In their first meeting of the 2026-27 NBA regular season on Nov 2, 2026, the Chicago Bulls’ road game against the Philadelphia 76ers devolved into a playground basketball-scale spectacle, to the Bulls' detriment.
Generational Bulls foe LeBron James went into full-on And-1 Mixtape mode, chugging a courtside fan's wine on the sideline and rumpshaking in the wake of a foul call. Most importantly, James put in the light work of finishing the game with 15 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds as the 76ers cruised to a 126-107 defeat of the Bulls.
Naturally, most reasonable Bulls fans would have expected Sunday’s second meeting of the 76ers and Bulls, this time at the United Center, to be another embarrassment encore for the home team.
Surprise! The Bulls played competent basketball in the first half of their Sunday matinee against the 76ers, and coincidentally, guard Norman Powell was absent from the game for the first time of the 2026-27 NBA season.
Up front, yes, 24 minutes of basketball is a small sample size, but this take is happening regardless. Norman Powell needs to be traded away from the Chicago Bulls posthaste.
Thank the Sixers for the Powell smoke signal
Going into their ninth game of the 2026-27 NBA season, the Bulls welcomed a 76ers squad with the 4th-ranked NBA defense, according to Basketball Reference. The Bulls, of course, are trending towards a historically bad season and entered their matchup against the 76ers with a -18.0 point differential.
Conventional wisdom says the Bulls should have started this game with a flat offensive tire, especially in the absence of the team’s second leading scorer, Powell, averaging 19.3 points per game through eight games of the 2026-27 NBA season.
In reality, the Bulls, during their first half against the 76ers, displayed a shockingly good amount of offensive flow and efficiency in their possessions. The Bulls' first quarter prominently featured a Josh Giddey-Jalen Smith two-man game that accounted for all 10 of Smith’s points and four of Giddey’s seven assists in the first frame of the game.
Beleaguered midrange shooting apprentice Matas Buzelis finished the first half with 10 points, shooting 75% from the field, while his starting wing tag team partner, Caleb Wilson, finished the first half with 11 points.
In Norman Powell’s absence, guard Isaac Okoro started in place of Powell and effectively served as an offensive circuit breaker for the Bulls, scoring four points in the first half off a cutting layup and a putback basket.
The absence of Powell and, notably, his aggressive foul-drawing allowed the entire Bulls starting unit to find their respective rhythms with a reasonable shot distribution for all the Bulls not named Caleb Wilson.
Norman Powell’s service to the rebuilding Bulls is likely felt most inside the locker room. Unfortunately, Powell’s on-court presence and absence are painting a clear picture that the Bulls need to quickly move on from the veteran guard, if nothing else, for the purpose of allowing this rebuild to find a consistent offensive identity.
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