Bulls ranked 29th in The Athletic's latest NBA power rankings, a placement seen as harsh given their offseason moves. This low ranking comes after a tough 149-128 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on April 13, 2026, capping a recent run of three consecutive defeats.
Why are the Bulls ranked so low?
The Athletic's Law Murray placed the Bulls second from bottom, ahead of only the Milwaukee Bucks. "There's enough change around the Bulls to suggest they might have a slow start," Murray wrote. "Then again, I expect this team to play fast, because that might be the only way some of these players get open and easy shots..." The ranking reflects the team's current state after a complete teardown. After being stuck in no man's land and the Play-In Tournament for much of the 2020s, Chicago pulled the plug on nearly everything from its previous era: Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, Arturas Karnisovas, Marc Eversley, Billy Donovan and more. Naturally, that puts the Bulls at ground zero of their rebuild.
New executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham has acknowledged this is a multi-year process. The team's recent form of two wins and three losses in their last five games, including that three-game skid, underscores the current challenges. You can track their progress on our [standings](/standings) page.
What new talent do the Bulls have?
Chicago's rebuild is fueled by promising young players and strategic veteran additions. No. 4 overall draft pick Caleb Wilson showed exactly what he was capable of in Las Vegas, earning First Team All-Summer League honors and exhibiting a surprising level of three-point accuracy. Other young prospects like No. 15 overall pick Dailyn Swain, 2025 lottery selection Noa Essengue, Matas Buzelis, and Josh Giddey are all seen as future cornerstones, with Buzelis and Giddey on the doorstep of NBA stardom following miniature breakouts last season.
The Bulls also made key veteran signings to raise the team's floor. They landed All-Star guard Norman Powell in free agency on a two-year, $44 million contract. Powell is a career 39.6% three-point shooter. In a savvy three-team trade involving the Timberwolves and Nets, Chicago acquired veteran center Nic Claxton for virtually nothing, thanks to the franchise's ample cap space entering this summer. Claxton is a much better fit around the rest of Chicago's core than Vucevic.
Can the Bulls avoid the NBA's new relegation zone?
Graham's offseason strategy wasn't a traditional tank. Because of the NBA's new lottery rules, in which the bottom three teams are placed into a "relegation zone" with worse lottery odds, rebuilding teams are incentivized to end up near the middle of the standings. Signing an All-Star in Powell and acquiring Claxton shows a desire to be competitive now.
If Caleb Wilson is as good as he looked this summer, he'd instantly vault the Bulls up the rankings. Teams like the Pelicans, Kings and Nets may have been in their rebuilds longer than Chicago, but Wilson's talent could have a higher ceiling than anyone on those three rosters. With New Orleans, Sacramento, Brooklyn and Milwaukee stumbling over each other at the bottom of the league, Chicago should be able to avoid the relegation zone.
However, everything depends on roster consistency. If Graham decides to trade players like Powell, Jalen Smith, Tre Jones and Isaac Okoro at the deadline for future assets, the plan could shift. For now, the front office believes this mix can win more games than the 29th-place ranking suggests. The team's full roster construction is available on our [squad](/squad) page.
What's next for Chicago?
The Bulls will aim to prove the rankings wrong when the 2026-27 season tips off. Their combination of high-potential youth and proven veterans like Powell creates an interesting dynamic. Playing fast, as Murray predicted, could highlight the athleticism of Wilson and Giddey.
The immediate goal is avoiding the league's basement and the punitive lottery odds that come with it. Success this season might be measured by development more than wins, but the organization clearly wants to be respectable. How quickly the new pieces gel will determine if The Athletic's harsh assessment was accurate or a significant underestimation of Chicago's new direction. Join the free online community at BullsRoundtable.com and subscribe to The Chicago RoundtaBulls Podcast for more daily coverage of the six-time NBA champions.
