By the Numbers: Reading the Bulls Before Camp

$161.5 million committed. Chicago carries $161.5 million in salary, with $200.4 million marking the tax threshold this season. That leaves real room to spend, but room alone says nothing about whether the front office intends to use it before camp opens.

31-51, no argument. Last season's 31-51 finish is the baseline this roster is trying to beat. The Bulls have played zero games in 2026-27, so every comparison to that number is still theoretical until the opener.

-5.3 net rating. Chicago's net rating was -5.3 last season, offense at 112.1 points per hundred and defense at 117.4. Both numbers came from a team that broke up its veteran core at the trade deadline, so last season's ratings measure a roster that no longer exists.

17 points, 9 assists. Josh Giddey averaged 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists last season, shooting 36.4 percent from three. He is currently day-to-day with a right ankle injury, targeting a return around October 1, before camp fully ramps up.

Four 20-point nights. Tre Jones scored 20 or more off the bench four times in his last five games last season. That is a scoring habit built in a reserve role, and nothing in the offseason has said whether he keeps that role in 2026-27.

One pick owed. The Bulls own every first-round pick through 2030 and every second-rounder except one: the 2027 second-round selection is currently owed to Oklahoma City, the direct cost of last season's trade-deadline rebuild. That is the only draft asset presently out the door, and every future first stays in Chicago's control.

23.9 years old. The roster now averages 23.9 years old, the number the front office is using to justify the rebuild. Young rosters lose before they win, and nothing about that average guarantees this group avoids that step.