The Bulls didn’t exactly sweat Thursday night. Once the top three picks fell the way people expected, Chicago’s choice at No. 4 became a formality, and Caleb Wilson was the name everyone had circled for weeks. The North Carolina forward is headed to the Windy City, where the hope is simple: he grows into a franchise cornerstone.
That optimism comes from the same place draft buzz always starts - the physical gifts. Wilson has the size, the length and the kind of speed that makes him look like he’s running downhill while everyone else is still getting set. He finishes above the rim, competes on defense and, according to the people who had to game-plan for him, seems to bring his sharpest edge against the best competition.
Jeff Borzello of ESPN went straight to the coaches who saw Wilson up close, and the reactions were full of the same kind of amazement. One coach didn’t just like the tools - he went all the way to a Giannis comparison.
“He’s taller than you think, he’s longer than you think,” one coach said. “In the open court, he was down the court in three dribbles.
It felt like a college version of Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. Full speed, with the ball in his hands.
Is he a finished product? Absolutely not, but that’s what’s exciting.
His skills can still develop. The passes off the dribble in motion, I didn’t think he had that in his game.
He’s just scratching the surface, but his combination of positional size - can he slide down to the 3, can you play him as a small-ball 5 - length, athleticism, ball skills, I was blown away.
“Every possession, flying all over the place, blocking shots, getting steals, out on the break.”
That kind of comparison carries weight for a reason. Giannis Antetokounmpo arrived in the NBA as a raw, skinny 6’9″, 196 lbs prospect with a reputation built on athleticism and rim pressure more than polish.
The shot lagged behind. The strength came later.
Over time, he added mass, got up to 240 lbs and turned himself into one of the league’s most overwhelming forces.
Wilson’s challenge looks familiar. At 211 lbs, he already has a better frame to build from, and unlike Antetokounmpo, he’s already proven himself against high-level competition.
But the same question hangs over his ceiling: what happens when the jumper catches up? That shot is the hinge point.
If it improves, everything else gets louder.
Wilson says he’s ready for that work, and the Bulls won’t have to wait forever to find out how real that commitment is. By the end of his rookie season, there should be a much clearer picture.
Chicago should also have some help in place. Tiago Splitter, the Bulls’ new head coach, comes in after guiding the Portland Trail Blazers to a surprise winning season. Before coaching, he played in the NBA and shot 55% for his career, which gives him a useful lens for working with a big man trying to clean up his mechanics and become more efficient.
The Bulls will likely add more support around that process, too. The article points out that Chicago fired shooting coach Peter Patton in 2024, a decision that drew criticism, and notes that Gregg Popovich always had a shooting coach on his staff in San Antonio. Splitter is expected to bring one in to help Wilson and the rest of the roster.
For Chicago, the assignment is obvious. If Wilson is the kind of star this franchise believes he can become, the Bulls have to give him every possible chance to get there.
The payoff could be enormous. The Bulls know what life looks like when they have a superstar - Michael Jordan made that clear, and Derrick Rose did it again.
Wilson is being talked about as the closest thing the organization has had to that level of talent in a long time.
In Other News...
Bulls May Finally Have A Real Answer To Their Shooting Problem
The Bulls offseason planning is already taking shape well before 2026 free agency arrives, and the front office appears to have a clear priority: add more reliable shooting around a roster that has been searching for answers on that front. Mike Scotto of Hoops Hype reported Chicago is keeping an eye on veteran options, with Bryson Graham and the basketball ops group looking at ways to use cap flexibility to improve both the backcourt and the front line while staying under the salary cap.
Norman Powell has emerged as the kind of proven scoring presence that could change the look of the Bulls rotation, while Jock Landale is also on the radar as a more practical fit for Tiago Splitters system. Chicago is positioned to be active with real spending power, and the possibility of using a sizable offer for Powell or a room exception-type raise for Landale gives the team a path to add experience without waiting on a trade market to break its way. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Are Suddenly In The Hunt For A Coveted Young Wing
Chicago has been mentioned in the same breath as the Lakers in the market for young wing help, and that alone says something about how the Bulls are being viewed as a potential player in restricted free agency. Peyton Watson has surfaced as the kind of long, versatile forward teams keep circling when they think about upgrading the roster without locking themselves into the wrong long-term fit, and Chicago's projected cap space makes the idea more than a passing thought.
Denver, of course, is not expected to make this easy. The Nuggets are treating Watson like a core part of what comes next, and they are even looking at salary moves around the edges to preserve him, which is the clearest sign of his value in their plans. For the Bulls, the question is whether this is a real opening or just another case of a team doing its due diligence while a rival stands ready to keep the player in place. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Still Have A Chance To Change Everything This Summer
With the 2026 NBA Draft in the books and the league already shifting into its next phase, the Bulls are one of the teams worth watching closely. The top of the draft brought in names like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson, while the trade market has already been busy enough to reshape the summer landscape, with Giannis Antetokounmpo landing in Miami and players such as LaMelo Ball and Julius Randle changing teams as well. Chicago has not been standing still either, and its roster picture looks different enough now to make the next few weeks matter.
What gives the Bulls a real opening is flexibility. They have cap space to chase free agency and, after adding Nic Claxton in the Julius Randle deal without giving up anything significant, they still have room to keep pressing if the right opportunity comes along. Chicago can use that money to pursue a proven star, and with teams like the Brooklyn Nets also expected to be active, the Bulls are headed into a market where one aggressive move could change the direction of the summer fast. [Read more 🡒]