Two years in a row, the Chicago Bulls have used lottery picks on long, rangy, athletic forwards. In 2024, they selected Chicago native Matas Buzelis with the 11th overall pick, then followed it up in 2025 by taking French forward Noa Essengue at No. 12.
While somewhat redundant positionally, doubling down on wings was necessary for a franchise built around guards. When Chicago drafted Buzelis, Patrick Williams, Julian Phillips, Dalen Terry, and Torrey Craig were the only forwards under contract. Fast forward to today, and Williams is the lone holdover from that group.
Prior to Buzelis’ arrival, DeMar DeRozan operated at power forward despite being a natural small forward. Zach LaVine was similarly labeled a wing in Chicago, though he profiles more cleanly as a traditional shooting guard. Those alignments underscored how thin the Bulls have been on true forwards in recent seasons. In that context, selecting Buzelis and Essengue in consecutive drafts was less redundant and more by design.
Trade deadline reshaped Chicago’s core
Yet this time, the Bulls aren’t boxed in by roster imbalance. Chicago has three clear building blocks: Buzelis, Essengue, and Josh Giddey. That direction only became clearer at the trade deadline, when the front office doubled down on its core and moved on from eight players.
Not only did Chicago embrace a “soft tank,” prioritizing draft positioning over a yearly push for the Play-In Tournament, but it also cleared the roster with the intention of entering June focused on the best player available rather than drafting for fit like in recent seasons.
After making a league-high seven trades, Chicago now has just six players with guaranteed money beyond this season. Buzelis and newly acquired Rob Dillingham also factor into that core, even with team options attached to their deals. Either way, the Bulls are staring at a roster with remarkable flexibility heading into the draft.
Yet roster flexibility alone isn’t what gives the Bulls an open-minded draft outlook. Their foundation is built on versatility. Buzelis can comfortably toggle between the three and the four, and the same is true for Essengue. Given that Essengue has appeared in just two career games, his development will likely come off the bench anyway. Giddey, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-8 primary ball-handler—a major positional advantage in itself.
Bulls enter 2026 NBA Draft with flexibility
So what this means for the Bulls is simple: they don’t have to force a center in the stacked 2026 draft. Center remains Chicago’s biggest need, but they no longer must reach to fill it. With a likely pick in the 8–10 range, the front office could just as easily target a dynamic guard to pair with Giddey, such as Darius Acuff, Mikel Brown Jr., or LaBaron Philon, or select a versatile forward like Nate Ament or Koa Peat to complement Buzelis.
Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance or Houston’s Chris Cenac Jr. might project as cleaner positional fits, but both could be considered reaches in the 8–10 range. Quaintance is arguably the most tantalizing upside swing in the class, yet his injury concerns are difficult to dismiss. Cenac Jr., meanwhile, is putting together a strong freshman campaign, but he profiles more as a stretch big than a defensive anchor. Averaging just 9.5 points per game and 0.5 blocks, he remains a raw prospect without the rim-protection presence typically desired from a long-term solution at center.
In the end, Chicago has created the luxury of choice. The Bulls can assess the risk of a reach and still default to the best player available. That freedom is a direct byproduct of the trade deadline frenzy that effectively reset the roster.
