Rumor Check: One Confirmed Move, Six Reports Still Just Talk

Camp roster, confirmed. The one report with a confirmed tag: Tony Garcia's September 23 note that the Bulls added to their camp roster, alongside the Pistons and Spurs. That lines up with Houston Mallette and Peter Suder both joining Chicago on September 22, a paper trail with actual transactions behind it.

Duren name resurfaces. Hoopsrumors grouped the Bulls with Duren, Jenkins, the Bucks and Cavaliers in a September 24 Central Notes post, with no specifics on what ties Chicago to any of it. Pippen Ain't Easy has floated Chicago as a mystery team for Duren separately, but that is the outlet's own speculation, not a sourced report.

Coaching staff, low confidence. The team's own September 15 announcement of Tiago Splitter's coaching staff carries just a 33 confidence score in the report tracker, still marked open. Taj Gibson's September 14 move from retired player to assistant coach carries that same 33 score and open status, even though both came from the team itself.

Stacey King tribute, unconfirmed. A September 10 report says the Bulls plan to honor the late Stacey King during 2026-27, carrying a 28 confidence score and still open. Bulls.com's September 24 note on a rotation of TV analysts replacing King suggests something is moving, but the tribute plan itself remains unverified.

Giddey comments, stale. The lowest-confidence report on the board, at 21, is a September 4 piece on Giddey discussing the offseason, Powell, Buzelis and his jump shot. It is three weeks old, still marked open, and reads more like an interview recap than anything resembling a rumor.

Magic waiver wire, no Bulls tie. A September 24 report on the Magic signing Kevin Knox to an Exhibit 10 deal and cutting four others carries a 44 confidence score and stays open, but nothing in it connects to Chicago beyond appearing in the same roundup. File it as noise for this desk.

The cap sheet check. Whatever comes of the Duren chatter, the cap sheet itself is not the obstacle: Chicago's payroll totals $161.5 million, with the luxury tax line at $200.4 million and Giddey's $25.0 million the largest number on the books. There is room; the reports naming a target simply are not there yet.