The Chicago Bulls spent Round 1 of the 2026 NBA Draft upgrading at the rim and on the wing, so with their Round 2 selection, they shifted to the backcourt by swinging a trade to land Kam Jones from the Indiana Pacers.
In exchange, the Bulls will send the rights to Braden Smith, who they drafted with the No. 38 pick, to Indiana. Chicago also acquires future second-round pick swaps and cash, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
The swaps will come in 2028 and 2030, per Tony East of Forbes and Circle City Spin.
Bulls immediately upgrade backcourt with trade for Kam Jones
While Braden Smith was a historically efficient floor general at Purdue, he doesn't make sense on a Chicago roster that favors athletes who can play in transition. Kam Jones, on the other hand, is a snug fit.
Jones was, ironically, the 38th pick in last year's draft and was dealt from San Antonio to Indiana, where he averaged 4.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 16.6 minutes per night across 37 games (seven starts).
He arguably deserved more playing time on a "tanking" Pacers team, but with Anfernee Simons and Collin Sexton entering free agency, and Tre Jones and Rob Dillingham the only established guards on the depth chart behind Josh Giddey, Kam Jones will get his opportunity.
The 24-year-old Jones is a silky smooth, lefty combo guard who developed into a consensus All-American at Marquette. More skilled than athletic, he's a nifty ball-handler who knows how to score off the dribble and create open shots with a plethora of crossovers, hesitation dribbles and excellent footwork.
He averaged 19.2 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals in his final season with the Golden Eagles.
Kam Jones is as good on the ball as he is off it. As a junior playing alongside a pure distributor in Tyler Kolek, he averaged 17.2 points on 50.1 percent shooting from the field and 40.6 percent from 3-point range.
When he took over Marquette's point guard duties as a senior, his usage rate jumped dramatically, but he still shot 48.3 percent from the floor. His assists more than doubled, but his turnovers only jumped from 1.4 to 1.9. He's quick and competitive on defense and is far from a minus on that end.
After going big with Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain in the first round, Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham went out and landed an experienced guard who will immediately slot into next year's rotation. Another good bit of business to put a bow on the 2026 NBA Draft.
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