The Chicago Bulls have enough going on right now without getting dragged back into the same tired GOAT arguments.
Michael Jordan’s place in Bulls history is beyond dispute. He won six NBA championships and piled up a stockpile of other awards during his Chicago run from 1984 to 1998. But plenty of Bulls fans, and plenty of NBA fans in general, never saw that dominance unfold in real time.
For those who didn’t watch Jordan carve through the 1990s, LeBron James is the name that tends to dominate the conversation. And for Bulls fans, that name still carries baggage. James was the roadblock that stood in the way of the Bulls’ last real stretch of NBA relevance in the early 2010s, when Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Carlos Boozer formed the core.
That’s part of why the GOAT debate has lingered so long. Ever since James won his first title with the Miami Heat in 2012, the argument has become a permanent fixture - from casual barbershop talk to the kind of segment that seems to show up on every national NBA show no matter where the league calendar stands.
But from a Bulls perspective in 2026, it’s hard to see why that debate should matter much at all. It is one of the least useful topics in NBA conversation, and it feels even less relevant when the current Bulls have real questions and real promise in front of them.
There’s also a fresh wrinkle in the league landscape: James will be playing for the Philadelphia 76ers when the 2026-27 season begins. If he wins a fifth NBA title there, fine. If he doesn’t, that changes nothing for the Bulls.
What does matter is that Chicago has an actual team worth watching right now.
The upcoming season brings a mix of concern and optimism, and the rookie who has generated the loudest buzz is Caleb Wilson. His Las Vegas Summer League showings drew near-unanimous praise, and the excitement around him has started to build the kind of superstar talk that franchises dream about.
Even more encouraging for Chicago is the early workout partnership between Wilson and Matas Buzelis. In a league where wings can tilt everything, the Bulls may finally have the kind of wing pairing that can matter in a big way. For the first time since the dynasty, that possibility is at least on the table.
Not every part of the picture is rosy. Noa Essengue and Dailyn Swain sit at opposite ends of the worry scale.
Swain, taken 15th in the 2026 NBA Draft, is already facing questions from fans about whether he was the right choice, and he has the whole season ahead to answer them. Essengue’s outlook is also under a cloud after his summer league performance, along with the sharp criticism that has followed him in the media.
So yes, the Bulls have plenty to sort out. But that’s exactly the point. They’re relevant because of what’s happening in front of them, not because of some endless argument about who sits on top of basketball’s all-time pyramid.
In Other News...
Bulls Are Being Tempted Into Another Costly Wing Gamble
The Bulls are again being nudged toward a wing move that looks cleaner on paper than it does in the larger roster picture. Denver has reportedly softened its ask for Peyton Watson in sign-and-trade talks, now looking for a high-level player and a first-round pick, which is enough to put Chicago on alert as it weighs whether the 22-year-old forward is worth the price.
But the fit question is still doing a lot of work here. Watson is expected to command a significant contract, and the Bulls would have to decide whether to commit more draft capital to a player with limited proven production while their own young core remains unsettled. Patrick Williams is part of the equation too, and the broader warning for Chicago is simple enough: in a roster that still needs clarity, another expensive wing gamble could close off more paths than it opens. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Just Got An Unexpected Rebuild Safety Net
The Bulls are heading into 2026-27 with a different look, a new head coach and a revamped roster, but the bigger backdrop may matter just as much as the roster shuffle. The Eastern Conference is shaping up to be unforgiving, with the defending champion Knicks sitting among the major obstacles, and that kind of depth could give Chicago a little more room to grow while it sorts out what this version of the team can actually be.
For a franchise trying to rebuild without getting buried, that is not nothing. A finish in the play-in range or somewhere in the middle of the pack would probably read as a step forward in this environment, especially if the Bulls can show signs that the new pieces fit and that Caleb Wilson can be the kind of talent fans are already hoping will help drive the turnaround. [Read more 🡒]