The Bulls have already done the heavy lifting this offseason, reshaping the roster in a way that gives them more youth and upside than they’ve had in years. But with one spot still open, Chicago may not be done yet.
That final move comes with a built-in limit. Unless the Bulls make a trade, the only way to fill their 15th roster spot is by using their room mid-level exception, which is worth $9.4 million next season.
In other words, whoever they add can’t make more than that. The real question is whether that money should go toward another swing or toward a safer fit.
The better path is clear: the Bulls should chase veteran competence.
They do not need to force a signing just to say the roster is full. The wrong addition could end up being a subtraction by addition, and that’s the last thing this group needs. The player they bring in has to fit alongside the core, not get in the way of it.
That starts with ball usage. Josh Giddey, Matas Buzelis, and Caleb Wilson need room to work.
Giddey is the guy who can help get Buzelis and Wilson into the right spots, so Chicago would be wise not to clog the mix with another on-ball player who wants touches. That would only cut into opportunities for the young players the Bulls are trying to develop.
Shooting should be the priority. A player like Norman Powell fits that idea neatly, but Chicago could use more spacing off the bench in general. That kind of help would make life easier for Giddey, Buzelis, and Wilson, and it would also give Dailyn Swain and Noa Essengue a better environment to grow in.
That’s part of why Bennedict Mathurin may not be the cleanest answer. He’s a gifted scorer, but the Bulls need a complementary piece more than they need another player looking to carry an offense.
The market also isn’t exactly overflowing with obvious difference-makers this late in the summer. Chicago could even look overseas and take a chance on someone who has been out of the league for a bit, the way Cleveland did with Mario Hezonja, Minnesota did with Trey Lyles, and Denver did with Lonnie Walker.
There are also more modest veteran names who could make sense. Seth Curry, Bruce Brown, and Gabe Vincent are among the players who can still contribute. Lindy Waters, Aaron Holiday, and Ochai Agbaji are other options who could compete for rotation minutes in Chicago.
None of those names will light up the fan base on first glance. But the Bulls already have enough young players to sell excitement.
What they need now is someone who can come in, defend, and knock down shots. In this spot, a steady veteran like Brown, Vincent, or Holiday may do more for Chicago than a louder signing ever could.
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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 🡒]