Dailyn Swain wasn’t trying to manufacture phony hype.
The Bulls’ first-year guard was simply stating facts.
Minutes after he watched rookie teammate Caleb Wilson make it a point to go after fellow top draft pick Cameron Boozer in their first Summer League head-to-head matchup since their Duke-North Carolina showdowns, Swain was only reiterating the obvious.
After all, Wilson had been very boisterous in how he planned to chase down Rookie of the Year honors this upcoming season, and if that meant running down — and going over — the competition, so be it.
“You know what happened when I played them (in the 2025-26 college season), so I don’t really care about the media,” Wilson said last month when discussing his No. 4 draft selection and the three players that went in front of him. “I’m a competitor … whatever needs to be done to prove I’m on the same level … but I’m better.”
That was the point Swain was making recently. That Wilson is not only from the school of talking it but took night classes on walking it.
“I mean Caleb is hunting everybody,” Swain said. “He won’t say it enough, but we can see it in his mentality, pregame, during the game, like he’s hunting these (other rookies). He works so hard. I’m not surprised by it. Guys like him are just like that.”
They are. So while the Bulls announced the regular-season schedule on Thursday, opening up the 2026-27 campaign in Toronto on Oct. 21, the home opener is three nights later against Washington and No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa. Or as far as Wilson was concerned, that’s when hunting season starts.
THE TOP FIVE MOST INTERESTING GAMES/MOMENTS:
Wizards at Bulls – Oct. 24: Yes, it will be the home opener for the new-look Bulls, from front office, to coaching staff, to half the roster. But that’s only the subplot. Washington has high hopes for the year with the additions of Trae Young and Anthony Davis, along with Dybantsa and the likes of young talent such as Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George.
Not only will this be a measuring stick for the Bulls and the battle for possible turnaround teams in the Eastern Conference, but the Wilson vs. Dybantsa matchup is can’t miss TV.
Three weeks of hell – Oct. 26 through Nov. 16: If the Bulls have any hopes of a quick start out of the gate, they might want to check those. Starting right after the home debut against the Wizards, the Bulls will go on a three-week juggernaut that will quickly test new coach Tiago Splitter and the roster that Bryson Graham has constructed.
In that time, they will play in Boston twice, a home and home with the world champion New York Knicks, a home and home with LeBron James and the Philadelphia 76ers, the Western Conference champs in San Antonio, as well as matchups with playoff bound Atlanta, Minnesota and Cleveland.
Bulls at Hornets – Nov. 25: What better way for the Bulls players to get ready for a small Thanksgiving break than by testing themselves against the up-and-coming Hornets, as well as a nice family reunion with long-time guard Coby White?
Bulls at Nuggets – Feb. 11: Not only will the young Bulls start a four-game West Coast trip against MVP-candidate Nikola Jokic in Denver but will do so on trade deadline day. The players that get on the airplane for the start of that trip could very well be calling for their belongings in cardboard boxes by the time the team travels to Portland a few nights later.
Grizzlies at Bulls – March 13: Boozer is the early leader in the Vegas odds to win Rookie of the Year, and the March tilt will be the first of two meetings Wilson will have against his former ACC foe. The Bulls play in Memphis less than two weeks later on Mar. 25.
