The Chicago Bulls have secured the No. 4 overall selection in the 2026 NBA Draft. With it, Chicago will have a chance to add a landscape-altering talent who can step in and help define the future of the starting lineup and the franchise at large.
Though the Bulls have intriguing pieces to build with already, the only way to ace the 2026 NBA Draft is to proceed as though nothing is set in stone.
Chicago will enter the offseason with a talented perimeter duo of Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey. Buzelis and Giddey have thrived in some regards already, with the former averaging 16.3 points per game during his second season and the latter posting 17.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 8.3 assists.
Compounded by the fact that Buzelis is 21 and Giddey is 23, there's reason to believe that any pick the Bulls make should take their presence into consideration.
Though it's an entirely rational approach to take, Chicago must utilize the No. 4 overall selection to define its new identity. If that ultimately means asking Buzelis and Giddey to adapt to the new addition rather than approaching it the other way around, then that's a necessary evil the front office must embrace.
With a surplus of high-level prospects due to be on the board at No. 4 and Buzelis and Giddey not yet proving to be franchise-level players, Chicago can't justify shying away from the best player available.
Bulls can't let Buzelis and Giddey determine their NBA Draft strategy
For as far up the draft order as the lottery may have sent the Bulls, they're still coming off of a 31-51 season. The necessary context is that the tank appeared to be on after the trade deadline, but after early November, there wasn't a single day all season when Chicago was more than two games above .500.
Furthermore, Giddey averaged 14.0 points per game on .409/.331/.795 shooting after Christmas—a sharp decline from the 20.0 points on .479/.402/.745 shooting he manged before the holiday.
Buzelis, meanwhile, averaged 17.9 points per game on .450/.350/.789 shooting after Jan. 1. That's a remarkable level of production for a second-year player who's 21 years of age. The harsh reality, howeer, is similar to the one the Bulls must accept with Giddey.
For as promising as both Buzelis and Giddey looked at times in 2025-26, neither have established themselves as a franchise-level player—and Chicago hasn't made the playoffs since 2022.
As a team on the outside looking in of the postseason, two potential rising stars who haven't yet ascended can't be enough to convince the franchise to avoid drafting a potentially conflicting talent. Instead, Chicago must effectively approach the 2026 NBA Draft as though there's a clean slate.
It would certainly be ideal for Buzelis and Giddey to work alongside the incoming rookie, but the Bulls' priority must be landing a transformative talent no matter how the incumbents fit.
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