain profile in a way that Coach Tiago and I want to play.
And we feel like today was a good layer for that.”
Graham eventually did try to patch the shooting concern in free agency by bringing in Norman Powell. That matters. Powell is the best shooter the Bulls added, and his career 39.6 percent mark from three gives the young wings some much-needed spacing.
But one good shooter does not solve a roster-wide issue. Jalen Smith may be the next-best option from long range, though he has averaged only 17.0 minutes per game over his career. Josh Giddey has improved as a shooter in recent years, but he still does not force defenses to panic from deep, especially since he does not create much for himself off the bounce.
There is some hope that Caleb Wilson can be better than expected from three. He gave Bulls fans a reason to think that might be true in Summer League.
Even so, asking a rookie to carry that burden is a lot. And even if Wilson delivers, it would not suddenly make this a dangerous shooting team across the board.
The deeper issue is that the Bulls simply have too many limited shooters in the rotation. Tre Jones, Isaac Okoro, Rob Dillingham and Leonard Miller all fit into that category, and that creates a real problem for a team trying to stay competitive while also giving its athletic young wings space to operate.
Splitter can still build something workable. His Portland experience may help him here, because that Trail Blazers team also lacked proven shooting and still launched the third-most shots per game. They did it by leaning into the offensive glass, where they became one of the league’s best rebounding teams.
Even so, the most likely drag on this Bulls group over the next few months is pretty clear: what happens from behind the arc. The encouraging part for Graham is that he still has room to keep adjusting.
He even has an open roster spot available this offseason. For now, though, there should be some rough nights waiting at the three-point line.
In Other News...
Bulls May Face A Norman Powell Decision Sooner Than Expected
Norman Powells arrival gives the Bulls another veteran option as they try to navigate a brutal early stretch and keep their season from sliding too far off course. Chicago signed the guard to a two-year deal with a team option on the second season, giving the front office some flexibility while it figures out how quickly Powell can fit into the rotation and help steady a team that may need late-season traction.
The larger issue is where the Bulls end up in the standings once the schedule starts to ease. Chicago would prefer to stay in the middle of the lottery range rather than tumble near the very bottom, where the new NBA rules make the odds less appealing, and Powell could become more than just a pickup for the present if he helps them claw back into a better position later on. How much the Bulls lean on him may end up being tied to how the first few months unfold. [Read more 🡒]