On Friday, Ben Golliver of ESPN published an NBA ranking of teams best suited to continue the NBA’s parity streak of non-repeat NBA champions. For eight consecutive seasons, dating back to the 2018-19 NBA champion Toronto Raptors, there has not been a repeat NBA champion.
Golliver segmented the 22 NBA teams that have not won an NBA title since 2019 into eight tiers, from top (championship-ready) to bottom (maybe-never). Thankfully, the Bulls are better than bottom but not quite championship-ready. Â
The sixth lowest tier (maybe by 2032) is the tier Golliver assigned to the Chicago Bulls. What measures it will take for the Bulls to climb Golliver’s ranking will require a complex roster design before the Bulls get deeper into the construction aspects of their nascent rebuild.
Benchmarking the top tier
Defending 2025-26 NBA Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs are the standard bearers in Golliver's ranking and the sole occupant of the ranking’s top tier. Â
Golliver’s rationale for his Spurs ranking centers (pun intended) on the existence of a top billing superstar in center Victor Wembamyama, along with multiple supporting stars such as guard Stephon Castle.
Also vital to the Spurs' ranking is their bench depth, which likely contains a future superstar in guard Dylan Harper, and also the reigning 2025-26 NBA sixth-man-of-the-year in forward Keldon Johnson, among a complement of veterans and young rotational players.Â
Most importantly, all of these roster components channeled into elite team offensive (4th) and defensive (3rd) efficiency ratings during the 2025-26 NBA regular season.
Bulls’ roster blueprint to 2032
The Bulls roster rebuild is more than likely to go through its first design iteration with rookie forward Caleb Wilson functioning as the superstar-to-be cornerstone of the roster. Logical assumptions on Wilson’s co-stars land on forward Matas Buzelis and guard Josh Giddey’s shoulders.
It is encouraging that Wilson and Buzelis are already working out during the 2026 NBA offseason to form chemistry. It will also be important for Giddey to find lab time with Wilson sooner rather than later to work on the Wilson-Giddey two-man game basketball chemistry. Equally important will be the chemistry among Giddey, Wilson, and Buzelis as a basketball core.
However, there’s no guarantee either Buzelis or Giddey are the de facto co-stars that should flank Wilson’s early NBA career. Deciding this outcome should be a top objective of the Bulls' 2026-27 NBA season.
Bench depth is another source of complexity in turning around the fortunes of the Bulls, as so much of the bench is cluttered with holdovers from the previous front office regime that are better suited for a basketball opportunity outside of Chicago, such as Patrick Williams, Isaac Okoro, and Rob Dillingham. Â
Frankly, anybody on the Bulls bench, save for Dailyn Swain, is fair game for getting dealt to a new team. Some Bulls fans may already be out on Swain, but he should at least get 20 NBA regular-season games under his belt before you make that decision.
Ball (and numbers) don’t lie
The Bulls were basement dwellers in terms of NBA offensive rating (113.0 - 23rd ranked) and defensive rating (118.1 - 22nd ranked), according to Basketball Reference. Â
On the offensive side, a great starting point for the Bulls' offensive efficiency transformation has to start with cutting down turnovers; the Bulls ranked 23rd in offensive turnover percentage during the 2025-26 NBA season, according to Basketball Reference. Â
Turning the tables to the defensive side, the Bulls should also prioritize creating ball pressure and turning over opponents to improve their defensive efficiency, as the Bulls ranked 29th in defensive turnover percentage.
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