Josh Giddey is the only member of the Chicago Bulls roster worthy of being selected by an NBA expansion team.
That's the view of Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes, who picked Giddey third overall in a recent mock NBA expansion draft.
Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Sept. 16 that commissioner Adam Silver and the league are in "deeper and deeper stages of the expansion conversation." Charania added that the NBA is aiming for two expansion franchises — potentially in Las Vegas and Seattle — to be ready two years from now, on opening night of the 2028-29 season.
With Charania's update and the league still in its offseason dead period, what better time for a mock draft?
The outlook is pretty bleak, though, for Chicago.
Las Vegas Vipers select Bulls' Josh Giddey with No. 3 pick in mock NBA expansion draft
While executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham's roster has six players eligible for an expansion draft, per Hughes and Dan Favale, Giddey is the only one a fresh-faced franchise would wish to steal.
It's important to note some of the rules of an NBA expansion draft, which was last held in 2004 when the Charlotte Bobcats entered the league. Back in '04, teams were allowed to "protect" eight players from entering the draft pool. Critically, for this exercise, only one player from each existing franchise could be selected.
That would make Giddey the only Bulls player even eligible to be picked, once Hughes used Vegas's second selection to nab the 23-year-old floor general.
But a look at the remaining list of Chicago's unprotected players serves as a stark reminder of how far Graham still has to go to build a contender.
The Bulls are years away from being truly competitive
Caleb Wilson, whom Graham selected with the No. 4 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, looks like the kind of elite player organizations can build around. He and Matas Buzelis, who's still just 21, form a promising duo of interchangeable forwards.
After that, things drop off quickly.
The other unprotected players Hughes and Favale have on the list for their mock draft? Nic Claxton, Isaac Okoro, Rob Dillingham, Patrick Williams and Zach Collins. Not quite the '27 Yankees.
The only player you could make a legitimate argument for here is Claxton, a 27-year-old center who was once one of the league's up-and-coming big men but has since plateaued as a solid starter.
It all just serves as a sobering reminder of how devoid of high-level talent Chicago's roster currently is.
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