It’s a word that’s been thrown around freely since executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham was hired by Bulls ownership: “Rebuild.”
A bad word in some locker rooms, a word that offers up hope in others.
It comes down to perspective and point 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 in Oklahoma City. “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. But I think with this group, I think 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.”
And that will be one of the keys for this Bulls season to turn from “rebuild” to promise — consistency.
Giddey is the focal point of that considering he has the ball in his hands, and while he’s had stretches on both ends of the floor with consistency there is still clean-up to be done.
Tiago Splitter pulled no punches with that when asked about Giddey, as the coach made it very clear that his turnover numbers needed to dwindle.
The offense will still be up-tempo like it was under Billy Donovan, and Giddey was coming off a season in which the turnovers jumped up from 2.9 per game in the 2024-25 campaign to 3.6 per game last year.
What will help with those numbers going down? Giddey being less careless but also having more competent players around him.
Veteran Norman Powell helps with that, as does aggressive rim-runners like Matas Buzelis and Nic Claxton. Claxton did tweak his hamstring so will be on the shelf for a few weeks, according to Splitter, but is 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’s played with. Yes, the No. 4 overall pick is only 20 and is yet to play a regular-season NBA game but has impressed Giddey since he first watched Wilson play 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 skillset to have as a high draft pick,” Giddey said of the rookie. “Obviously, there is a lot of external pressure on him from the media, and it just comes naturally with being such a high draft pick, but 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 him, to work as hard as he does, that’s probably his special talent and something that will make him better as a player.”
And that’s why Giddey isn’t dwelling on the word “rebuild” as an anchor around his ankle. He knows that this Bulls roster has its holes, but he also sees a group of players that might be overlooked.
“Like I said, consistency is going to be important,” he added. “To put a ceiling on this team would be the wrong thing to do because internally we believe that what’s in this locker room is good enough to compete every night.”