After The Timeout · NBA 2026-27 guide

Eastern Conference · tip-off October 20

Chicago Bulls

Our win estimate next to the market's, the last three seasons, who came and went, and the rotation we expect.

Our estimate

29 wins

Median of 20,000 simulated seasons. Middle 80%: 23 to 34 wins.

The market

31.4 wins

Where the Kalshi yes price for "wins or more" crosses 50%.

Last season

31-51

2025-26 · net rating -5.0 (22nd in the NBA)

Our estimate is 2.5 wins below the market.

Treat the gap as a flag, not a verdict. In backtests on 2024-25 and 2025-26 (60 team-seasons) this kind of estimate missed a team's win total by 8.3 wins on average. Last season's wins pulled toward 41 missed by 9.0. Ratings built from games alone said 34 wins for this team.

Two ways to count wins

Our range against the market

The blue bar is the middle 80% of our simulated seasons. The orange line is the market's win total.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 31.4 market wins in an 82-game season
Our median 29, middle 80%: 23 to 34 Market 31.4

Where we think they finish in the East

Top 6: 0.0% Play-in, 7th to 10th: 4.1% Outside the top 10: 96%
Market prices by strikeKalshi, captured Oct 19, 4:38 pm UTC
Wins or moreBidAskMidOur odds
1594¢ 100¢ 97¢ 100%
2090¢ 95¢ 93¢ 99%
2576¢ 78¢ 77¢ 84%
3054¢ 57¢ 56¢ 41%
3534¢ 37¢ 36¢ 8%
4014¢ 18¢ 16¢ 0%
457¢ 12¢ 10¢ 0%
502¢ 8¢ 5¢ 0%
550¢ 6¢ n/a 0%
600¢ 6¢ n/a 0%
650¢ 6¢ n/a 0%

A strike with no bid is treated as unpriced. The market win total is a straight line between the two strikes that straddle 50%.

What the scoreboard said

The last three regular seasons

Ratings are points per 100 possessions. Possessions are estimated from box scores, so treat them as close, not exact. Ranks are out of 30.

2025-26 · 31-51 (22nd in wins)

Points per game
116.312th
Allowed per game
121.528th
Offensive rating
111.224th
Defensive rating
116.222nd
Net rating
-5.022nd

2024-25 · 39-43 (18th in wins)

Points per game
117.86th
Allowed per game
119.428th
Offensive rating
112.320th
Defensive rating
113.819th
Net rating
-1.520th

2023-24 · 39-43 (20th in wins)

Points per game
112.322nd
Allowed per game
113.716th
Offensive rating
113.019th
Defensive rating
114.421st
Net rating
-1.420th

Our preseason ratings

Offense
+0.2811th
Defense
+3.1427th
Net, games only
-2.8623rd
Roster value
-3.80

Offense, defense and net are points per game against an average team, fitted on every completed game before tip-off (defense: lower is better). Roster value is the on-court net per 48 minutes of the players on the roster list, weighted by minutes.

Who came and who left

Offseason moves

Built from the DraftKings roster list and 2025-26 box scores. Players who left had at least 500 regular-season minutes here last season.

In (9)

  • Nic Claxtonfrom BKN
    27.8 min, 11.7 pts a game
  • Norman Powellfrom MIA
    29.6 min, 21.7 pts a game
  • Buddy Hieldfrom ATL
    16.1 min, 7.6 pts a game
  • Jordan Hawkinsfrom NO
    13.5 min, 5.1 pts a game
  • Isaiah Stevensfrom SAC
    14.3 min, 3.3 pts a game
4 moredepth and rookies
  • Caleb WilsonRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Dailyn SwainRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Jaylin SellersRookie / newNo NBA box score on file
  • Tobe AwakaRookie / newNo NBA box score on file

Out (7)

  • Nikola Vucevicnow with ORL
    30.9 min, 16.9 pts a game
  • Ayo Dosunmunow with MIN
    26.4 min, 15.0 pts a game
  • Kevin Huerternow with DET
    23.6 min, 10.9 pts a game
  • Coby Whitenow with CHA
    29.1 min, 18.6 pts a game
  • Collin Sextonnow with LAL
    26.0 min, 17.5 pts a game
2 more
  • Rob Dillinghamnot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    21.4 min, 9.6 pts a game
  • Guerschon Yabuselenot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    24.6 min, 10.0 pts a game

The rotation we expect

Top eight by projected minutes

Minutes come from our DFS minutes projection and are not scaled to a 240-minute game. Open a player for three seasons of per-game lines and shooting.

Josh Giddey G · age 24 · 32.7 projected min 2025-26: 54 g, 17.0 pts, 8.3 reb, 9.1 ast

2025-26 · CHI

54games
32.1min
17.0pts
8.3reb
FG44.8%321/717
3P36.4%103/283
FT76.3%174/228

9.1 assists a game

2024-25 · CHI

70games
30.2min
14.6pts
8.1reb
FG46.5%371/798
3P37.8%105/278
FT78.1%175/224

7.2 assists a game

2023-24 · OKC

80games
25.1min
12.3pts
6.4reb
FG47.5%402/847
3P33.7%82/243
FT80.6%100/124

4.8 assists a game

Matas Buzelis F · age 22 · 30.1 projected min 2025-26: 77 g, 16.3 pts, 5.8 reb, 2.1 ast

2025-26 · CHI

77games
29.2min
16.3pts
5.8reb
FG46.3%446/963
3P34.9%173/495
FT78.6%187/238

2.1 assists a game

2024-25 · CHI

80games
18.9min
8.6pts
3.5reb
FG45.4%252/555
3P36.1%96/266
FT81.5%88/108

1.0 assists a game

2023-24

No regular-season games on file.

Leonard Miller F · age 22 · 29.9 projected min 2025-26: 46 g, 7.8 pts, 3.9 reb, 0.9 ast

2025-26 · CHI/MIN

46games
15.7min
7.8pts
3.9reb
FG55.3%145/262
3P32.3%32/99
FT73.6%39/53

0.9 assists a game

2024-25 · MIN

13games
2.5min
1.5pts
0.8reb
FG40.0%6/15
3P0.0%0/5
FT100.0%8/8

0.0 assists a game

2023-24 · MIN

17games
3.2min
1.7pts
1.2reb
FG65.0%13/20
3P40.0%2/5
FT50.0%1/2

0.5 assists a game

Isaac Okoro G · age 25 · 27.3 projected min 2025-26: 63 g, 9.3 pts, 2.7 reb, 1.6 ast

2025-26 · CHI

63games
26.9min
9.3pts
2.7reb
FG46.0%211/459
3P33.0%73/221
FT79.5%89/112

1.6 assists a game

2024-25 · CLE

55games
19.2min
6.1pts
2.4reb
FG46.4%124/267
3P37.1%56/151
FT71.7%33/46

1.2 assists a game

2023-24 · CLE

69games
27.4min
9.4pts
3.0reb
FG49.0%235/480
3P39.1%84/215
FT67.9%93/137

1.9 assists a game

Patrick Williams F · age 25 · 27.1 projected min 2025-26: 72 g, 7.0 pts, 3.0 reb, 1.5 ast

2025-26 · CHI

72games
20.5min
7.0pts
3.0reb
FG37.2%178/478
3P34.7%95/274
FT72.0%54/75

1.5 assists a game

2024-25 · CHI

63games
25.0min
9.0pts
3.8reb
FG39.7%205/516
3P35.3%96/272
FT72.3%60/83

2.0 assists a game

2023-24 · CHI

43games
27.3min
10.0pts
3.9reb
FG44.3%159/359
3P39.9%59/148
FT78.8%52/66

1.5 assists a game

Tre Jones G · age 26 · 26.3 projected min 2025-26: 65 g, 14.1 pts, 3.1 reb, 5.4 ast

2025-26 · CHI

65games
27.0min
14.1pts
3.1reb
FG55.3%341/617
3P31.5%41/130
FT84.1%191/227

5.4 assists a game

2024-25 · CHI/SA

46games
19.7min
7.2pts
2.5reb
FG53.8%128/238
3P39.6%19/48
FT82.1%55/67

4.2 assists a game

2023-24 · SA

77games
27.7min
10.0pts
3.8reb
FG50.5%303/600
3P33.5%64/191
FT85.6%101/118

6.2 assists a game

Norman Powell New here F · age 33 · 25.7 projected min 2025-26: 58 g, 21.7 pts, 3.5 reb, 2.5 ast

2025-26 · MIA

58games
29.6min
21.7pts
3.5reb
FG47.0%421/895
3P38.0%156/410
FT82.7%263/318

2.5 assists a game

2024-25 · LAC

60games
32.6min
21.8pts
3.2reb
FG48.4%457/945
3P41.8%179/428
FT80.4%213/265

2.1 assists a game

2023-24 · LAC

76games
26.2min
13.9pts
2.6reb
FG48.6%373/768
3P43.5%167/384
FT83.1%143/172

1.1 assists a game

Nic Claxton New here C · age 27 · 23.1 projected min 2025-26: 69 g, 11.7 pts, 6.9 reb, 3.7 ast

2025-26 · BKN

69games
27.8min
11.7pts
6.9reb
FG57.1%333/583
3P15.8%3/19
FT61.6%141/229

3.7 assists a game

2024-25 · BKN

70games
26.9min
10.3pts
7.4reb
FG56.3%320/568
3P23.8%5/21
FT51.3%79/154

2.2 assists a game

2023-24 · BKN

71games
29.8min
11.8pts
9.9reb
FG62.9%366/582
3P20.0%1/5
FT55.1%108/196

2.1 assists a game

How to read this

Method and limits

How our estimate is built
  • Our estimate starts from the roster. Each player's on-court net points per 48 minutes (from his most recent full season, pulled toward zero when the sample is small) is averaged by minutes across the roster list, then turned into wins at about 2.9 wins per point of net.
  • That win total is then pushed through the real 2026-27 schedule 20,000 times, using a home win probability for every game, to get the range and the playoff and play-in odds.
  • Ratings built from games alone (6,153 games before October 20) are kept as a comparison. They fade old games over the offseason, which pulls every team toward average.
  • The market number is the wins where Kalshi's "wins or more" price crosses 50%, read off a straight line between strikes five wins apart.
What the estimate does not know
  • Possessions are an estimate from box totals, not tracked possessions.
  • The season simulation uses each game's win probability from the ratings and nothing else: no rating uncertainty, injuries, trades after the cutoff or in-season rating updates, so the 10th-90th percentile band is narrower than a real season's spread.
  • The 2026-27 schedule file lists 1200 games (80 per team on average) rather than 1230. Each team's missing games ([2] per team) are played against an average opponent at a neutral site with no rest terms.
  • Projection method: (d) roster values. In the walk-forward study its hold-out MAE was 8.3 wins (n = 60 team-seasons) against 9.0 for last season's wins regressed toward 41. Typical error is still about 8 wins per team, so treat every number as a wide estimate.
  • Roster values use each player's box-score plus-minus, which is not adjusted for teammates. Players with no box-score history count as average at 10 minutes a game.
  • Ties in the seeding are broken at random; head-to-head and division rules are not applied.
  • Every team has a usable market median.
  • Market median uses the midpoint of the yes bid and ask for each strike and a straight line between the two strikes (5 wins apart) that straddle 0.5; a strike with no bid is treated as unpriced.
  • Rosters are the DraftKings Best Ball player list for draft group 150564, kept only where the player is on his team's current ESPN roster (ESPN team rosters, 2026-10-19): released and departed players are out. Players DraftKings lists as Out are not in the engine's pool, so they have no projected minutes and are not in the top 8; each team's moves block names them.
  • Projected minutes are the engine's per-player estimates from box scores through 2026-04-12; they are not scaled to the team's 240 minutes and do not model new teammates.
  • Box scores start in 2021-22; a player with no box score on file is marked as a rookie or new, which can include veterans returning from abroad. Ages come from the ESPN player directory (2025-26 file) and are missing for players it does not list.
  • This team has 2 games the schedule file does not list yet; they are treated as games against an average opponent.

Data built Oct 19, 2026. Estimates are ours and can be wrong.