Chicago carries $164.3M in salary, a hair below the $165.0M cap and nowhere near tax trouble. The real lever comes next summer, when Okoro, Smith and Miller drop off and three options decide how much of Powell, Jones and Hield stays.
Right at the line. The Bulls sit $0.7M under a $165.0M cap. That buys nothing on the open market, but the sheet is clean. The tax line is $200.4M, and the two aprons sit farther out still, $209.0M and $221.7M. None of those restrictions touch this front office this season.
Who gets paid. Josh Giddey leads at $25.0M, the same figure next season. Nic Claxton is second at $23.1M and has yet to suit up for Chicago, sidelined by a hamstring injury with a projected November 4 return. Norman Powell at $21.5M, Patrick Williams at $18.0M and Isaac Okoro at $11.8M round out the top five.
The Williams number. Williams makes $18.0M this season and $18.0M again next season. Last season he gave Chicago 7.0 points in 20.5 minutes across 72 games. That is the hardest contract on this sheet to justify, and nothing changes that until he plays bigger than his paycheck has so far.
Options to watch. Powell carries a $22.6M team option for 2027-28 after scoring 21.7 a night last season, so the club holds the cards. Tre Jones has an $8.0M team option. Buddy Hield, 33, holds a $10.1M player option, and that call belongs to him, not Chicago.
Two cheap bets locked. Bulls.com announced the club picked up 2027-28 options on Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue. Buzelis rises from $5.7M to $7.6M after 16.3 points in 77 games last season, the best value on the roster. Essengue, 19, moves to $6.0M on promise, not production.
What falls off. Okoro's $11.8M, Jalen Smith's $9.4M and Leonard Miller's $2.4M are not on next season's sheet. Claxton dips to $20.9M. Caleb Wilson, the No. 4 pick, climbs to $11.2M. Decline Powell's option and real room opens up; keep him, and most of that relief is already spent.
Picks intact. Chicago owns its own first-rounder in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030. The 2027 second goes to Oklahoma City, and the 2028 and 2030 seconds are swaps. For a team coming off 31-51, that clean run of firsts is the trade chip that matters most.
Are the Bulls over the luxury tax in 2026-27?
No. Chicago's $164.3M payroll sits below even the $165.0M salary cap, well short of the $200.4M tax line.
Did the Bulls pick up Matas Buzelis' 2027-28 option?
Yes. Chicago exercised his 2027-28 option, worth $7.6M, along with Noa Essengue's at $6.0M.
