Bulls SAMPLE

Chicago Bulls

Everything Chicago, all season

On The Floor

Last Game, Next Game

Checking the schedule…

The Main Event

Caleb Watch

Caleb WatchEvery game day
Caleb Wilson, digitised portrait4

Caleb Wilson

PF · 6′9″ · Age 20 · Rookie

No. 4 pick, 2026 · North Carolina

Pulling the game log…

Year Three

Matas Watch

Matas WatchThe prove-it year
Matas Buzelis, digitised portrait11

Matas Buzelis

SF · 6′8″ · Age 21 · Year 3

No. 11 pick, 2024 · Lithuania

Pulling the game log…

The Whole Roster

Who's Here, and Why

Everybody currently listed, and what they are actually here to do. Roles, not projections.

Chicago Bulls · 2026–27 RosterHead Coach: Tiago Splitter

The Depth Chart

PGPoint Guard
Starter
Josh Giddey
6-7 · Age 23

The engine, and the closest thing to an established piece. A 6-7 point guard who rebounds and passes; the shot decides the ceiling.

2
Tre Jones
6-1 · Age 26

Steady backup point guard who does not turn it over. Every young team needs one.

SGShooting Guard
Starter
Norman Powell
6-3 · Age 33

The veteran bucket-getter, and the most obvious deadline chip on the roster.

2
Buddy Hield New
6-4 · Age 33

Came over from Charlotte for Dillingham two days before Media Day. Career 39.5% from three, and close to all the shooting on this roster.

3
Isaac Okoro
6-4 · Age 25

Point-of-attack defender. Plays if the offense can survive it.

4
Dailyn Swain
6-7 · Age 21

Young wing, deep on the bench.

5
Jaylin Sellers
6-5 · Age 23

Deep bench.

SFSmall Forward
Starter
Matas Buzelis
6-8 · Age 21

Year three. Needs to answer the jumper question before it gets answered for him.

2
Leonard Miller
6-10 · Age 22

Rebounds like a big, moves like a wing. Needs minutes that may not exist.

3
Patrick Williams
6-6 · Age 24

Still only 24, still unresolved after six years of the same conversation. New staff, last real chance.

PFPower Forward
Starter
Caleb Wilson
6-9 · Age 20

Fourth overall. The season is about him whether the minutes say so or not.

2
Jalen Smith
6-8 · Age 26

Productive in short stretches. With Yabusele gone he is the first big off the bench, which is more than anyone planned.

3
Noa Essengue
6-8 · Age 19

Nineteen. A three-year project, and that is fine now.

4
Tobe Awaka
6-8 · Age 22

Deep bench.

CCenter
Starter
Nicolas Claxton
6-11 · Age 27

Rim protection and lob finishing. The defensive backbone a young team hides behind.

2
Zach Collins
6-9 · Age 28

Backup five with real skill and a long injury history.

Roster checked September 29, 2026 against the team's transaction log: fourteen standard contracts plus Sellers and Awaka on two-way deals, one roster spot open. Buddy Hield arrived from Charlotte for Rob Dillingham on September 26. Camp signings (Suder, Boston Jr., Peterson, Robinson, Sutton) left off. Jersey numbers left off. Starting five is projected, not announced. Order within a position and "the role" are editorial.

The Bench

Coaching Staff

Eleven people, five of whom used to be paid to play. The full staff as announced by the team in September; video and analytics staff are not listed here.

Tiago Splitter — digitised portrait
Head Coach
Tiago Splitter

Hired June 16, 2026, the 25th head coach in franchise history, at 41. Took over Portland on October 23, 2025 after Chauncey Billups’ arrest, went 42–39 and got the Blazers their first playoff series since 2021 (out in five to San Antonio). Before that he won the French league and the French Cup with Paris Basketball in 2024–25, and sat on the bench in Brooklyn and Houston. As a player he was a fixture on Brazil’s national team for a decade. His one promise at the introduction: “We’re going to compete every night.”

As a player · NBA regular season

355GP7.9PPG5.0RPG0.6BPG55.5%FG
  • NBA Champion 2014
  • First Brazilian-born champion
  • Liga ACB MVP 2010
  • ACB Finals MVP 2010
  • All-EuroLeague First Team 2008
  • ACB champion 2008, 2010
  • No. 21 retired by Baskonia
  • 28th pick, 2007
Taj Gibson — digitised portrait
Assistant New
Taj Gibson

Retired September 14 after 17 seasons and walked straight back into the building where it started. Taken 26th in 2009 out of USC, he gave the Bulls his first seven and a half years, came off the bench on the 62-win 2010–11 team, and was the one Thibodeau left out there when games got ugly. His own line on it: he gave the game everything he had. This is the first coaching job of his life. Hard hat and lunch pail, in Stacey King’s phrase, and it never needed updating.

As a player · 17 seasons

1,012GP8.3PPG5.7RPG1.0BPG51.7%FG
  • All-Rookie First Team 2010
  • 2nd, Sixth Man of the Year 2014
  • 5th, Sixth Man voting 2012
  • 26th pick, 2009
Assistant
Wes Unseld Jr.

The holdover. Wizards head coach from 2021 to 2024 and Billy Donovan’s right hand the last two seasons. The only person on this bench who has been a full-time NBA head coach.

Assistant
Rex Kalamian

The veteran. Two years with Doc Rivers in Milwaukee, and before that Toronto and Oklahoma City, where he was on Scott Brooks’ staff for the Durant and Westbrook years. Has coached under Brooks, Dwane Casey, Ty Lue and Rivers.

Assistant
Jamelle McMillan

Fourteen straight years on an NBA bench and he is still only in his thirties. Player development in New Orleans from 2012, then Phoenix, then back to New Orleans, then Atlanta under his father Nate, then three seasons in Detroit. Played at Arizona State. Has never worked anywhere but the NBA.

Assistant
Blake Ahearn

The shooting coach. Ran the Spurs’ G League team in Austin, then two seasons on Taylor Jenkins’ staff in Memphis. If Wilson’s jumper becomes real, this is who gets credit.

As a player · NBA and G League

19NBA GP4.6PPG97.0%NBA FT94.6%NCAA FT
  • NCAA career free throw record, 94.6%
  • All-time G League leading scorer
  • D-League Rookie of the Year 2008
  • D-League scoring champion 2012
  • D-League champion 2015
Assistant
Jonah Herscu

Came with Splitter from Portland, where he was head coach of the Blazers’ G League team (19–17) after three seasons as an assistant with the big club.

Assistant · Director of Player Development
Jordan Brink

Arrives from the Knicks with a ring from June. Runs the development program, which on a roster this young is the whole job.

Player Development

Senior Player Development Coach
Martin Rancik

Fifteen years as a pro across Italy, Greece, Spain and Slovakia without ever reaching the NBA, which is its own kind of qualification for this job. Slovak Player of the Year twice before he turned 24. Spent time at Baskonia, the same club where Splitter made his name.

As a player · 15 seasons in Europe

15SEASONS5COUNTRIES2×SVK POY0NBA GP
  • Slovak Player of the Year 2001, 2002
  • Italian League champion 2005
  • Slovak League champion 2013
  • Slovak Cup 2015, 2016
  • Olimpia Milano · Fortitudo · Olympiacos · Baskonia
  • Iowa State 1997–2001
Player Development Coach
L.D. Williams

Arrives from San Antonio. A defensive specialist at Wake Forest who captained the team three years running, then spent nine seasons chasing the game through the G League, the Philippines, France, Finland and Slovenia. Never got an NBA minute. Now he coaches players who will.

As a player · 9 seasons, never the NBA

9SEASONS1,005NCAA PTS2×ACC ALL-DEF0NBA GP
  • 2× ACC All-Defensive Team
  • D-League Slam Dunk Champion 2012
  • Three-year Wake Forest captain
  • G League, Philippines, France, Finland, Slovenia
Player Development Coach
Pete Crawford

Came up through the video room in Dallas, six seasons there before joining the Bulls in 2023. The least famous person on this list and the one who has watched the most film.

Gone from last year’s staff: John Bryant (to Charlotte) and Austin Dufault (to Denver). Reporting via HoopsHype, Bulls On SI and Hoops Rumors. Playing records via Basketball Reference.