All the anticipation and the hypotheticals about the 2026-27 Chicago Bulls finally subsided as the franchise officially logged real NBA minutes against the Phoenix Suns, who visited the Bulls in their first 2026-27 NBA preseason game on Wednesday.

Positives emerged from finally witnessing Caleb Williams collect a handful of highlights in the United Center.  Matas Buzelis also opened the game with a decisive focus on attacking the paint on offense.

On the other end of the spectrum, the majority of the 2026-27 Chicago Bulls’ maiden preseason voyage at home against the Suns revealed the physicality chasm that exists between the Bulls’ and Suns’ respective rosters.  

Although the Bulls got off to a fast start in the first quarter, where they were able to sprint to a 10-point lead by the 8:33 minute mark of the first quarter, the Suns were able to eventually establish themselves in the game. 

The Suns projected their physicality on the Bulls initially by keeping bodies on the ball and walling off driving lanes that the Bulls exploited early in the first quarter, principally through Buzelis.

Suns guard Dillon Brooks catalyzed much of the physicality awakening the Suns demonstrated on both ends of the court, earning eight free-throw attempts in the game and a steal on defense.  Brooks’ energy cascaded into a staggering six steals by guard Jordan Goodwin, two steals by Ryan Dunn, and an inspired two steals from Jalen Green.

Despite two-way contract center Tobe Awaka’s prolific rebounding effort, 11 rebounds overall with six of those rebounds coming from the offensive glass, the Bulls rarely had a matchup answer to keep Suns center Khaman Maluach off the rebounding glass, who finished the game with seven rebounds.

Where the Bulls go next to find physicality

The Bulls won their first preseason game, but preseason is more about the process a team executes in the game versus the scoreboard.  However, the inconsistencies in the Bulls’ physicality can’t be ignored, given how much emphasis Bulls lead front-office executive Bryson Graham placed on physicality as a roster-building principle throughout the 2026 NBA offseason.

The Phoenix Suns exerted heavy amounts of ball pressure on the Bulls in the heart of the game between the second and third quarters.  

Perhaps there are counters that Bulls head coach Tiago Splitter will introduce to his team to help them navigate his offense against a more aggressive pressure defense like the Suns’.  The other physicality equation for the Bulls to solve is in their defense and, specifically, giving a better effort at stopping their opponents’ dribble penetration, as the Suns completely negated the Bulls’ paint scoring in the game (52 points) by hanging 52 paint points on the Bulls’ defense.

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