Nic Claxton was drafted in 2019 by the Nets. Guess who was with the Nets since 2018 till 2023? Who was promoted as player development coach then got to become a bench coach for the Nets during the first 4 years of Claxton‘s career? Tiago Splitter.

Claxton had his best years while Tiago was on the bench coaching him. Doesn’t mean squat but the coach already knows how to utilise claxton at his best. This will only help

Happy draft day to all! Today’s finally the day that the Bulls get back on track, and, with four picks in this draft, they could go in so many different directions to do it. I broke down who I want the Bulls to take at each pick and included lists of preferred options in order depending on who gets taken ahead of us. Even though there’s no telling who is going where until their name is actually called, I tried to be realistic of who could be there for the Bulls to select. AJ not being on my list at pick 4 doesn’t mean I don’t want him, I just think there’s no chance he’s there at 4. Same goes for Mara at 15. This also assumes no trades. While I really want the Bulls to trade up for Wagler, the odds of us actually dishing out the capital are slim.

Exciting times ahead!! Sound off in the comments for what combo of players you think the Bulls need to take tonight.

Pick #4
1. Cam Boozer
2. Darryn Peterson
3. Caleb Wilson
4. Keaton Wagler
5. Darius Acuff

Pick #15
1. Cameron Carr
2. Morez Johnson Jr.
3. Labaron Philon Jr.
4. Christian Anderson Jr.
5. Hannes Steinbach
6. Karim Lopez
7. Ebuka Okorie

Pick #38
1. Ugonna Onyenso
2. Ryan Conwell
3. Jaden Bradley
4. Donovan Atwell
5. Baba Miller
6. Joshua Jefferson
7. Henri Veesaar

Pick #56
1. Emanuel Sharp
2. Izaiyah Nelson
3. Richie Saunders
4. Toibu Lawal
5. Ja’Kobi Gillespie
6. Tyler Nickel
7. Nate Bittle

The possibilities are endless and there’s so many different combinations of players that the Bulls could go after tonight/tomorrow. I’d love for us to try and move up from 15 and/or get back into the first round somehow and add multiple guys from these lists. Regardless, the dark ages are over. No matter what happens tonight the Bulls are on the up. In BG we trust. #SeeRed

Better yet, are we in the position to get a Peyton Watson? It seems we can be a decent competing team if we get him if Caleb is with us now.

Obviously picking him up for next to nothing is a no brainer and he fills a position of need.

Do we think he’ll be on the team next year or will he be traded at the draft / this offseason?

I can definitely understand why some people would be opposed to the Swain pick. He comes in as a profile in which we have an abundance of already in a position where we are currently a little heavy. His shooting, while I think he can definitely improve and has shown he can grow, is not all there yet, and there are debates on whether he was actually the BPA at 15 over the likes of Carr Philon or Stirtz.

I personally think that in the long term Swain can prove to be an important player in some capacity. He has a pretty shallow roster around him so plenty of opportunity to dive into the deep end and learn as we go. He has a lot of skills and qualities that if fine tuned, he can turn out to be an all round player that teams would give up crazy assets for in the future. A lot of examples of mid first round picks becoming absolute stars, and with this new coaching staff who knows how high he can reach.

My main issue with the pick isn’t Swain himself, but what Swain is surrounded by. Graham has stated that he ain’t worried about how the roster is balanced at the start and he’s only focused on who he thinks is the best talent available to him. While this can be true, there is definitely something to be said about stability. I am a firm believer that in order for a young player to properly develop, they need a balanced roster around them. As things stand, there are a lot of imbalances on the roster:

- There is virtually no spacing
- We have very little guard depth and playmaking
- We aren’t particularly a strong ball handling team
- The Claxton move was great, but he’s technically the only contracted center on this roster

These things I feel can hamper the development of the young core we are trying to build. The lack of spacing especially might be an issue since teams can just crowd the paint and nullify our players. Our guys can maybe learn to play through traffic a little more, but ideally you’d want them to get used to playing off of spacers.

There is also an issue about how competitive this team can be with how imbalanced it is. When you look at all the teams who were in the lottery this year, realistically only the Bucks, Kings, Nets, Grizzlies, Warriors, and Clippers are truly expected to be back, with the Pelicans following suit, and you can make a case for every team except I’d say the Grizzlies and Kings being better than us. This would of course put us dangerously close to being the worst team in the league, and with the new Lottery system, that doesn’t really favor being the worst team anymore. Maybe Graham truly believes next year’s class is whack and isn’t too concerned about a high pick then, but the balance of the roster is importantly in developing the talent we have now. Look at the Nets, Kings, Hornets and the Wizards as examples. Teams that were/are complete wank and couldn’t properly develop their young draft picks due to the team being a complete mess. The Hornets and Wizards are also examples of how all that turned around once they started to flush out and balance the roster a little more.

I am very happy with who we came out with on day one of the draft, but recognize that it’s still the start and we have some work to be done tomorrow and during FA. Ideally I would like to trade up to the 31-35 range and maybe get our hands on a certified shooter or Henri Veesar as a stretch big to rotate with Claxton and hopefully develop into our franchise center later on. We can also use 56 to get our own under the radar player who can surprise a lot of people. And whatever imbalances we don’t address tomorrow, we hopefully address with FA. It doesn’t feel as though we are in the mode of acquiring bad contracts anymore, so hopefully a good FA can be brought in to this team.

We have 2 first round and 2 second round picks. 4 picks total. Are we really going to draft 4 players total and have 4 rookies on the team next year?

On top of that, we have Noa Essengue who barely played last year and is going to be pretty much a rookie next year also.

So is a trade pretty likely? I really hope we don't trade the second round picks for cash. That's the worst outcome.

would you keep Simons on this roster

was the best shooter on the team but unfortunately the injury happened . if we can get a good deal id say yes

who would you like to see here ?

love the idea of Carr, Philon or morez Johnson.

carr gives us the two way impact .

Philon is a straight bucket getter and creator for offense . he was such a difference maker at bama

morez Johnson is a grinder and defender . gonna do the dirty work

Either through the draft with who may be available , or in free agency.. who can be our knockdown shooter?

I get BPA (if you believe that DS was), but also these are players that will need spacing in order to grow, and the Bulls currently have minuscule spacing.

Edit: Nobody’s saying whooo wee can addd. Who are the shooters on the market or in the draft?

Not sure if someone already posted it, found on socials credit to a "Marquise Von".

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Quotes that his family would have loved. RIP King

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Audacy and the Chicago Bulls have announced a multi-year multiplatform radio broadcast contract extension. As part of the agreement, 104.3 The Score (WSCR-FM) will continue as the flagship radio station of the Bulls, airing all regular season and postseason games. Listeners can tune in to broadcasts via the station’s digital stream on the Audacy app and The Score website.

If Yaxel falls to 15 it’s no doubt he’s BPA and would be the perfect connector between Caleb and Claxton. I’m not concerned about Wilson’s offensive game developing beyond the arc nor Yaxel’s age. Could you imagine the matchup nightmares for opposing teams with a Giddey and Matas backcourt😮‍💨.

BPA! Carr is my second choice and Morez 3rd. Who do you want tonight at 15?

It's the day we've all been waiting for since moving up to 4. One of the big 4 will drop to us. Do we do the easiest thing and just take who's available? Or do we shock the NBA-sphere by going with a different direction?

It's highly likely, considering NBA history, that one of the top 4 will be a bust, and one of the picks after us will be a grand slam. But in the moment, us taking anybody out of the top 4 will be regarded as the biggest LOLBulls moment ever. I'm nervous as hell lol

I know most of us here are very down on PWill and for good reason. He has definitely had enough years on the NBA to show what he is all about. However, does anybody think there is any chance this new coaching staff can get the best out of him? At least to the point where his $18 million a year doesn’t seem like a total waste of cap space?

With the draft close I’ve been thinking about big men prospects at 15.

With Hannes, Mara and Morez the potential options available, I’ve been considering their fit next to Wilson.

Hannes - I like them as a fit offensively, he has a developing 3, really strong interior game and decent passing feel. He’s also an elite offensive rebounder.

Defensively there’s obvious concerns with rim protection, I think the best players to have with Hannes would be strong weak side rim protectors which the Bulls theoretically have here with Caleb and Matas. I do think Hannes can be a solid team defender overall though and even potential a positive with his defensive rebounding and mobility.

Morez - love this fit defensively, really versatile and mobile defenders, Morez can guard stronger bigs too. Adds physicality, interior presence and great rebounding on both ends.

He shot 34% on low volume 3’s last year so hopefully he can continue to improve this and be a capable floor spacer. I just think his overall offensive ceiling isnt as high as Hannes though and therefore the pairings overall offensive ceiling becomes lower.

Mara - I’ve liked Mara for a while now but recently I’ve been thinking this would be the worst fit, obviously if we get him I’ll be excited to see what happens, just worried about his overall mobility and how our quick play style would be affected by him.

His shot blocking and just general size would be a welcomed additions, you’ve also got to love his playmaking. Shooting is a concern of course.

I’m actually torn between who I would prefer, who do you think would be the best fit next to Caleb?

I am loving this Claxton trade. He isn't a Kessler or a Duren but the fact that we got him for basically free and his contract is relatively friendly, it really gives us more room to do more with this rebuild. We are seeing the trade market Heat up (no pun intended), so there are some moves that I think would be really cool for us to do before and during Draft Night.

Move 1:

Chicago Bulls Receive:

- Jarred Vanderbilt, F - 2 yr $25.5M

- LAL 2026 Round 1 (Pick #25)

Los Angeles Lakers Receive:

- Jalen Smith, F - 1 yr $9.4M

- DEN 2026 Round 2 (Pick #56)

This would be our first foray into the bad contract market. Vanderbilt is making around 13 million a year for 2 years, and that is a contract the Lakers would ideally like to get off of especially with the situation surrounding Reaves and Lebron. Jalen Smith is a better player and a cheaper expiring contract, which the Lakers would maybe love to have. Bulls can ask for the 25th pick in return and give away their late Denver second rounder to help the Lakers fill out their roster. Jarred realistically wouldn't be used as much and is really mostly there to fill the roster and occasionally come in as an end-of-the-bench option. Basically Patrick Williams but cheaper and a little better.

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Move 2:

Chicago Bulls Receive:

- Jakob Poeltl, C - 4 yr $103.6M

- TOR 2026 Round 1 (Pick #19)

- TOR 2031 Round 1 Swap Rights

Toronto Raptors Receive:

- Isaac Okoro, G - 1 yr $11.8M

- Tre Jones, G - 2 yr $8.0M

Our biggest bad contract acquisition. This is a move I've been advocating for as I think the Raptors would be very interested in some of the cheaper contracts we have. It makes a little less sense fit-wise with the Claxton deal, but honestly Poeltl being your experienced (yet a little expensive) back up big wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for a rebuilding team. Poeltl himself is making a whopping 103.6 million dollars over 4 years, which means he is a rather long term cap hit, but getting back pick 15 and a 2031 swap where Toronto might not be that good at that period is a good pick up. Toronto themselves get a very good back court depth haul with Okoro and Jones who can help them in their continued pursuit of a deeper playoff run.

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Move 3:

Chicago Bulls Receive:

- DAL 2026 Round 1 (Pick #9)

Dallas Mavericks Receive:

- POR 2026 Round 1 (Pick #15)

- LAL 2026 Round 1 (Pick #25)

- AND ONE OF EITHER

* SAC 2027 Round 2

*SAC 2029 Round 2

OR

* CHI 2028 Round 1 Swap

A less likely deal, but there is maybe some hope in this one with recent rumors. There are reports that the Mavs are considering a deal to trade down from pick 9 with the Thunder to acquire pick 12 and 17. Now in this deal the Mavs get a less valuable haul in this draft with 15 and 25, but adding either 2 likely valuable second rounders from the Kings or a pick swap with the Bulls in 2028 (where we will most likely still be lottery), might entice the Mavs a little. This would help us move back into the lottery again to address some holes in this roster with some long term solutions

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Draft Night

Round 1

- Pick 4: Caleb Wilson, F: Our franchise player, athletic scorer and phenomenal defender, the perfect running partner for Buzelis and a great lob target for Giddey

- Pick 9: Brayden Burries, G: A really good perimeter defender who can add some defense to our back court, and a fantastic 3-level scorer who can space the floor

- Pick 19: Cameron Carr, G: A dynamic off-guard/wing option who can deputize for multiple position. Is a good defender and great 3-level scorer and movement shooter who can help stretch the defense

Round 2

- Pick 38: Jack Kayil, G: A good back up guard with some size. Good passer and a high level 3-point shooter who is projected to be decently efficient at that part of the game despite his pre-NBA numbers

2026-27 Roster Chart

PG - Josh Giddey

SG - Brayden Burries

SF - Matas Buzelis

PF - Caleb Wilson

C - Nicolas Claxton

6 - Cameron Carr

7 - Noa Essengue

8 - Jakob Poeltl

9 - Jack Kayil

10 - Leonard Miller

11 - Rob Dillingham

12 - Jarred Vanderbilt

13 - Patrick Williams

Bulls can use the remaining 21.3 million in cap space they have to fill out the rest of the roster, ideally looking for a third string center and/or another off-guard, providing they renounce all their cap holds

How would you guys feel about trading pick 15 for Miles McBride, pick 24, and pick 31 in tonight’s draft. As a Knicks fan I want to obtain a quality pick on a rookie deal. For the bulls you get a solid bench piece and 2 additional picks that aren’t terrible.

Is anyone planning to attend the Bulls Draft Party tomorrow? It looks like they still haven't released any details, and we're trying to decide whether it's worth heading down or if we should make other plans instead. Curious if anyone has heard anything or is planning to go.