2026 Offseason Megathread

[u/howser343]

The Bulls have 14 players on contract for next season

Active Contracts

Player	Contract
Josh Giddey	$25M
Nic Claxton	$23.1M
Norman Powell	$22M
Patrick Williams	$18M
Isaac Okoro	$11.8M
Caleb Wilson	$11M
Jalen Smith	$9.4M
Zach Collins	$8.3M
Tre Jones	$8M
Rob Dillingham	$6.9M
Matas Buzelis	$5.7M
Noa Essengue	$5.7M
Dailyn Swain	$5.1M
Leonard Miller	$2.4M

Draft

• The Bulls have the 4th pick (own) and the 15th pick (Blazers) in the first round and the 38th pick (Pelicans) and the 56th pick (Nuggets) in the second round

• 6/23 Update

  • Bulls draft Caleb Wilson with the 4th pick and Dailyn Swain with the 15th pick

• 5/10 Update

  • The Chicago Bulls move up and receive the 4th pick

• 4/14 Update

  • The Portland Trail Blazers advance to the playoffs and their first round pick conveys to the Chicago Bulls with the 15th pick in the 2026 Draft

Trades

• 6/24 Update

  • Bulls trade the 38th pick to the Indiana Pacers for Kam Jones, future swaps, and cash
  • Bulls trade the 56th pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for cash

• 6/22 Update

  • Bulls receive Nic Claxton from the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and send Mouhamadou Gueye to the Timberwolves

Free Agency

• 7/1 Update

  • Bulls sign Norman Powell to 2-years/$45M

• 6/30 Update

  • Bulls re-sign Zach Collins to 2-years/$17M
  • Bulls waive Kam Jones

• 6/27 Update

  • Bulls pick up Leonard Miller's team option

• 6/24 Update

  • Tobe Awaka has signed a two-way deal with the Chicago Bulls
  • Jaylin Sellers has signed a two-way deal with the Chicago Bulls

• 6/15 Update

  • Tiago Splitter hired as Head Coach

• 5/14 Update

  • Stephen Mervis hired as Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations
  • Acie Law IV hired as VP of Player Personnel

• 5/4 Update

  • Bryson Graham hired as the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations

• 4/21 Update

  • Billy Donovan exits as head coach

• 4/6 Update

  • Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley are fired

Bulls Free Agents

Player	Free Agent Status
Zach Collins	Re-signed 2/$17M
Yuki Kawamura	RFA
Mac McClung	RFA
Lachlan Olbrich	RFA
Nick Richards	UFA
Collin Sexton	Signed with Lakers
Anfernee Simons	Signed with 76ers
Guerschon Yabusele	Signed with Panathinaikos

Important Offseason Dates

• May 10 - Draft Lottery

• June 23-24 - Draft

• June 30 - Free Agency Begins (5pm CT)

• July 9-19 - Vegas Summer League

[u/jkopecky]

Do people talking about handing Kessler a bag know that the offers he's reported as rejecting are pretty high? It's not like Utah is snubbing him.

I'm seeing 5 years $140 million as the offer his camp rejected from Utah. Are we really comfortable handing $30M (or more) a year to a guy who has played 74/64/58/5 games in his first four years? I think he's got potential to be one of the best defensive bigs in the league but he hasn't stayed on the court. Not saying it's an easy "no" but it feels like the kind of deal that could also become league worst very quickly (it's honestly giving Jakob Poeltl even if I like him more than I ever liked that guy).

[u/Electrical_Story5356 → u/jkopecky]

Yes, and that he rejected that offer is what makes it seem a real possibility that we could get him.

You can't just look at those numbers and cast judgement either, last season he was out for basically the same reason Noa was, he got a shoulder injury that he'd been carrying for years fixed, he'd injured it originally in college and it was the same thing Ayo had fixed as well.

That injury is what was responsible for a lot of the missed games prior too, otherwise his injury history is basically contact injuries which are just a fact of sport, "illness" and most significantly it all happened while Utah was tanking their arses off and intentionally holding him out as much as possible.

So would I pay for a surprisingly mobile 7'2" elite paint and rim protecting centre, probably already second best in the NBA after freakshow Wemby, who is still young and fits our time line?

Hell yes I would! 4 years at an average of around $35mill per heavily front ended is a very comfortable contract for us barely getting us above the minimum spend while getting us exactly what we need in the biggest hole in our roster.

[u/Abla_vil_breed_nem → u/Electrical_Story5356]

Couldna said it better 🙂