The word ‘‘rebuild’’ has been thrown around freely since the Bulls hired executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham.
That’s a bad word in some locker rooms and one that offers hope in others.
It comes down to perspective, and Bulls guard Josh Giddey has a wide one.
‘‘I’ve been a part of [a rebuild], so I feel like I know how the whole thing goes,’’ Giddey said of his days with the Thunder. ‘‘I’ve been on a team that was the No. 1 seed; I’ve been on a team that was the lowest seed in the league. So it’s not something that is completely foreign to me.
‘‘I think with this group, it’s a young team but a talented team. We’ve got a good mix of veterans and younger guys. So in terms of my role as the point guard, you want to be a leader. You want to be an extension of the coach on the court and make sure the guys are on the same page. I think it’s my job to put guys in position to be successful, so that might look different on any given night.’’
Giddey is one of the keys for the Bulls’ ability to turn this season from one of rebuilding to one of promise, considering he often has the ball in his hands. And while he has had stretches of consistency on both ends of the court, there is still some work to be done.
Coach Tiago Splitter pulled no punches when he was asked about Giddey. He made it clear his turnover numbers needed to come down. Giddey is coming off a season in which his turnovers rose to 3.6 per game from 2.9 per game in 2024-25.
What will help that number go down? Giddey being less careless and having more competent players around him.
Veteran guard Norman Powell will help with that. So will aggressive rim-runners such as Matas Buzelis and Nic Claxton. Claxton tweaked his hamstring and will be out for a few weeks, Splitter said, but he’s one of the more explosive centers Giddey has had in a few years.
Then there’s rookie Caleb Wilson, who gives Giddey one of the better athletes he has played with. Yes, Wilson is only 20 and has yet to play in a regular-season game, but he has impressed Giddey since Giddey watched him play in Summer League games in Las Vegas.
‘‘It’s obviously a different kind of level when you play against real NBA talent in the regular season, but one thing he doesn’t lack is confidence, and that’s a real good [thing] to have as a high draft pick,’’ Giddey said of Wilson. ‘‘Obviously, there is a lot of external pressure on him from the media, and it just comes naturally with being [the No. 4 overall] pick, but [he has an] unbelievable work ethic. He’s someone that anytime I’m there late at night, he’s always in the gym. He’s always in early, leaves late. So for a guy like that, with as much talent as [he has], to work as hard as he does, that’s probably his special talent and something that will make him better as a player.’’
That’s why Giddey isn’t dwelling on the word ‘‘rebuild.’’ He knows the Bulls’ roster has holes, but he also sees a group of players who might be overlooked.
‘‘Consistency is going to be important,’’ he said. ‘‘To put a ceiling on this team would be the wrong thing to do because we believe that what’s in this locker room is good enough to compete every night.’’