Bulls By The Numbers: The Figures That Define Camp

$161.5 million, room to spare. Chicago carries $161.5 million in salary this offseason, comfortably below a $200.4 million threshold. That gap is spending room, not a guarantee anyone gets used — Bryson Graham has cap flexibility, and nothing in camp says how or if he spends it.

Minus-5.3, last season's floor. Last season's net rating was minus-5.3, built on a 112.1 offense and a 117.4 defense that ranked 22nd. Splitter inherits both numbers as his starting point, not his ceiling — nothing about a new staff changes them until games are played.

21.7 points, one proven scorer. Norman Powell averaged 21.7 points on 38.0 percent shooting from three last season, before signing with Chicago as a free agent this offseason. The number says he can score at that level. It says nothing yet about how it translates next to Giddey and Claxton.

Plus-4.2, a lineup that clicked. One five-man group — Vucevic, Huerter, Okoro, Giddey and Buzelis — posted a plus-4.2 net rating in 65 minutes across 13 games last season. That lineup no longer exists; Vucevic and Huerter are gone. The number is proof Buzelis and Giddey can share a good floor, not a blueprint for this roster.

One pick owed, rest kept. Chicago owes only its 2027 second-round pick, to Oklahoma City. Every first-rounder through 2030 stays in-house outright; the 2028 and 2030 seconds are swaps, not full sends. That is capital for a trade or capital for patience — the picks alone don't say which.

23.9 years old, the bet. The active roster averages 23.9 years old. That number is the whole rebuild in one figure: bet on development now, or trade the youth for results sooner. Camp hasn't opened, so nothing yet forces the choice.