The Bulls’ clearest route to a stash of surplus draft picks might not come through the draft at all. It could come through Philadelphia, and it could start with Joel Embiid in the summer of 2027.
That’s the opening the latest blockbuster around the league creates. Boston’s decision to send 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown to the 76ers for Paul George - along with draft capital - signals something bigger: if Philadelphia is willing to sweeten a deal to move off George in the 2026 offseason, there may be a future path for another salary dump, only this time with Embiid.
For Chicago, the key is timing. Embiid would be entering his age-33 season when the 2027-28 campaign begins, and his contract would still have two fully guaranteed seasons left.
According to Spotrac, he’d be owed $62.6 million in 2027-28 and then $67.3 million in the final year of his deal, a player option for 2028-29. That makes the 2027 offseason, not the 2027 trade deadline, the moment that matters for the Bulls.
If Chicago wants Embiid’s salary to affect only two seasons on its cap sheet, it has to be an offseason acquisition.
The math can work, at least on paper. Chicago already has contracts that could help a Philadelphia team trying to stay competitive: guard Tyrese Maxey, guard V.J. Edgecombe, and wing Jaylen Brown are all cited as pieces that should be tradeable and useful in a 76ers rotation.
The Bulls could also build a deal around Nic Claxton and Norman Powell. Their expiring 2027-28 salary totals $44.1 million, according to Spotrac. Add Josh Giddey’s $25 million salary for 2027-28, and Chicago gets into Embiid territory financially.
If the Bulls are the team absorbing that kind of money, the asking price should be hefty. The draft return should start with Philadelphia’s unprotected 2032 first-round pick and its 2034 first-round pick, which becomes accessible in 2027. Second-round picks could be included too, though the idea here is that those don’t carry much weight with the Bulls’ front office anymore.
That front office, led by Bryson Graham, has already taken heat for effectively punting the Bulls’ 2026 NBA Draft second-round picks for cash. Letting Powell or Claxton leave for nothing would only deepen that blow. The cleaner play is to sign them to team-friendly, movable contracts and then turn those deals into draft capital.
That’s the larger vision here: not just collecting players, but using them as chips. Embiid would be the prize - the kind of expensive, complicated asset Chicago could take on while building toward something better.
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