Prepare yourselves not for the 2025 offseason, but for the fascinating 2026 iteration. The Chicago Bulls will draft multiple prospects in the coming weeks, with the 12th and 45th overall selections barring any trades. Then, the Chicago Front Office will re-sign restricted free agent Josh Giddey and use its non-tax midlevel and biannual exceptions to add several free agents.

The guesswork is all but eliminated for the Bulls as the 2025-26 season approaches. This offseason will revolve around internal improvements, a foregone youth movement, and the Coby White contract extension conundrum—which leads us to the pivotal 2026 offseason, when White enters unrestricted free agency.

After signing a three-year, $36 million pact in 2023, White immediately proved far more than a worthwhile investment. He came in second place in the Most Improved Player award voting, averaging 19.1 points per game and splashing 209 triples in 2023-24. This past season, the 6-foot-5 guard led the team in scoring, tallying 20.4 points per contest while expanding his offensive arsenal as the Bulls’ offensive focal point.

The Bulls are primed for a fascinating 2026 offseason

White’s ascension into an alpha scorer, paired with Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis’ encouraging development, makes for an intriguing core. Yet, a trio of above-average to developing cornerstones isn’t all that enticing, thus making the Bulls’ 2026 offseason so pivotal.

The Bulls will have seven players under contract heading into the 2026-27 season: Patrick Williams, Jalen Smith, Lonzo Ball (team option), Julian Phillips, Buzelis, and a 2025 first and second-round pick. Add Giddey to the equation, and that makes eight players under contract worth roughly $80. Throw in White’s cap hold, upping the total to about $105 million. That’s nearly $70 million below the anticipated 2026-27 salary cap.

When a slew of stars hit the open market, Chicago will have heaps of money to dole out. Names such as Luka Doncic, Trae Young, and Austin Reaves could decline their player options to test the market. Moreover, DeAndre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, De’Aaron Fox, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Anfernee Simons make up a tremendous unrestricted free agent crop.

A rich-history and salary cap space won’t be enough to lure free agents

But what would tempt any of these previously mentioned players to come to the Windy City? While joining The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie’s Game Theory Podcast to discuss the Bulls’ offseason, Bryce Simon said it best: “What’s the draw, other than it being Chicago and the Bulls… [who] on the roster is a draw?”

Simon makes a great point. Chicago lacks that awe-inspiring, dynamic player. The NBA pundit later mentioned the Bulls’ desirable, value contracts, such as White and Ayo Dosunmu’s, stating, “[they’re] about to either be gone or be paid, and then no longer do those books look extremely impressive.” Are the Bulls as desirable without Dosunmu? Or after handing White a $40 million per annum pact? Probably not.

It’s a two-way street, with both avenues leading to an undesirable outcome—continued mediocrity. What can be counted on is an improbable franchise-altering trade, or an exponential ascension from either Buzelis or a forthcoming draft pick to up the ante. There’s hope for White and Giddey to become All-Stars, but after four-plus seasons in the NBA, neither player is as intriguing as the Bulls would hope to lure a big fish next offseason.

The Bulls are armed with the requisite cap space to sign a big-name player, yet the allure reverts to the team’s history and big market—two variables that are less and less determining factors in the present-day NBA.