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Bulls’ Giddey On Offseason, Powell, Buzelis, Jump Shot
Sandy Verma | September 5, 2026 6:24 PM CST

As our Luke Adams wrote in an Offseason Check-in on Thursday, the Bulls have had a busy summer in terms of overhauling their front office and coaching staff. Chicago also made some significant roster moves, selecting Caleb Wilson (No. 4) and Dailyn Swain (No. 15) in June’s draft and then using cap room to trade for Nic Claxton and sign Norman Powell in free agency.

Clutch Points contributor DJ Siddiqi recently interviewed guard Josh Giddeywho noted that the Bulls struggled with consistency in 2026/27 and will have to improve in that area to rise up the standings in the Eastern Conference. He also spoke in general terms about Chicago’s roster.

It’s obviously a pretty loaded conference,” said Giddey of the East. “But I think we’ve got a good mix: veterans, young guys, guys that have been there before and experienced playoff basketball, guys that are hungry to get there.

I’m comfortable with what we have in the locker room. I think we’ve got more than enough to be competitive in this league and be a playoff team. I think it’s a matter of doing it every night. I think middle of the season, when it gets to those grind kind of days, and when you don’t feel like playing one night, I think those are the games where you can steal a bunch, and that’s not going to make or break your season.”

In a separate article for RG.orgSiddiqi asked Giddey several more questions about specific players on the roster and how he’s been able to improve his jump shot, among other topics. The Australian guard said he’s “super excited” to play with veteran wing Powell.

Having someone like that is obviously gonna boost any team that he’s on,” Giddey said. “He was an All-Star last year. He’s been around for a long time, he can score with the best of them. When you get a guy like that into your building, veteran presence that’s been around. He’s won a championship, so he knows what it takes to play at the highest level, to win at the highest level.

I think for me specifically, I think he’s going to help me a lot,” Giddey continued. “He’s going to take a lot of attention off me. He has a lot of gravity, obviously, with the way he shoots and scores the ball. So he’ll make mine and other guys’ lives easier. But for me, I think being able to get him the ball in the right spots, we’ll continue to build that chemistry and connection together. The more we play together, I think the better it’ll get. But yeah, obviously, a super talented scorer, and super excited to play with him.”

Matas Buzelisa 2024 lottery pick, is viewed as a cornerstone player for the Bulls. As the young forward enters his third season, Giddey said he doesn’t see many flaws in his teammate’s game.

He’s getting better over the offseason,” Giddey said. “He’s one of the harder working kids I’ve seen and lives in the gym, wants to get better. He’s obviously improved every year, and I think this year is going to be a big opportunity for him to step into a big role and take that next leap. I’ve spent time with him this summer, and Caleb, all these guys look like they’ve continued to get better, and I’m excited to see when opening night comes around how they look.

…(Buzelis) kind of does it all. As I said, he can guard up and down multiple positions. He can score. He can shoot and get out in transition. There’s a lot of things he can do. … He’s a pretty unique guy.”

Regarding his improved shooting, Giddey said there were multiple factors that led to his efficiency boost, but the most important were practice and confidence. He also praised a couple of his former shooting coaches in Chip Engelland and Peter Patton.

I think there’s a lot of things that go into shooting, and obviously everyone has different mechanics with the way they shoot the ball,” Giddey said. “For me, I think it was just repping it out, getting a ton of shots up at game speed, and that was a big thing for me, practicing different shots that I’m going to shoot in games over the summer.

I feel confident in my shot now going into year six, I feel confident in it. I trust it. I don’t let misses faze me in games anymore. That was a big hurdle I had to get over as a young guy in the NBA. But yeah, confidence is probably as high as it’s ever been. Shooting the ball, miss or make, I move on to the next shot, and got to put the last shot in the rearview.”


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