Chicago Bulls Central

Is Josh Giddey really part of Bryson Graham’s long-term vision for the Chicago Bulls — or could he eventually become a bridge to whatever comes next?
On today’s Chicago Bulls Central, Haize reacts to ESPN questioning whether Giddey truly fits the future Graham is building in Chicago.
Giddey is only 23 years old and averaged 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists last season, while still having three years remaining on his four-year, $100 million contract. But there is an important distinction: Bryson Graham inherited Giddey. He did not acquire or extend him himself.
That makes 2026-27 a fascinating evaluation year.
Can Giddey run an efficient half-court offense? Can he contribute when Matas Buzelis or Caleb Wilson initiates? Can he reduce the damaging turnovers? Can he remain on the floor defensively in closing lineups? And most importantly, does his play actually make Chicago’s young forwards better?
Haize then breaks down a potential hidden identity for Tiago Splitter’s Bulls:
Rebounding.
Chicago ranked just 26th in second-chance points at 13.4 per game last season. Splitter’s Portland team was dramatically different, generating a league-high 16% of its offense from second chances while also ranking fourth in tracked offensive-rebounding percentage and third in second-chance points per 100 possessions.
With Josh Giddey, Nic Claxton, Caleb Wilson, Matas Buzelis, Jalen Smith and Tobe Awaka, Chicago has enough size, athleticism and rebounding potential to manufacture extra offense without needing an elite isolation scorer.
Finally, ESPN identified Nic Claxton as Chicago’s biggest X-factor — and there’s a legitimate red flag.
Claxton averaged 2.5 blocks per game in 2022-23, but that number has declined in every season since, falling to just 1.1 last year, while opponents shot 60% at the basket against him.
That matters because Chicago needs Claxton to clean up defensive mistakes behind Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas and Caleb. The Bulls don’t necessarily need Claxton to return to a 2.5-block-per-game monster, but they do need competent rim protection, defensive communication, rebounding and the switchability that has traditionally made him valuable.
🔥 Topics include: Josh Giddey’s long-term Bulls fit, whether Giddey is a cornerstone or bridge asset, Bryson Graham’s vision, Matas and Caleb getting more creation opportunities, Chicago’s turnover concerns, Tiago Splitter building a rebounding identity, second-chance scoring, Claxton as a defensive anchor, Tobe Awaka’s rebounding potential, Claxton’s declining block numbers, and whether center could quickly become Chicago’s biggest future need.
🎧 Tap in with Haize on Chicago Bulls Central for the full breakdown!
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Could the New York Knicks actually PAY the Chicago Bulls to take another young player off their hands?
On today’s Chicago Bulls Central, Haize breaks down a proposed trade opportunity involving Tyler Kolek and Pacôme Dadiet as New York operates close to the second apron and potentially looks to open another roster spot.
Important distinction: this is a trade concept from Knicks On SI — not a report that Chicago and New York are actively negotiating.
But the idea is fascinating.
Chicago still has an open roster spot, financial flexibility, and a direct developmental connection to both players through new director of player development Jordan Brink, who previously worked with Kolek and Dadiet in New York.
Kolek may be the more immediately useful target. He gives Chicago another pass-first organizer, insurance behind Josh Giddey and Tre Jones, and a potentially intriguing contrast to the scoring-oriented Rob Dillingham.
Dadiet is the bigger developmental gamble. He remains only 21 and has intriguing size at 6-foot-9, but Chicago already has a crowded developmental wing group featuring Dailyn Swain, Noa Essengue, Leonard Miller, Patrick Williams, Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis.
If the Knicks want Chicago to take Dadiet, should New York have to attach draft compensation?
Then Haize breaks down why the Bulls’ backup-center competition shouldn’t simply be framed as Jalen Smith vs Zach Collins.
Smith brings pick-and-pop shooting, pace and offensive rebounding. Collins brings strength, screening, post play and connective passing. Behind starter Nic Claxton, those two could provide Tiago Splitter with dramatically different options depending on the matchup.
And yes — they can absolutely push one another for minutes.
Finally, the Bulls want to play FAST next season.
But could turnovers become the fatal flaw in Tiago Splitter’s system?
Splitter’s Portland team reached the playoffs, but also committed a league-high 17.3 turnovers per game. Chicago already finished among the NBA’s more turnover-prone teams, and a young roster built around Josh Giddey, Caleb Wilson, Matas Buzelis, Dailyn Swain and Rob Dillingham could make that problem even more dangerous.
Haize explains why Chicago shouldn’t eliminate creativity — but must distinguish between aggressive mistakes and careless live-ball turnovers that immediately fuel the opponent’s transition offense.
🔥 Topics include:
Tyler Kolek to Chicago?
Pacôme Dadiet as an upside gamble
Why New York could want roster flexibility
Jordan Brink’s connection to both prospects
What acquiring Kolek would mean for Rob Dillingham
Whether Chicago should demand compensation for Dadiet
Jalen Smith vs Zach Collins
Why Smith and Collins offer completely different styles
Smith’s pick-and-pop fit with Josh Giddey
Collins as a physical passing hub
Tobe Awaka applying pressure behind them
Tiago Splitter’s turnover problem in Portland
Josh Giddey’s high-risk/high-reward passing
Why pace can hurt Chicago if possessions end in turnovers
How the Bulls can play fast without playing reckless
🎧 Tap in with Haize on Chicago Bulls Central for the full breakdown!
Podcast Links: https://linktr.ee/BullsCentralPod
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Are Chicago Bulls fans giving up on Dailyn Swain way too early after one brutal Summer League?
On today’s Chicago Bulls Central, Haize takes a deeper look at Swain’s actual college profile and the historical NBA wings who entered the league with similar combinations of size, rebounding, secondary creation, defense and uncertain three-point shooting.
Swain’s final Texas season was anything but unproductive. At 6-foot-7 and roughly 211 pounds, he averaged 17.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 54.2% from the field, 34.4% from three and 81.5% from the free-throw line. He also shot 60.3% on twos and posted a .636 true-shooting percentage.
Yes, his Summer League was ugly: 4.2 points per game on 12.9% shooting and 0% from three across four games. But four bad July games shouldn’t erase nearly 100 college games of development.
Haize compares Swain’s profile with players such as Jaime Jaquez Jr., Josh Hart, Jae Crowder, Kyle Kuzma, Otto Porter Jr., Jimmy Butler, Gordon Hayward, Jarrett Culver and former Bull Chandler Hutchison to show why the range of outcomes remains enormous.
The point isn’t that Swain will become Jimmy Butler.
The point is that large, versatile wings often take time — and Swain’s 81.5% free-throw shooting, efficiency inside the arc, passing and defensive production give Chicago a much healthier developmental foundation than his Summer League performance suggests.
Then Haize shifts to Josh Giddey’s comments about Norman Powell, after Giddey said Powell’s gravity will take attention away from him.
Could Powell become more valuable to Chicago because of what he creates for everybody else?
With Powell flying around screens and forcing defenders to chase, Giddey could attack vacated space, Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson could become dangerous cutters, Nic Claxton could thrive in dribble-handoff actions and Dailyn Swain could eventually benefit as a second-unit cutter.
Finally, Haize explores the most overlooked part of Nic Claxton’s game: his passing.
Claxton averaged a career-high 3.7 assists against just 1.4 turnovers, opening the possibility that Tiago Splitter could use him as an elbow facilitator, short-roll playmaker and dribble-handoff hub — borrowing concepts from the role Joakim Noah once played in Chicago without expecting Claxton to become Noah himself.
🔥 Topics include: Dailyn Swain NBA comparisons, Jaime Jaquez Jr. vs. Jarrett Culver as Swain’s developmental fork, why Chandler Hutchison is a warning, what Jimmy Butler and Jae Crowder teach us about wing development, Norman Powell’s shooting gravity, Josh Giddey’s offensive evolution, Matas and Caleb as cutters, Nic Claxton’s passing leap, Claxton as a short-roll creator, and whether Chicago can manufacture offense through movement instead of superstar isolation.
🎧 Tap in with Haize on Chicago Bulls Central for the full breakdown!
Podcast Links: https://linktr.ee/BullsCentralPod
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Should Tiago Splitter unleash the Chicago Bulls’ giant “SLAP” lineup this season?
On today’s Chicago Bulls Central, Haize breaks down one of the most intriguing lineup experiments available to the Bulls: Josh Giddey, Dailyn Swain, Matas Buzelis, Caleb Wilson and Nic Claxton sharing the floor together.
Every player in that group is roughly 6-foot-7 or taller, creating an average height around 6-foot-9 and embodying the exact traits Bryson Graham has emphasized throughout Chicago’s reset: size, length, athleticism, physicality and versatility.
This shouldn’t necessarily become the Bulls’ regular starting lineup. But in five-to-eight-minute stretches? It could become a tactical nightmare.
Giddey can rebound and immediately ignite transition. Swain could defend the point of attack and act as a secondary creator. Matas becomes the primary scorer and weak-side shot blocker. Caleb Wilson can cut, attack mismatches and finish in transition. Claxton anchors the defense while providing rim pressure, screens and underrated passing.
The real swing factor is Dailyn Swain. If he can defend NBA shooting guards and become a credible catch-and-shoot threat, Chicago could potentially switch across four positions while keeping Claxton behind everything.
But there’s an obvious problem:
Spacing.
Giddey, Swain, Matas and Caleb all still have something to prove as NBA perimeter shooters, while Claxton provides no traditional floor spacing. Haize explains why constant movement, inverted actions, dribble handoffs and early transition offense would be necessary to keep the giant lineup from clogging the paint.
Then the show shifts to a completely different part of the rebuild that could be just as important:
🔥 The Windy City Bulls.
Chicago recently hired former Bull Quincy Pondexter as Windy City’s new head coach, and with players like Noa Essengue, Tobe Awaka, Jaylin Sellers and potentially Dailyn Swain needing developmental reps, the Bulls cannot afford to treat the G League like a separate organization.
If Chicago truly plans to build through the draft, Windy City must become an extension of Tiago Splitter’s rotation and developmental system.
Haize also gets into your Bulls voicemails, including the realistic standard for an undrafted rookie making an impact, why moving Norman Powell to the bench doesn’t make much sense, and whether Bulls ownership deserves blame for the previous regime’s roster decisions.
🔥 Topics include:
Bulls’ giant “SLAP” lineup
Josh Giddey + Dailyn Swain backcourt
Matas Buzelis as the primary scorer
Caleb Wilson attacking mismatches
Nic Claxton’s passing and rim gravity
Can Chicago switch four positions?
Why Swain is the lineup’s swing player
The massive spacing concern
Three versions of Chicago’s giant lineup
Why Jalen Smith could unlock the spacing version
Quincy Pondexter taking over Windy City
Noa Essengue’s G League development
Jaylin Sellers’ shooting development
Tobe Awaka’s rebounding against pro size
Why the Bulls’ G League operation matters more than wins
Norman Powell bench debate
Bulls ownership vs previous front-office decisions
Undrafted rookies making immediate NBA impact
🎧 Tap in with Haize on Chicago Bulls Central for the full breakdown!
Podcast Links: https://linktr.ee/BullsCentralPod
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The Chicago Bulls probably aren’t ready to finish ahead of Detroit or Cleveland — but that doesn’t make those games meaningless. In fact, those matchups may be the best way to measure whether this rebuild is actually moving forward.
On today’s Chicago Bulls Central, Haize breaks down why the Central Division could become Chicago’s perfect developmental measuring stick during the 2026-27 season.
The current division outlook has Detroit and Cleveland ahead of Chicago, with the Bulls more realistically battling Milwaukee and Indiana in the standings. But Detroit and Cleveland represent something different: two examples of where Chicago hopes to eventually go. Detroit has developed a young core into a legitimate contender, while Cleveland represents the path of building internally before adding established star power.
The real test won’t simply be wins and losses. Can the Bulls avoid immediately falling behind? Can Josh Giddey, Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson execute late in games? Can Chicago’s defense force elite opponents to adjust? And can Matas and Caleb create offense against the type of physical, playoff-level defenses they’ll eventually have to beat?
Haize also lays out a practical measuring scale for Chicago’s eight combined games against Detroit and Cleveland. Going 3-5 with competitive losses would signal meaningful progress, while getting swept or repeatedly blown out would suggest Chicago remains significantly behind the division’s elite.
Then the show turns toward one of the most important long-term roster questions facing Bryson Graham:
Does Chicago’s next major investment need to be at center or shooting guard?
Nic Claxton has roughly two seasons to prove he can become the long-term defensive anchor. At the same time, Dailyn Swain and Jaylin Sellers must show whether either can develop into the long-term backcourt partner Chicago needs alongside Josh Giddey.
If Claxton improves the defense, develops chemistry with Giddey and remains playable across different matchups, shooting guard likely becomes the next priority. If Swain or Sellers emerges while Claxton disappoints, center jumps to the top of the list. And if both positions develop internally? Chicago gains the freedom to pursue the best player available or make a bigger star trade.
🔥 Topics include:
Why Detroit is the developmental blueprint
What Cleveland tests about Chicago’s star ceiling
Giddey vs Cade Cunningham
Matas and Caleb against playoff-level defense
Nic Claxton vs Jalen Duren
Chicago’s eight-game measuring stick against Detroit/Cleveland
Can the Bulls finish third in the Central?
Why the final matchups matter more than the first
Is Claxton Chicago’s long-term center?
Can Dailyn Swain become the Bulls’ future shooting guard?
Jaylin Sellers’ sixth-man and starting upside
Why Swain’s three-point shot is his biggest swing skill
Center vs shooting guard as Chicago’s next premium investment
How every roster decision changes what the Bulls need elsewhere
Listener reactions on Swain, Tre Jones and Rob Dillingham
🎧 Tap in with Haize on Chicago Bulls Central for the full breakdown.
Podcast Links: https://linktr.ee/BullsCentralPod
Get at us:
Email: BullsCentralPod@gmail.com
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Phone: ‪(773) 270-2799‬

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