2025–26 Chicago Bulls season
2025–26 NBA season by team
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The 2025–26 Chicago Bulls season was the 60th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
PresidentMichael Reinsdorf
General managerMarc Eversley (fired)
Vacant
Vacant
| 2025–26 Chicago Bulls season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Billy Donovan |
| President | Michael Reinsdorf |
| General manager | Marc Eversley (fired) Vacant |
| Owner | Jerry Reinsdorf |
| Arena | United Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 31–51 (.378) |
| Place | Division: 4th (Central) Conference: 12th (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Stats at Basketball Reference | |
| Local media | |
| Television | Chicago Sports Network |
| Radio | WLS WSCR |
The Bulls began the regular season 5–0, their best start since the 1996–97 season.[1] However, they soon struggled, enduring a seven-game losing streak through November and December 2025. It was followed by an 11-game losing streak in February 2026, setting a franchise record for most losses in a winless month, surpassing the previous 0–10 mark set in November 1976.[2][3][4] Josh Giddey, Coby White, Zach Collins, Noa Essengue (who would miss the rest of his rookie season early on), and Jalen Smith missed significant time due to injuries which plagued Chicago's record.
On January 24, 2026, the Bulls officially retired Derrick Rose's jersey number 1 immediately after their game against the Boston Celtics.[5] In the February trade deadline period, the Bulls completed a league-high seven trades by dismantling its veteran core, trading away Coby White, Nikola Vučević, Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, Dalen Terry, Julian Phillips, and Emanuel Miller. In exchange, Chicago acquired Jaden Ivey, Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton, Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller, Nick Richards, Guerschon Yabusele, and eight future second-round picks (reduced by one following a trade with the Charlotte Hornets due to White’s calf injury). Ivey, having been sidelined for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, was later waived on March 30 due to "conduct detrimental to the team" following his criticism about the NBA's involvement in Pride Month activities.[6][7]
Following a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on March 27, the Bulls were eliminated from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive season, marking their first season missing the play-in tournament since 2021 and failing to improve upon their 39–43 record from each of their two previous seasons. The team would finish the regular season with a 31–51 record, placing 12th in the East.
On April 6, the Bulls fired executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley.[8]
Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College / Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Noa Essengue | Power Forward |  France |
 Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany) |
| 2 | 45 | Rocco Zikarsky | Center |  Australia |
Brisbane Bullets (Australia) |
The Bulls entered the draft with one first-round selection and one second-round selection.[9][10] While their original 2025 second-round pick ended up with the Sacramento Kings via San Antonio Spurs, the Bulls acquired a different 2025 second-round pick from Sacramento as an exchange for DeMar DeRozan in a 2024 trade. Chicago notably lost a coin toss against the Dallas Mavericks for higher draft lottery odds, which subsequently later led to Dallas claiming the #1 pick of the draft.[11][12]
The Bulls later traded the #45 pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for cash and the #55 pick, Lachlan Olbrich.
Roster
| Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Head coach
Assistant(s)
Legend
Roster |
Standings
Division
| Central Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c – Detroit Pistons | 60 | 22 | .732 | – | 32–9 | 28–13 | 12–4 | 82 |
| x – Cleveland Cavaliers | 52 | 30 | .634 | 8.0 | 27–14 | 25–16 | 10–5 | 82 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 32 | 50 | .390 | 28.0 | 19–22 | 13–28 | 9–7 | 82 |
| Chicago Bulls | 31 | 51 | .378 | 29.0 | 18–23 | 13–28 | 4–12 | 82 |
| Indiana Pacers | 19 | 63 | .232 | 41.0 | 11–29 | 8–34 | 4–12 | 82 |
Conference
| Eastern Conference | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
| 1 | c – Detroit Pistons * | 60 | 22 | .732 | – | 82 |
| 2 | y – Boston Celtics * | 56 | 26 | .683 | 4.0 | 82 |
| 3 | x – New York Knicks | 53 | 29 | .646 | 7.0 | 82 |
| 4 | x – Cleveland Cavaliers | 52 | 30 | .634 | 8.0 | 82 |
| 5 | x – Toronto Raptors | 46 | 36 | .561 | 14.0 | 82 |
| 6 | y – Atlanta Hawks * | 46 | 36 | .561 | 14.0 | 82 |
| 7 | x – Philadelphia 76ers | 45 | 37 | .549 | 15.0 | 82 |
| 8 | x – Orlando Magic | 45 | 37 | .549 | 15.0 | 82 |
| 9 | pi – Charlotte Hornets | 44 | 38 | .537 | 16.0 | 82 |
| 10 | pi – Miami Heat | 43 | 39 | .524 | 17.0 | 82 |
| 11 | Milwaukee Bucks | 32 | 50 | .390 | 28.0 | 82 |
| 12 | Chicago Bulls | 31 | 51 | .378 | 29.0 | 82 |
| 13 | Brooklyn Nets | 20 | 62 | .244 | 40.0 | 82 |
| 14 | Indiana Pacers | 19 | 63 | .232 | 41.0 | 82 |
| 15 | Washington Wizards | 17 | 65 | .207 | 43.0 | 82 |
NBA Cup
East Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Knicks | 4 | 3 | 1 | 512 | 477 | +35 | Advanced to knockout rounds |
| 2 | Miami Heat | 4 | 3 | 1 | 507 | 458 | +49 | |
| 3 | Milwaukee Bucks | 4 | 2 | 2 | 467 | 463 | +4 | |
| 4 | Charlotte Hornets | 4 | 1 | 3 | 461 | 500 | −39 | |
| 5 | Chicago Bulls | 4 | 1 | 3 | 468 | 517 | −49 |
Source: NBA
Game log
Preseason
| 2025 preseason game log Total: 3–2 (Home: 2–1; Road: 1–1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preseason: 3–2 (home: 2–1; road: 1–1)
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| 2025–26 preseason schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
| 2025–26 game log Total: 31–51 (Home: 18–23; Road: 13–28) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 5–0 (home: 4–0; road: 1–0)
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November: 4–10 (home: 2–2; road: 2–8)
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December: 7–7 (home: 3–6; road: 4–1)
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January: 8–8 (home: 6–3; road: 2–5)
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February: 0–11 (home: 0–6; road: 0–5)
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March: 5–10 (home: 3–3; road: 2–7)
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April: 2–5 (home: 0–3; road: 2–2)
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| 2025–26 season schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Notes
Player statistics
| Player | Pos. | GP | GS | MP | Reb. | Ast. | Stl. | Blk. | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matas Buzelis | SF | 77 | 77 | 2,248 | 448 | 158 | 55 | 116 | 1,252 |
| Jevon Carter‡ | PG | 23 | 0 | 254 | 26 | 19 | 13 | 2 | 124 |
| Zach Collins | C | 10 | 0 | 184 | 56 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 97 |
| Rob Dillingham≠ | PG | 30 | 0 | 644 | 90 | 85 | 28 | 3 | 288 |
| Ayo Dosunmu† | SG | 45 | 10 | 1,187 | 136 | 164 | 34 | 12 | 677 |
| Noa Essengue | F | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Trentyn Flowers | SF | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Josh Giddey | F | 54 | 51 | 1,731 | 448 | 494 | 55 | 27 | 919 |
| Mouhamadou Gueye | F | 2 | 0 | 45 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| Kevin Huerter† | SG | 44 | 11 | 1,037 | 169 | 116 | 35 | 26 | 479 |
| Jaden Ivey≠ | SG | 4 | 3 | 115 | 19 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 46 |
| Tre Jones | PG | 65 | 41 | 1,752 | 204 | 350 | 76 | 11 | 914 |
| Yuki Kawamura | PG | 18 | 0 | 209 | 33 | 47 | 9 | 0 | 62 |
| Mac McClung | PG | 8 | 0 | 101 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 48 |
| Emanuel Miller† | PF | 5 | 0 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| Leonard Miller≠ | SF | 27 | 12 | 624 | 156 | 35 | 13 | 15 | 317 |
| Isaac Okoro | G/F | 63 | 62 | 1,695 | 173 | 100 | 46 | 29 | 584 |
| Lachlan Olbrich | PF | 37 | 2 | 344 | 112 | 42 | 12 | 8 | 89 |
| Julian Phillips† | SF | 35 | 2 | 334 | 44 | 7 | 17 | 6 | 99 |
| Nick Richards≠ | C | 20 | 4 | 447 | 152 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 187 |
| Collin Sexton≠ | PG | 26 | 10 | 676 | 75 | 66 | 40 | 3 | 454 |
| Anfernee Simons≠ | SG | 6 | 5 | 170 | 17 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 91 |
| Jalen Smith | F | 53 | 21 | 1,095 | 355 | 65 | 24 | 42 | 541 |
| Dalen Terry† | G | 34 | 0 | 377 | 64 | 43 | 22 | 11 | 118 |
| Nikola Vučević† | C | 48 | 48 | 1,480 | 431 | 181 | 32 | 31 | 810 |
| Coby White† | PG | 29 | 26 | 843 | 108 | 136 | 20 | 2 | 540 |
| Patrick Williams | PF | 72 | 6 | 1,474 | 215 | 105 | 49 | 26 | 505 |
| Guerschon Yabusele≠ | C | 26 | 19 | 641 | 147 | 45 | 20 | 11 | 261 |
After all games.[15]
‡Waived during the season
†Traded during the season
≠Acquired during the season
Transactions
Trades
| July 1, 2025[16] | To Chicago Bulls Draft rights to Lachlan Olbrich Cash considerations |
To Los Angeles Lakers Draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky |
| July 6, 2025[17][18] | To Chicago Bulls Isaac Okoro |
To Cleveland Cavaliers Lonzo Ball |
Free agency
Re-signed
| Date | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| July 1 | Emanuel Miller | [19] |
Additions
| Date | Player | Former Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
Subtractions
| Player | Reason | New Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jaden Ivey | Waived via detrimental team conduct | [7] | |