{"id":845809,"date":"2026-09-28T11:21:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/845809\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T11:21:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T11:21:17","slug":"chicago-bulls-training-camp-bold-predictions-for-10-key-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/845809\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bulls Training Camp: Bold Predictions for 10 Key Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

DO I WANT to wax poetic about the Chicago Bulls?<\/p>\n

Meh. For most of the least decade, they\u2019ve ridden the NBA\u2019s dreaded treadmill of mediocrity<\/a>, delivering a middling brand of basketball that has most of the fan base (myself included) tuning out by late-March.<\/p>\n

For your typical mediocre franchise, off of said treadmill usually means it\u2019s tank<\/a> time, something the Bulls has avoided for years because, well, I don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n

Is it pride? Nah. The Bulls haven\u2019t been proud since Derrick Rose\u2019s 2017 career- and team-altering knee injury.<\/p>\n

Is it ignorance? Sure, there\u2019ve been some brainfarty misfires \u2014 drafting Patrick Williams over Tyrese Haliburton, giving Patrick Williams a $90 million extension, allowing Patrick Williams into the building time and again \u2014 but when they traded Lauri Markkanen, did you think he\u2019d become an All-Star? Yeah, me neither. You don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Is it the fear of continued bad luck? Post-Rose, we\u2019ve seen our fair share of black cattiness \u2014 Lonzo Ball\u2019s injury issues<\/a> come to mind \u2014 but every team, champs included, gets screwed by the hoops gods every so often, and they deal with it, and they eventually win championship.<\/p>\n

Regardless of how we got here, we\u2019re here, so we\u2019ll be forced to watch (and, in my case, write about) more meh basketball. On the plus side, this Bulls squad is a frisky, bouncy bunch that should be way more entertaining than the team\u2019s plodding Nikola Vucevic-era collectives.<\/p>\n

So here on the eve of the start of training camp<\/a>, howzabout we drop one cray-cray 2026-27 prognostication \u2014 some yay, some nay \u2014 for each of the team\u2019s top ten chips?<\/p>\n

Listen, I dig the third-year man \u2014 local kid, proud to wear the uniform, hard worker, blah blah blah \u2014 but the CSS team (a.k.a., me) feels he has a celiing of Jerami Grant<\/a>, noting, \u201cJerami Grant ain\u2019t Tim Duncan \u2014 but when [Buzelis\u2019] rookie contract is up at the end of the 2028-29 season, he\u2019ll want to get rewarded like Jerami Grant\u2026who, I think we can all agree, is absurdly overpaid<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Buzelis proves me wrong \u2014 if he evolves into, say, a less-athletic Jaren Jackson Jr. \u2014 they should probably pay the man.<\/p>\n

But he won\u2019t. Because he\u2019s Jerami Grant. Thus, he\u2019ll be your fourth option behind Caleb Wilson, Josh Giddey, and Norman Powell.<\/p>\n

During his seven-year tenure with the Brooklyn Nets, Claxton had moments, many of which came in the 2022-23 season, when he almost averaged a triple-double (12.6 points, 9.2 boards) and was a defensive menace, swatting away 2.5 shots a night in the process. Not Bill Russell, but not bad.<\/p>\n

The former Georgia Bulldog is still just 27, and a change of scenery will probably do him good\u2026but it won\u2019t do him enough good for him keep his starting gig. (We\u2019ll discuss his replacement in about 750 words.)<\/p>\n

The Aussie is a fun player to watch, no doubt, and is a triple-double waiting to happen, which is swell, but like former Bulls Zach Lavine and Nikola Vucevic, his career has been a combo platter of great stats and a not-so-great ability to help win games.<\/p>\n

Josh Giddey<\/p>\n

Career: 334 games<\/p>\n

Averages: 14.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists<\/p>\n

True shooting: 54.0%<\/p>\n

Playoff appearances: 10 games<\/p>\n

Playoff record: 6\u20134<\/p>\n

Championships: 0<\/p>\n

The catch: During his only playoff run, Giddey\u2019s role shrank to 18.1 minutes per game, with averages of 8.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists.<\/p>\n

Zach LaVine<\/p>\n

Career: 693 games<\/p>\n

Averages: 20.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists<\/p>\n

True shooting: 58.8%<\/p>\n

Playoff appearances: 4 games<\/p>\n

Playoff record: 1\u20133<\/p>\n

Championships: 0<\/p>\n

Nikola Vu\u010devi\u0107<\/p>\n

Career: 1,036 games<\/p>\n

Averages: 17.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists<\/p>\n

True shooting: 55.0%<\/p>\n

Playoff appearances: 22 games<\/p>\n

Playoff record: 6\u201316<\/p>\n

Championships: 0<\/p>\n

The Combined R\u00e9sum\u00e9<\/p>\n

2,063 regular-season games<\/p>\n

36 playoff games<\/p>\n

13\u201323 postseason record<\/p>\n

.361 postseason winning percentage<\/p>\n

Zero championships<\/p>\n

New Bulls GM Bryson Graham inherited Giddey from the previous regime, and the the 6\u20198\u201d guard might not fit his roster building vision<\/a>, so Graham would likely have no compunction about shipping him out of town by February. Giddey\u2019s only 23, and if he gets all triple-doubly in the first half of the season, he might fetch Chicago a first-round pick, something for which Graham would have way more use.<\/p>\n

Graham was on the New Orleans staff when they drafted Hield in 2016, likely part of the reason he was comfortable acquiring him for the way younger (and, admittedly, possibly way worse) Rob Dillingham.<\/p>\n

Graham won\u2019t dictate new coach Tiago Splitter\u2019s minutes distribution\u2026but then again Graham might dictate new coach Tiago Splitter\u2019s minutes distribution, so look for the veteran sharpshooter to see about 28 minutes a game.<\/p>\n

Graham also inherited Jones, but he\u2019ll like Jones, because everybody likes Jones.<\/p>\n

And what\u2019s not to like? He\u2019s a true point guard who seems to not care about stats, but rather only about making his teammates better and, y\u2019know, winning basketball games.<\/p>\n

Barring the acquisition of a starting-level guard in our theoretical Giddey deal, Jones will have the keys to the car by springtime.<\/p>\n

Miller is springy, and plays with a chip on his shoulder, and will be the only positive thing to come out of the epically stupid Ayo Dosunmu trade<\/a>, a deal that might prove to be one of the worst in franchise history. And that\u2019s saying something.<\/p>\n

Miller replaced the injured Buzelis in the starting lineup for the final 12 games of the 2026 season, and acquitted himself quite well:<\/p>\n

Minutes: 30.8 per game<\/p>\n

Points: 14.2 per game<\/p>\n

Rebounds: 7.9 per game<\/p>\n

2.3 offensive rebounds<\/p>\n

5.6 defensive rebounds<\/p>\n

Assists: 1.6 per game<\/p>\n

Steals: 0.8 per game<\/p>\n

Blocks: 0.7 per game<\/p>\n

Field-goal percentage: 55.2%<\/p>\n

Three-point percentage: 29.5%<\/p>\n

Free-throw percentage: 79.2%<\/p>\n

Turnovers: 1.1 per game<\/p>\n

Once the 22-year-old puts on some muscle, he\u2019ll be a legit irritant off the bench. And the Bulls can use all the irritants they can get.<\/p>\n

Being that the Bulls are about to enter Tank Town, I\u2019m convinced that Graham signed Powell just so he could flip him at the deadline. Norm\u2019s a great player and a great dude, but he\u2019s 33, and 33-year-olds don\u2019t buy in Tank Town. They rent.<\/p>\n

The NBA Summer League isn\u2019t a fair barometer of player quality, as at least half of the competition won\u2019t ever see a regular season NBA game. That said, if you\u2019re a first round draft pick, you should dominate the session. Like, by a lot.<\/p>\n

This summer, Bulls rookie Dailyn Swain and virtual rookie Noa Essengue were the opposite of dominant.<\/p>\n

Dailyn Swain \u2014 2026 Summer League<\/p>\n

Games: 4<\/p>\n

Starts: 4<\/p>\n

Minutes: 28.0 per game<\/p>\n

Points: 4.2 per game<\/p>\n

Rebounds: 5.0 per game<\/p>\n

Assists: 2.2 per game<\/p>\n

Steals: 0.8 per game<\/p>\n

Blocks: 0.2 per game<\/p>\n

Turnovers: 1.8 per game<\/p>\n

Field-goal percentage: 12.9%<\/p>\n

Three-point percentage: 0.0%<\/p>\n

Free-throw percentage: 71.4%<\/p>\n

True-shooting percentage: 24.9%<\/p>\n

Noa Essengue \u2014 2026 Summer League<\/p>\n

Games: 4<\/p>\n

Starts: 2<\/p>\n

Minutes: 18.6 per game<\/p>\n

Points: 6.5 per game<\/p>\n

Rebounds: 4.5 per game<\/p>\n

Assists: 0.8 per game<\/p>\n

Steals: 1.2 per game<\/p>\n

Blocks: 1.8 per game<\/p>\n

Turnovers: 1.2 per game<\/p>\n

Field-goal percentage: 43.8%<\/p>\n

Three-point percentage: 16.7%<\/p>\n

Free-throw percentage: 54.5%<\/p>\n

Jesus.<\/p>\n

They also flunked the eye-test \u2014 both looked as stinky as their stats would indicate \u2014 and methinks Splitter wants nothing to do with busts-to-be, which is why this season, they\u2019ll each play no more than 12 games with the Chicago Bulls\u2026and a shit-ton of games with the Windy City Bulls.<\/p>\n

Remember what I said about somebody stealing Claxton\u2019s starting spot? Yeah, it\u2019ll be this guy.<\/p>\n

Sure, he\u2019s a defensive liability, and he doesn\u2019t have Claxton\u2019s rebounding chops, but he\u2019s fast, he has a reliable outside shot, and athletically speaking, he\u2019s a better fit next to Caleb Wilson.<\/p>\n

And this season should be all about Caleb Wilson.<\/p>\n

So now let\u2019s discuss\u2026<\/p>\n

Wilson has everything a tanking team needs: Charisma, athleticism, hunger, and, y\u2019know, goodness.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be a joy to watch, he\u2019ll average 39.0 minutes a night, his numbers will be absurdly inflated, and he\u2019ll have at least one holy shit play a night, all factors that\u2019ll make him the franchise\u2019s fourth Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DO I WANT to wax poetic about the Chicago Bulls? Meh. For most of the least decade, they\u2019ve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":845810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6],"class_list":["post-845809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bulls","tag-basketball","tag-bulls","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-chicagobulls","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117348406977008128","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}