Depending on how you look at it, the 2026 NBA trade deadline for the Chicago Bulls marked either the start of an exciting new era or the end of an exceptionally stagnant one.

Coming into February, the Bulls sat in eleventh place and had spent the first two-thirds of the season assuming their now typical position at the low end of the middle of the standings, riding yet another wave of excruciating mediocrity. 

In large part, the team looked the same as it had for the last few seasons, comprised of a longtime core group of Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu & Patrick White, a group that Bulls fans have seen show flashes of potential, but ultimately never quite come together to take the next step in their progression. The purgatory the Bulls found themselves in saw the team make the “play-in” phase of the NBA playoffs three straight years, only to come up short in all of them.

In the end, the man in charge of making roster decisions for the Bulls, Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas, finally came to the conclusion that there was no upward trajectory for the team he personally had built and that it was time to dismantle the foundation and start fresh.

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So with the trade deadline looming, the Bulls opened their doors and held a fire sale that saw a number of players from the existing roster traded, including Vucevic, White, & Dosunmu, among others.

Many of the players they brought in are on the last year of their contract, meaning there’s a decent chance they walk and become free agents in the offseason. A bevy of second-round picks was also acquired, but in a star-driven league with only 15-man rosters, this haul begs the question of whether quantity is more valuable than quality.

Whether Karnisovas played this market well and sold his assets at the right time for the right return remains to be seen, but most Bulls fans will be in agreement that the time had come to move on from these players and begin a new journey

So as the Bulls enter the dreaded “rebuild” phase once again, fans hope the front office, at the very least, can put together a team this time that gets them excited about the future. 

Below is the full list of moves the Bulls completed ahead of the trade deadline this year:

Out: Nikola Vucevic

In: Anfernee Simmons, 2nd Rd. Draft Pick

 

Out: Coby White

In: Colin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng, 2nd Rd. Draft Pick

 

Out: Kevin Hueter

In: Jaden Ivy

 

Out: Ayo Dosunmu

In: Rob Dillingham

 

Out: Dalen Terry

In: Guerschon Yabusele