It would take a miracle for the Chicago Bulls to escape from mediocrity. Winning the lottery and selecting AJ Dybantsa with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft would certainly qualify as one.
Much to Bulls fans' delight (or I guess mock delight), that's exactly what happens in Bleacher Report's latest NBA mock draft, courtesy of Zach Buckley.
This isn't a one-in-a-million scenario, but given Chicago's front office and its reckless aversion to tanking, it doesn't seem far off.
In fact, after a March 23 win over the Houston Rockets, coupled with a Milwaukee Bucks blowout loss to the LA Clippers, the Bulls and Bucks are now tied for ninth in the lottery standings.
If the season ended today and a tiebreaker were involved, Chicago would have a 16.9 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick and a 3.7 percent chance of landing in the top four. Twenty-four hours before their win over the Rockets, those numbers were 4.5 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.
So yeah, earning the top pick would be a basketball miracle. But boy, Dybantsa would solve a lot of problems in the Windy City.
Bulls land No. 1 pick in 2026 NBA mock draft, select AJ Dybantsa
Buckley used Tankathon's trusty lottery simulator, and Chicago drew No. 1, selecting BYU forward Dybantsa. His narration of this particular scenario is spot on:
"A better-late-than-never rebuilder leapfrogged a whole heap of loss-collectors, giving hope to a fanbase that will struggle to summon much without a lottery jackpot."
Hope may not be a strong enough word to describe what Bulls fans would feel if their team acquired a generational prospect like this.
Dybantsa, a consensus first-team All-American and the Big 12 Rookie of the Year, has elite measurables: He's 6-foot-9 and a well-put-together 210 pounds with a 7-foot wingspan. He's athletic, fluid and explosive. He is aggressive on both ends of the floor. He showed improvement as a decision-maker, defender and 3-point shooter during his lone season in Provo.
There's really nothing the 19-year-old isn't good at; and he has the potential to be great at everything.
Bulls fans need something to get excited about
Matas Buzelis has cemented himself into franchise cornerstone status in Chicago. Josh Giddey works just fine as the point guard of the future. Last year's lottery pick, Noa Essengue, is planning for a healthy offseason.
Rob Dillingham and Leonard Miller have flashed potential. There's a chance Jaden Ivey still develops into a long-term contributor.
But none of them — maybe not even Buzelis — have what Dybantsa possesses: Enough talent, skill, potential and star power to save an entire organization. (And by the way, none of this addresses how crazy dominant Buzelis and Dybantsa would be as a wing tandem.)
The Atlanta Hawks won the lottery in 2024 with the 10th-best odds. The Dallas Mavericks jumped from 11th to first and drafted Cooper Flagg last summer. So Bulls fans can hope.
Just as long as they remember the Bulls are still the Bulls.