In the early stages of a rebuild, the primary goal is to strip off veteran contracts and attempt to get younger. The Chicago Bulls accomplished that relatively quickly at this season's trade deadline.
They moved off of Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu. There's reason to have gripes with essentially all of these trades, but they accomplished the goal of stripping back the roster. The problem comes with what they got in return.
After the trade deadline, their roster construction was strange, to say the least. They had Josh Giddey, Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, Rob Dillingham, Jaden Ivey and Tre Jones in the backcourt with little depth in the frontcourt. It was, of course, a short-term issue. Many of those trades were made with the clear intention of allowing contracts to expire and opening up roster space.
But now that Simons, Sexton, and Ivey are all off the roster, where do the Bulls go from here?
Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley provides at least a semblance of an answer in his latest 2026 NBA Mock Draft, projecting Chicago to select Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. at 15th overall.
Labaron Philon Jr. could be a long-term combo guard for the Bulls' backcourt
Here's what Buckley had to say on the Philon selection:
"The Bulls added a zillion score-first guards at the trade deadline, but Philon could be an actual long-term fit. He was, simply put, one of the best offensive players in the country this season, authoring dramatic improvements in both his volume output and his efficiency. He has real make-something-out-of-nothing creativity but also a three-point stroke that runs hot enough for him to have value off the ball. There's a non-zero chance he is a legitimate offensive focal point at some point of his NBA career." Zach Buckley, Bleacher Report
The Bulls, first and foremost, must determine how they feel about Giddey's long-term outlook on the roster. But even beyond that, adding an offensive-minded guard with their second selection of the first round would be a solid option— especially Philon.
Across 33 games as a Sophomore at Alabama, Philon averaged 22 points, 3.5 rebounds, and five assists while shooting 39.9% from beyond the arc. He has the positional versatility and the perimeter shooting to play alongside Giddey in the backcourt, but he also possesses the playmaking ability to take on some ball-handling duties with the bench unit when needed. His five assists were countered by an average of just 2.5 turnovers last season.
He also has defensive upside, although that part of his game is certainly still developing.
Dillingham is clearly a piece the Bulls want to continue to develop, but there's no player on the roster currently who should truly influence their selections outside of Buzelis (and even he can move positions if the right prospect becomes available at the top of the draft).
Selecting Philon would give Chicago the offensive punch they need in the middle of the first round, and he would fit perfectly into the Bulls' apparent long-term plans. If they were to select him, it would be a satisfying conclusion to what has been a confusing past few months for the team's backcourt.
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