Rumor Check: Staff Is Set, Center Talk Is Still Just Talk

By the Bulls Nightly Desk · Tuesday, September 15

Tiago Splitter's coaching staff and Taj Gibson's move to the bench are real, dated reports, while the center buzz and Ryan Rollins talk are Pippen Ain't Easy making a case, not sourced trade reports. Chicago carries $161.5 million in commitments against a $200.4 million luxury tax line, so the room to act is there whenever an actual deal shows up.

Bulls Nightly artwork — Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Staff, confirmed. Hoops Rumors and Bulls.com both report Tiago Splitter's coaching staff is finalized for 2026-27, an announcement dated September 15. The report sits at a 45 confidence score and is still marked open, standard for a formal team release rather than an unconfirmed trade lead.

Gibson joins the bench. Taj Gibson retired as a player on September 14 and joined Chicago's staff as an assistant coach, reported by Hoops Rumors and ESPN's Jamal Collier. It carries a 44 confidence score, open status, and closes out a playing career that started and is now ending in Chicago.

Giddey's comments, aging out. The report on Josh Giddey discussing Norman Powell, Matas Buzelis and his jump shot dates to September 4 and sits at 32 confidence, the lowest mark on the board. Nothing has updated it since camp opened, which is usually how a report fades rather than resolves.

Center search is a column. Pippen Ain't Easy has made the case for a center upgrade repeatedly this month, from a Nikola Jokic scouting benchmark to a pitch that Chicago call Tim Connelly again. None of it is a sourced report; it is one outlet's argument for what the front office should do.

Rollins is a pitch, not a lead. The same outlet argued the Bulls' best window to pursue Milwaukee's Ryan Rollins is now, per writer Andrew Hanlon. That is a columnist's read on trade value, not a report attributed to a source inside either organization.

The room exists. None of this requires cap gymnastics. Chicago carries $161.5 million in commitments against a $200.4 million luxury tax line, so a center deal or any other move has space to work with the moment a real report shows up.

On deck Camp questions on staff and roster stay open until games start; the preseason opens October 7 against the Suns, with the regular-season opener set for October 21 at Toronto.

Did Taj Gibson really retire and join the coaching staff?

Yes. Hoops Rumors and ESPN reported on September 14 that Gibson retired as a player and joined Tiago Splitter's staff as an assistant coach.

Are the Bulls trading for a center this offseason?

Not based on any sourced report. The center talk so far is Pippen Ain't Easy making the case in a column, not a report with a named source.