The Chicago Bulls have reached the point in the offseason where the roster mostly looks set, and that’s exactly why the next move has to be the right one.
There’s still one open roster spot, but with Tobe Awaka and Jaylin Sellers in position as possible two-way contributors, Chicago can afford to keep that slot available for a buyout chance or a two-way conversion later on. The front office already made its bigger swings by adding Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain to the young core, then bringing in Nic Claxton and Norman Powell, moves that should help stabilize the roster in the NBA’s new “3-2-1” lottery system.
So the Bulls don’t need to chase anything else right now. Unless the perfect opportunity shows up.
That’s where Peyton Watson enters the picture. If Chicago can somehow land the Denver Nuggets wing in a sign-and-trade, it could be the rare deal worth making.
Watson checks a lot of boxes for what the Bulls seem to want: defense, athleticism, and room to keep growing at 23 years old. The question is whether Chicago has enough to get involved without overpaying.
At the moment, that possibility feels like a long shot. The Bulls would be better off keeping their expiring contracts intact unless the Watson market breaks their way. If it doesn’t, the smarter play is to wait until the trade deadline.
Watson’s appeal is obvious. Last season, with a larger role in Denver, he made a clear jump on both ends of the floor, putting up 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 49.1% from the field and 41.1% from 3-point range.
That kind of production is going to draw attention, and it already has. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Milwaukee Bucks are viewed as the most serious teams in the hunt, while others, including Chicago, are apparently waiting in the wings to see how things shake out.
On paper, the Bulls have enough contract pieces to build a package. Because sign-and-trades can only return half of a player’s annual value, Watson would require roughly $12 million to $15 million in outgoing salary, likely in expiring deals. Chicago could put together that money with some mix of Isaac Okoro, Jalen Smith, Tre Jones, and Leonard Miller, along with draft capital.
But that still may not be enough. The Nuggets reportedly want a player who can make an impact right away in any Watson deal, and it’s fair to wonder whether Jones or Okoro fits that description for Denver.
So while the framework exists, the odds do not. A Watson deal looks more like a fantasy than a realistic offseason outcome for Chicago right now.
Still, those same assets could matter a lot more later, when teams start hunting for ball-handling, shooting, and rebounding at the deadline. That’s why the Bulls need to keep their flexibility unless Watson is the one player available who justifies giving it up.
Even Bennedict Mathurin, whom Chicago has been loosely linked to, doesn’t appear to rise to that level.
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For the Bulls, the appeal comes in the form of an under-the-radar return that could help around the margins while the bigger names in the deal dominate the headline. Chicago is not the team going after Kuminga, but it would come out of the setup with a young wing and a little added flexibility, the sort of outcome that can matter on a roster still sorting out what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
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Norman Powell Just Raised The Stakes For This Bulls Season
The Bulls offseason has already given the roster a different look, with Caleb Wilson arriving as the No. 4 pick in the NBA Draft and Norman Powell coming aboard on a two-year contract as a proven scoring option. It is the kind of summer that invites bigger expectations, especially for a team trying to move past a run of limited postseason success and reset the tone around the franchise.
Powell has already framed the season in blunt terms, saying this group could go in either direction and stressing that the answer has to come from within, not from outside skepticism. For Chicago, that makes the coming months feel less like a transition and more like a test of belief, and the schedule for the 2026-27 season is set to arrive soon with the first real measuring stick for how high this group can aim. [Read more 🡒]