Two games into their 2026-27 NBA preseason, the Chicago Bulls are starting to reveal the finer points of what their offensive game plan will look like for their basketball collective.
Although the Bulls suffered a 104-100 preseason loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, their offensive process showed modest promise, despite the losing result.
Bulls fans should observe and appreciate the emerging themes of the offensive system that Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter and his coaching staff are installing, based on a handful of possessions from the Bulls' second 2026-27 NBA preseason game against the Grizzlies.
Player movement
True to Splitter’s San Antonio Spurs roots, the Bulls are embracing player movement in their half-court offensive possessions.
Rookie forward Dailyn Swain was the beneficiary of an easy slam dunk-make that was created by guard Buddy Hield running a zoom dribble handoff action on the strong side that drew two defenders to Hield, coupled with wing Issac Okoro baseline cutting from the weak corner that cleared out the weak side for Swain to catch and drive in open space to score two easy points.
Guard Josh Giddey flashed his growing off-ball versatility by playing off of guard Norman Powell’s dribble penetration to the rim, moving off the ball to the left slot to become a catch-and-shoot three-point outlet for Powell, which Giddey converted.
What's great in both examples is that you see solid team basketball fundamentals creating half-court space for easy shot attempts. Even in offensive possessions that ended in a missed Bulls field goal attempt, you still see how the Bulls are installing basketball fundamentals that enable good team basketball.
Case in point: Josh Giddey, in this half-court possession, plays off of Matas Buzelis’ off-ball gravity to find an open catch-and-shoot three opportunity from a Tobe Awaka pinch-post pass. The Grizzlies' defense in this possession appeared to be intent on taking away the middle of the court for the Bulls' dribble-drive offensive execution.
Having the ability to generate a quality jump shot against a defense taking away the middle of the floor is a good counter for a young team to have in their offensive arsenal.
Other offensive nuances to appreciate
Bulls fans were treated to a half-court possession in which Giddey set an off-ball pindown screen for Caleb Wilson to run hard off a dribble handoff action from Tobe Awaka that allowed Wilson to pull up for a three-point shot attempt from the top of the key. Wilson missed the shot, but the process of creating this shot attempt looked good.
Finally, Josh Giddey showed a different style of playmaking relative to what Bulls fans typically expect from Giddey’s passes (typically in transition) in that he initiated a great half-court possession by running a get action with Noa Essengue that allowed Giddey to drive downhill with the ball and make a sharp short-roll pass to Leonard Miller, lifting to the slot for a clean catch-and-shoot three-point make.
Again, the results didn’t always yield made baskets, and ultimately the Bulls didn’t win the game against the Grizzlies. However, what is clearly emerging in the 2026-27 Chicago Bulls is half-court offensive qualities that haven’t been this prominent since the 2021-22 Bulls posted 35 games of regular-season dominance.
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