Will Targeting Vets Be a Surprising Part of the Bulls' Free Agency Plans?

Anyone who tells you they know what Bryson Graham has in store for the Chicago Bulls is lying. Heck, even Graham himself can't be sure what the next couple of months will hold. The NBA offseason is known to be incredibly unpredictable, and it's not as if the Bulls have a roster worth keeping intact.

Is it more likely than not that Graham undertakes a multi-year rebuild and prioritizes the development of his upcoming two first-round picks? Absolutely. But there are also multiple different ways for this new-look Bulls front office to approach a rebuild, especially when they also have this much money to play with.

They could go after some of the top restricted free agents on the market. They could act as a dumping ground for bad salaries around the league in exchange for future assets. They could try to speed things up by acquiring a suddenly disgruntled young star.

Bleacher Report even put an entirely different idea on my radar this week. When attempting to predict one free agency move for every team, Grant Hughes pitched the idea of Chicago using their loads of cap space on a veteran like Andrew Wiggins. At first glance, I scoffed at the idea. The more I thought about it, however, the more I could see the vision. And, again, we'd be silly to rule anything out at this point!

To be clear, the idea here wasn't for the Bulls to sign Wiggins under the impression that he would be a key piece of their future core. Hughes was, instead, suggesting that the Bulls could sign him to a short-term deal in hopes of immediately boosting his value and trading him for additional assets at the trade deadline. For what it's worth, the contract he threw out sat at two years, $70.0 million.

Would I love that specific deal? Nope, and I highly doubt the Bulls would actually go down that road. But the sentiment is something I can get behind, particularly when we consider the drastic change the NBA has made in recent weeks.

A Different Kind of Offseason Approach for the Bulls

May 15, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the second half in game six of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Over the last week, the NBA's Board of Governors approved a sweeping change to the league's lottery system. What was previously a structure that rewarded the league's worst teams with better odds has now been turned on its head. The worst three teams each season will now receive worse odds at the No. 1 overall pick than those that finish 4-10. Likewise, those seven teams that do sit in the 4-10 range will all have equal odds to sit atop the big board.

In other words, embracing the tank just got a whole lot harder. Bryson Graham can no longer head into next season comfortable with whatever happens. The last thing he will want is to finish as a bottom-three squad, which very well could be in the cards for a Bulls team built heavily around rookies and players 24 or younger.

Throw in the fact that establishing the right culture from the jump is paramount for a franchise starting fresh, and targeting a couple of no-nonsense veterans may be a wise move. To be sure, the Bulls were likely always going to put some adults in the locker room. Rebuilding teams are signing guys like Garrett Temple and Taj Gibson to minimum deals all the time. But might the Bulls aim a little bit higher and target players who can make a more immediate impact?

Again, Andrew Wiggins might be too big a name, but some players who sit one tier below could make some sense. What about Tobias Harris, for instance? The Pistons roster crunch could leave him in search of a new home, and he has been widely considered an excellent locker room leader. More importantly, though, he has become the kind of highly dependable role player that many contending teams look to add at the deadline.

Could you steal Rui Hachimura away from the Lakers on a reasonable short-term contract? Still only 28 years old, he is the kind of player who could significantly balloon his stats with a rebuilding Bulls team, thus bolstering his trade value. Would getting him at roughly $16.0 or $17.0 million a year eventually turn into an attractive deal for win-now squads?

The ultimate example of this might be Luguentz Dort. The Thunder are on the verge of a big roster crunch with Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren about to see their extensions kick in. The Bulls could look to swoop in and offer Dort a sizable salary in the $20-25 million range. Now, would Dort ever want to do this? Probably not. But if Graham pulled it off, he would instantly have an extremely respected winning role player on a very tradeable contract. It's hard to imagine teams not calling the Bulls at the deadline about Dort's services.

One other name that is hard not to think about is Quentin Grimes. The guard could very well be the odd man out in Philly and has shown flashes of being an effective three-level scorer in the recent past. Chicago would instantly be able to hand him ample playing time with a starting role alongside Josh Giddey. Plus, there is a chance that he could prove to be more than just a trade chip. Grimes may not fit the timeline perfectly, but he's still only 26 years old!

Some additional names to keep in mind at even cheaper price tags could be Tim Hardaway Jr., Luke Kennard, Dean Wade, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Landry Shamet. Nevertheless, the point is to consider offering a veteran or two slightly more than they could get from a winning team in hopes of reaping the benefits down the road. It's kind of the same as eating bad money in exchange for future assets. And, hey, it arguably comes with even fewer risks, as the Bulls know they are getting a respected veteran who can also help a young team avoid the bottom of the barrel.

I don't necessarily think this will be Graham's Plan A this summer, to be clear. He will likely focus more on restricted free agency or salary dump situations. However, things rarely go according to plan in the NBA. If neither of those scenarios makes much sense for the Bulls, taking a good look at some of the top available vets could be worth it.

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