The Chicago Bulls opened their 2026-27 regular season on the road against the Toronto Raptors, and the first night told a blunt story: nothing about Josh Giddey’s role can stay vague for much longer.
Chicago never grabbed a lead in the game, and the Bulls looked poor across the board in their debut. But the bigger issue for the franchise centered on Giddey, who is now in his third season with the team and remains one of the most divisive players on the roster since arriving in Chicago during the 2024 NBA offseason.
For Bulls fans, the debate around Giddey has lived in two camps: the people pointing to his box score, and the people convinced he “doesn’t play winning basketball”. After the Raptors’ physical defense put Chicago through a rough opening-night test, that argument looks harder to keep alive.
The first quarter offered a small flash of what Giddey can do when things are working. He found some success in a two-man game with Jalen Smith and came away with two assists. Those possessions were useful because Giddey was able to attack downhill and force Toronto’s defense to collapse before setting up Smith at the rim.
That was about as good as it got.
Giddey spent much of the rest of the night as a quiet presence in the offense. He turned the ball over with the kind of sloppiness that keeps showing up, and he never got into a true shooting rhythm. He also didn’t generate enough shooting volume to make the Raptors worry about him as a scorer.
That leaves the Bulls at a crossroads with a player who has generated plenty of discussion but not enough certainty. If Giddey wants to settle the question of his value as a starting NBA point guard, he has to create a real offensive edge.
That could come through more off-ball work in the actions he runs after giving the ball up. It could also mean taking more catch-and-shoot threes, even if that means passing less.
Against Toronto’s punishing defense, the clearest takeaway was simple: Giddey finding an early shooting rhythm matters more than padding the assist total.
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That makes the matchup with the Raptors more than just another opening-night game. Chicago is expected to give young players real responsibility right away, and Caleb Wilson is among the prospects who could be thrust into a prominent role as the season begins. For a Bulls team trying to establish a new identity, early performances like this one matter, because they can reveal whether the rebuild is ahead of schedule or still in the early stages of figuring itself out. [Read more 🡒]