NBA Draft Roundup 3.0: The Experts Talk Bulls So I Don't Have To
Which two college studs do six folks who know way more about hoops than I do think will be wearing Chicago Bulls uniforms this fall? Spoiler alert: One of them is named Caleb.
MUCH TO THE CHAGRIN of many, I finally banged out a 2026 NBA mock draft, a mock that had the Chicago Bulls shipping Matas Buzelis to Sacramento, while landing three young (hopeful) beasts-to-be in the process.
I doubt anybody thinks my predictions will possibly come to fruition, but that’s why we call them mocks — so we mockers can get, y’know, mocked.
But I’m a genial gent who will never, ever mock a mocker. For that matter, I’ll go so far as to aggregate prognostications from half a dozen of my sportswriting brethren, specifically their predictions on who will don the red and black in July and beyond.
Sam Vecenie, The Athletic
#4: Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
“It’s all about power and explosiveness for Wilson. He plays with terrific bend and balance as a driver. Combine that with his strength and leaping ability, and you get a special player who can dominate at the rim. The further into the cycle we get, the more I hear from scouts who see Wilson in the same group as [Darryn] Peterson, [A.J.] Dybantsa and [Cameron]Boozer, with some even ranking him as a top-three player in the class. It didn’t hurt Wilson’s case that he outperformed all three of those players when North Carolina played them this season (in Dybantsa’s case, in the preseason, but still).”
#15: Cameron Carr, G, Baylor
“Carr had a nuclear hot start to the season and then largely settled in as one of the best high-major scorers in the country. He averaged 18.9 points per game while shooting 49.4 percent from the field, 37.4 percent from 3 and 80.1 percent from the foul line. Carr is a terrific shooter with great straight-line slashing instincts, using his long strides and length to cover ground quickly before getting to the rim.”
Kevin O’Connor, Yahoo
#4: Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
“Wilson is the most gifted athlete in the draft class. He's 6-9 with springs for legs. When he's flying above the rim, finishing through contact, and chasing down every shot in his area code, he looks like a future franchise cornerstone. That’s exactly what the Bulls need in the frontcourt. But Wilson isn’t a sure thing. He made too many aloof rotations as an off-ball defender at North Carolina, and the speed of NBA offenses will test him even more. He also won’t be sharing the floor with two bigs like he often did in college. On offense, Wilson has never shot jumpers with any consistency at any level, so it’d be a bonus if he can figure that out. And he might have to for Giddey and Buzelis to be optimized. Still, even without the jumper, he has star upside.”
#15: Cameron Carr, G, Baylor
“After selecting Wilson in the lottery, the Bulls can turn toward finding a wing to support their core now. Carr led Baylor in scoring, shot nearly 40% from 3 on high volume, and looked like a 3-and-D role player who also has blossoming skills off the dribble. With NBA genes in his blood, as the son of former player Chris Carr, Cameron has the skills to make it in the NBA. At 184 pounds, he’s going to get introduced to the league’s physicality in a way college basketball never did. But he got off to a sensational start by dropping 30 points in the first scrimmage of the Combine, which sources around the league agree was a performance that helps increase his chances of ending up in the lottery.”
Zach Buckley, Bleacher Report
#4: Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
“If the Bulls’ rebuild goes according to plan, they’re about to construct a roster centered around length, athleticism and physicality. Wilson seems almost lab-created for this design. He is tooled-up and twitchy, and his aggressiveness is accentuated by both power and explosion. He is looking to punish opponents at all times, and when he can’t get within arm’s reach of the rim, he can comfortably launch into soft-touch turnaround jumpers. Not to mention, he should be a game plan-destroying menace on the defensive end. It’ll be a while before his offensive ceiling gets set—shooting is very much a work-in-progress part of his arsenal—and yet he still seems capable of helping an organization create an identity. Chicago needs nothing more than that, and it should feel great about setting a foundation with Wilson and Matas Buzelis.”
#15: Jayden Quaintance, C, Kentucky
“You’d have to think new Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham has noticed this club’s glaring void at center. You might also assume that, given his affinity for “SLAP: Size, length, athleticism and physicality,” he might also be a big fan of Quaintance, a springy center with a 7’5.25” wingspan and outrageous mobility for his size. He is, to be clear, a question mark after having his college career sidetracked by a major knee injury, but his healthy version could make him a perennial All-Defensive candidate and impact rim-runner.”
Ricky O’Donnell, SB Nation
#4: Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
“Wilson is the obvious ‘best player available’ choice for the Bulls here. This draft has been defined by a ‘big three’ since these players were in high school, but Wilson was so good at North Carolina that it can now credibly be called a ‘big four.’ Wilson is a bit of an odd fit on the Bulls’ current roster with some overlap with Matas Buzelis, Noa Essengue, and Leonard Miller — the team’s three most appealing young players. Ultimately, that doesn’t matter. There’s a strong chance that Wilson is better than any of them, and Buzelis has developed as a shooter enough to play the three. Take Wilson and figure out the rest later.”
#15: Brayden Burries, G, Arizona
“Burries will likely be long gone by the time Chicago comes on the clock at No. 15, but he would add two-way physicality to the backcourt with good shooting projection. I don’t think Burries has the shot-creation or the playmaking to be in an on-ball role that would give him star upside, but he checks a lot of boxes as a role player. He’s a player who feels like he’s pretty good everywhere but without a signature skill to fall back on.”
Cameron Salerno, CBS Sports
#4: Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
“The Bulls have the easiest decision to make on draft night. Whatever player between Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer, or Wilson is available here, that's the pick. There's no need to overthink it. There's a clear tier break after this pick. Wilson would be a foundational building block for Chicago as the franchise enters a new era.”
#15: Cameron Carr, G, Baylor
“After playing just 41 minutes total last season at Tennessee, Carr transferred to Baylor, where he blossomed into the Bears' leading scorer. He averaged 18.9 points on 49.4/37.4/80.1 shooting splits. His offensive upside is worth the swing here for Chicago. It also wouldn't be surprising if he went in the mid- to late teens.”
Danny Chau, The Ringer
#4: Caleb Wilson, F, North Carolina
“What if the Bulls built the plane entirely out of inflatable tube men? Over the past two years, Chicago has placed bets on tall, long athletes in Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue, and it doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon. New executive vice president Bryson Graham noted in his introductory presser that he has a preference for players with SLAP—size, length, athleticism, and physicality—and there might not be a player who displays those identifying markers as emphatically as Wilson. He is the most explosive player in the draft, and it manifests on both sides of the court; he’s a terror in transition and a devastating weakside rim protector. He also flashed some latent shooting and passing skills amid his mega-productive season with the Tar Heels. It may take some time to coax all those qualities out, but Wilson has all the tools to become a truly well-rounded player.”
#15: Morez Johnson, F, Michigan
“Another SLAP-you-in-the-face pick from the Bulls, who could double down on versatile and explosive defenders to give shape to a frontline built from the ground up. Like his other Wolverine brethren, Johnson had combine measurements that were even better than expected, and, seemingly out of nowhere, he crushed the 3-point-shooting drills. Playing alongside a bona fide rim protector in Mara and the most versatile player in the country in Lendeborg may have hidden some of Morez’s less refined skills. The Bulls, finally committed to a rebuild, have plenty of time to see Johnson’s development through.”