Fans of the Chicago Bulls have been yearning for a full reset for several years. After the DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic trio fizzled and failed to deliver playoff success, the masses thought Arturas Karnisovas should fire-sell and start over, trading those three and other aging veterans for future assets. Instead, AK’s group rode out the same bunch for far too long, failed to reach the second round of the postseason for a 10th consecutive season, and has landed in the middle of the draft order ever since Patrick Williams was selected fourth overall. This year, they finally got their wish, but it wasn’t all good news. The Bulls added a surplus of guards, several of them on expiring contracts, and created more confusion than clarity about the franchise’s future. With two months to decide which assets would be gone this summer and which they want to contribute to the rebuild project 3-5 years down the line, things have gone sideways. Several injuries to the newcomers and familiar faces, the refusal of head coach Billy Donovan to surrender their chances of winning each night in favor of developing young players, and a few meaningless victories later, the Bulls are in the same place they’ve been for five campaigns. Let’s check in on perhaps the highest upside add at the trade cutoff.
High Hopes For Rob Dillingham
Walking bucket. Shifty. Doesn’t get enough playing time. Elite scoring potential. These were all the things being said by the Timberwolves’ organization and fanbase, and a large reason Karnisovas sent Ayo Dosunmu up to Minnesota. The goal for Rob Dillingham, who’s under contract for the next two seasons before hitting restricted free agency, is to develop him into the sixth man in Chicago and replace Coby White at a cheaper price tag in the near future. Through his first 22 games, the potential has been seen in spurts, but the consistency is not dependable enough to give him the keys to the second unit. Coming out of the draft in 2024, many of his selling points revolved around his scoring abilities, offensive sparkplug abilities, and potential to be one of the league’s premier bucket-getters. The Bulls will need to see a much more sustainable product in the next two years if they hope to cement his status as the main scoring option off the pine.
A projected top-5 pick, Rob Dillingham's explosiveness, jittery handle, live-dribble passing and ability to hit pull-up, stepback and sidestep 3s makes him one of college basketball's most difficult covers — drawing some comparisons to Trae Young. pic.twitter.com/Fsn32Or6j0
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) February 10, 2024
Seeing The Potential In Spurts
In a five-game stretch in mid-March, the ideal Dillingham came to form. He averaged 25.2 minutes per night, the most for any five-game stretch in his young career, and posted 14.2 points with 4.0 assists with a 40.5% clip from the floor and 40.0% rate from three-point land. The shooting efficiencies will need to improve with time, but the flashes of offensive excellence are evident. At only 21 years old, he perfectly aligns with Chicago’s rebuild timeline, and with two additional seasons of contractual control, he’s a superb experiment to develop on a bottom-dwelling roster.
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Rob Dillingham 📈 pic.twitter.com/1ZHOcvrijg
— Real App (@realapp) March 20, 2026
The potential for an explosive offensive weapon is there, but, as with Matas Buzelis, playing time and exposure are the two solutions in his formula for success. Will Dillingham evolve into the player Chicago hopes he can be, or will this trade with Minnesota haunt the franchise and add another tally to Karnisovas’s list of regrettable moves as the leader of the front office?
