The Bulls didn’t get a fair-weather sample of Caleb Wilson right away. In his first two games, the rookie from North Carolina has already taken a brutal opening-night beating and a bounce-back win over Milwaukee, and Chicago is treating the early returns as part of the bigger picture.
Wilson opened the season with 16 points and 4 rebounds in a 43-point loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, but the rough edges showed too: he committed nine turnovers. Two nights later, he responded with 21 points and 6 rebounds as the Bulls edged the Bucks 132-125.
Before Chicago’s home opener against the Washington Wizards on Friday, VP of Basketball Operations Bryson Graham offered a clear endorsement of Wilson’s approach, per Bulls on CHSN.
“He's relentless…He wants to be great…It's not fake. It's genuine,” Graham said.
That kind of praise fits the way the Bulls are framing this new era. Graham, hired in May after the firings of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, has taken over with a rebuilding plan centered on the long view rather than quick fixes.
He’s also been pushing his SLAP acronym: Size, Length, Athleticism, and Physicality. Wilson checks every one of those boxes.
The rookie also entered the regular season with momentum, after a preseason in which he averaged 15.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Chicago’s next stretch is already lined up: after facing the Wizards on Saturday, the Bulls head to Boston to play the Celtics on Monday, October 26, before returning home to meet the defending champion New York Knicks on Wednesday, October 28.
"He's relentless...He wants to be great...It's not fake. It's genuine."
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) October 24, 2026
Bulls Executive VP of Basketball Operations Bryson Graham on Caleb Wilson's growth from game one to game two 📈 pic.twitter.com/Dape2uuXK0
In Other News...
Bulls Fans Got The Exact Spark They Wanted From Two Young Names
The United Center got the kind of early jolt it had been waiting for in the Bulls home opener against Washington, with two young names quickly setting the tone. Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis helped ignite the building in the first quarter, and the energy carried into a first half that felt like it belonged to the next wave of this roster as much as the established pieces.
Wilson, in particular, was everywhere early, piling up 17 points before halftime and doing much of his damage above the rim. With the Bulls ahead 62-57 at the time of reporting, the larger question shifted from the hot start itself to whether Chicago could keep that same burst going once the Wizards tried to settle the game down. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Win Still Left One Matas Buzelis Decision Under Fire
The Bulls finally got into the win column with a 132-125 victory over the Bucks, but the celebration came with a bit of an eyebrow raise around Matas Buzelis. Chicago was already playing without most of its starters, with Caleb Wilson and Norman Powell among the few regulars available, yet Buzelis still saw his role cut down after being a notable starter in the rotation.
He logged 17 minutes and scored 7 points, while Tre Jones and Issac Okoro picked up some of the minutes he might have gotten. For a player entering his junior season and averaging 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds so far, the usage stood out enough to prompt questions, and coach Tiago Splitter framed it as a move aimed at helping the team most in the moment. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Waste A Breakout Night In Home Opener Collapse
Caleb Wilson gave the United Center crowd a reason to lean forward in the Bulls home opener, especially in the early going. The rookie was active throughout the night and gave Chicago a needed jolt in transition, part of a performance that helped the Bulls pile up fastbreak points even as the game tightened against Washington.
But the swing came in the third quarter, when Chicagos early cushion slipped away and the Wizards seized control on the road. The Bulls had enough burst to stay in it late, yet the middle stretch turned what looked like a promising opener into a frustrating finish, one that left Wilsons breakout showing buried under the result. [Read more 🡒]