For the Chicago Bulls, the rebuild can’t just be about patience. It has to be about timing.
That’s the real assignment for Bryson Graham as he takes over a front office that was handed to him after Arturas Karnisovas spent years steering the Bulls into a dead-end cycle. The problem wasn’t just bad results.
It was a refusal to make a clean call on where the franchise stood, or when it should have shifted gears. Instead of chasing upside in the 2024 or 2025 NBA Drafts, the Bulls kept grinding through seasons aimed at little more than NBA Play-in Tournament appearances.
Three straight trade deadlines passed from 2022 through 2024 without Chicago moving a player, before the front office finally broke that stretch in the 2024 offseason with the polarizing Alex Caruso-for-Josh Giddey deal that brought back no draft assets.
That’s the backdrop for Graham’s first big challenge: figure out when the Bulls should move from rebuilding into competing, and do it before the rest of the Eastern Conference leaves the door shut.
One useful way to look at that is by tracking the East in tiers, because Chicago’s path depends as much on what happens elsewhere as it does on its own roster. In the near term, the Bulls are in a good spot to stay patient. Three teams they should not have to fear as serious future threats after the 2026-27 NBA season are the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat.
Detroit is already headed into turbulence. The Pistons traded Isaiah Stewart during the 2026 NBA offseason, and they’ve also landed in a messy restricted free-agent situation with presumed starting center Jalen Duren. That frontcourt identity is fraying fast.
Miami’s situation is built around a very different kind of uncertainty. The Heat’s marquee 2026 offseason addition was Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the question hanging over 2026-27 is whether he can stay healthy enough to make a deep playoff run. As the source puts it, “Frankly, the Greek Freak hasn’t given evidence to the contrary since he led the Bucks to the franchise's first NBA title in 50 years during the 2020-21 NBA season.”
Orlando could be at a crossroads too. The Magic enter 2026-27 after three straight first-round exits, with only $2.5 million separating them from the second apron and Sean Sweeney stepping in as the new head coach. If they’re bounced again in the first round of the 2027 NBA Playoffs, it’s difficult to see them avoiding some kind of reset that could force a choice between Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero.
That means Chicago may not need to rush. The Bulls can wait until 2028, and maybe even a little longer, before they’re expected to be back in the thick of the East. By the end of the 2027-28 season, the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, and Philadelphia 76ers should be on the downslope as conference powers, whether because of second-apron complications in New York or Boston, or simply because LeBron James is getting older in Philadelphia and, to a lesser degree, Paul George in Boston.
Beyond that, the picture opens up even more. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors could still be hanging around as legitimate top-four East teams into the 2028-29 season, with Toronto leaning on Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles, and Cleveland potentially built around some combination of Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell. Those are two teams Chicago will eventually have to catch.
For now, though, the Bulls are still in the opening stretch of their own race back to relevance. The Charlotte Hornets, with draft capital and young pieces like Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller, the Atlanta Hawks with Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels, and the Washington Wizards, who have Caleb Wilson’s draft classmate AJ Dybantsa, are all part of the group Graham has to measure against as he builds.
And then there’s the final warning: don’t get passed by the wrong teams. The Bulls can’t afford to let their rebuild lag behind inferior East competition such as the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, and Milwaukee Bucks.
That’s the standard now. Graham has to make sure Chicago isn’t just rebuilding - it’s rebuilding with purpose, and at the right pace.
In Other News...
Bulls May Already Have A Costly Matas Buzelis Decision Looming
The Bulls are heading into training camp with a clear eye on development, and that makes Matas Buzelis one of the more important names on the roster to watch. Chicago wants to see growth from its young core, including No. 4 overall pick Caleb Wilson, but Buzelis remains a big part of the larger picture after arriving as a former lottery pick with real long-term upside.
What makes the situation more interesting is the timing. Buzelis is now moving toward a pivotal stretch in his Bulls tenure, and the front office has to start weighing how he fits into the teams future plans before any real contract conversation gets serious. Recent wing deals around the league are already serving as a useful measuring stick, which only adds to the pressure on Chicago to get this one right. [Read more 🡒]
Norman Powell Just Changed How Bulls Fans Should View This Rebuild
Chicagos offseason overhaul has made the next phase of the rebuild feel real, with a new lead executive and head coach stepping in as the franchise tries to reset its direction. Norman Powell is part of that change now, signing a two-year deal and arriving as one of the more established voices in a locker room that is clearly being reworked for what comes next. With training camp close and media day set for Sept. 28, the Bulls are moving from theory to the first actual test of how this group will fit together.
Powell did not sound like a player treating Chicago as a soft landing spot, either. He said the Bulls were not a team he expected to land with in free agency, and the surprise was only part of the reaction. What stood out more was how quickly he framed his role around the roster around him, noting how young the group is and leaning into the idea of helping shape the culture rather than simply filling a spot. For a team trying to define its rebuild, that kind of veteran presence can matter almost as much as any on-court production. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Season May Hinge On 3 New Faces Delivering Or Cracking
The Bulls spent the offseason adding three players whose range of outcomes could shape how steady this roster looks in 2026-27: Norman Powell, Nic Claxton and rookie Caleb Wilson. It is the kind of collection that can either deepen a rotation or force a team to spend too much time searching for answers, and Chicago will be watching closely because each newcomer arrives with a different job to do and a different level of uncertainty attached.
Powells scoring profile, Claxtons fit in the frontcourt and Wilsons development curve all leave the Bulls with something to project and something to worry about. If the group settles in, it gives Chicago a sturdier baseline and more flexibility in how it builds lineups. If it does not, the season could quickly turn into a test of how much instability a team can survive before its competitiveness starts to slip. [Read more 🡒]