Norman Powell’s arrival finally settles what the Chicago Bulls’ projected starting five should look like next season.
The 33-year-old agreed a two-year, $45 million deal on Wednesday, joining a Chicago side that has spent the offseason getting younger, while also hiring Tiago Splitter to oversee what looks like a promising rebuild.
Now is as good a time as any for teams in the Eastern Conference to fight into contention. Wholesale roster changes at the Bucks, Heat, Hornets, and possibly Celtics, plus a much stronger West makes the Conference Finals feel achievable.
Chicago will have one of the youngest starting fives in the league — a mix of a triple-double machine, an All-Star scorer, a lob-catching center and two young forwards with upside. Here is how the group breaks down.
Chicago Bulls projected starting five
Point guard: Josh Giddey
Giddey is the initiator. The 23-year-old Australian put together the best season of his career in 2025-26, averaging 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists — all personal highs — across 54 games.
He piled up 13 triple-doubles and reached 30 for his career, moving him past Michael Jordan’s career total in a Bulls jersey. Chicago backed him with a four-year, $100 million deal for a reason.
The one question is winning. Giddey has admitted he needs to be sharper in the clutch. After ankle surgery in May, it could be a while before he’s back to his best.
Shooting guard: Norman Powell
Powell is the scorer. Chicago moved on from Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu over the past year and lost the ability to create points in the backcourt.
Powell answers that. He averaged 21.7 points on 47/38/83 shooting splits in Miami last season and made his first All-Star team at 33, having ranked among the league’s most efficient scorers per touch for years.
The catch is availability — injuries have kept him under 60 games in most recent seasons, including a groin problem that wrecked the back half of his year. When healthy, though, he is a genuine bucket-getter the Bulls badly needed.
Small forward: Matas Buzelis
Matas Buzelis is the wild card. The 21-year-old took a clear step in his second season, averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds across 77 games after scoring just 8.6 as a rookie.
He was better still after the All-Star break — closer to 20 points a night — and dropped a 41-point game on the Golden State Warriors.
Nobody, including his new coach, seems sure how high his ceiling goes. Splitter has openly said he does not yet know what Buzelis’s best looks like. If the shooting and consistency catch up to the athleticism, he could take a real leap.
Power forward: Caleb Wilson
Caleb Wilson is the rookie with upside. The Bulls took the North Carolina forward with the No. 4 pick in June, and the freshman numbers explain the hype: 19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks a game on 57.8% shooting before a thumb injury ended his season.
Wilson earned second-team All-American honors and drew a Kevin Garnett comparison from Draymond Green, who had tabbed him a draft dark horse.
The concern is the jumper — he hit just 25.9% from three at UNC. But the length, motor and defensive tools give Chicago a forward to build around.
Center: Nic Claxton
Nic Claxton gives the group its defensive backbone. Chicago landed the 27-year-old center in a three-team trade for next to nothing, filling its biggest hole.
Claxton is a rim-crashing lob threat on offense and an elite shot-blocker at the other end. He averaged 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.1 blocks on 57% shooting last season and once drew Defensive Player of the Year votes. He also knows Splitter well from their years together in Brooklyn.
Claxton will not carry the offense, but he protects the paint, is lethal in transition, and finishes everything around the rim. That’s a valuable skill set in the modern NBA.
READ MORE:
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