The Chicago Bulls are reportedly trying to mimic the Indiana Pacers' formula for success, and while it's easy to understand why they might take this approach, it's also clearly one of the most delusional plans this team has had.
A report from ESPN's Jamal Collier on Monday morning revealed in greater detail how the Bulls came to construct the team they're currently working with. It was the summer of 2024 when Chicago came together and decided that they wanted to ultimately ditch the slow, iso-heavy offense they had recently leaned on with DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, and shift into playing a faster style with more ball movement.
One of the first changes the team made that allowed them to begin embracing this style of play was acquiring Josh Giddey. When the Bulls dealt away Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder and brought Giddey in, they gained an intellectual offensive engine that would allow their vision to become a reality.
Josh is a pass-first player and has the kind of physical tools and ability to see the floor that would give Chicago the ability to kickstart their plan to supercharge their offense. Objectively, that plan succeeded this past season as the Bulls went from one of the slowest offenses in the league to one of the fastest.
The Bulls want Giddey to be their Tyrese Haliburton
In embracing this style of play, Collier reports that Chicago essentially got further confirmation that they were making the right move after watching the Indiana Pacers' improbable run to the 2025 NBA Finals. After looking at what Indiana accomplished with their roster and style of play, the Bulls considered their 14-6 record to end last season and surmised that they could follow the Pacers' blueprint.
"They have Haliburton, who is an All-Star, and they have Siakam," one Bulls source told ESPN. "If Giddey can develop into an All-Star and be what Hali was, when do we pull the trigger to get our Siakam?"
That quote is where the problem lies for Chicago. Josh Giddey is certainly an impressive offensive player who has proven he can elevate those around him, but we're jumping the gun if we're assuming he can reasonably produce at the level Tyrese Haliburton does.
There are a lot of players in this league who are theoretically as talented as Tyrese is, but many if not all of them fall short when it comes to doing the things Haluburton does on a consistent basis. He showed the world this past spring that he has an "it" factor that 99% of players don't.
So while this is a noble goal for the Bulls to have and it's understandable given that the NBA is such a copycat league, it's still a misplaced expectation. The Bulls can go out and get their version of Pascal Siakam, and Josh Giddey is still a great player. But the fact of the matter is that he doesn't measure up to Tyrese Haliburton.