The Chicago Bulls got a new face of the team’s latest rebuild, landing North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson with the No. 4 pick in Tuesday’s NBA draft.
The Bulls also strengthened their backcourt, using the No. 15 pick on Texas guard Dailyn Swain.
Wilson, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 19.8 points on 58% shooting and 9.4 rebounds this season in college and is considered perhaps the best athlete with one of the highest upsides in this year’s draft class.
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• Dybantsa to Wizards | Peterson to Jazz
• Boozer to Grizzlies | Wilson to Bulls
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Wilson becomes the third Bulls player selected in the top 10 from North Carolina, joining Coby White in 2019 (seventh) and Michael Jordan in 1984 (third).
“I want to be the greatest player of all time,” Wilson said during a video call with reporters on Tuesday night. “Y’all got one of the GOATs in your history right now. It’s time for another one. I’m hungry to be the greatest, that’s me.”
Wilson was one of the consensus top four players in this year’s draft class, but he did not have the same body of work as the three players selected ahead of him after he broke a thumb in early March and missed the NCAA tournament.
Nevertheless, his leap in productivity at North Carolina, along with his quickness on the floor and strong motor, made him a strong bet to be a high-impact NBA player and made this selection an easy one for Chicago, which has a guard-heavy roster and need for an impact player in the front court.
“I feel like it’s a great fit,” Wilson said. “You only get one chance to make a first impression. It’s time for me to make my impression at summer league and keep going. I’m really happy I got drafted, but it’s time to hoop. I’m excited for the opportunity, and it’s time to go to work.”
The Bulls got some franchise-changing luck when they moved up into the top four during the draft lottery in May, cashing in on just 20.3% odds to land the No. 4 pick. Chicago was widely expected to take whoever remained from the stacked top four players in this year’s class — BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer and Wilson — although the Bulls worked out a variety of players in Chicago ahead of this selection.
Wilson becomes the first draft pick of new vice president of basketball operations Bryson Graham, who was hired after the season as the new lead executive to run the front office. Graham has a chance to leave his imprint on the Bulls right away this summer. He hired former Portland Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter as head coach, added center Nic Claxton from the Brooklyn Nets in a three-team deal on Monday night and then drafted Wilson and Swain in the first round Tuesday.
Swain, a 6-foot-7 guard from Texas, is known for his ability to attack downhill and get into the paint and has solid defensive upside, even though his jump shot still needs some refining.
Six years ago, the Bulls were in an almost identical situation. They had just hired a new head of basketball operations and a new head coach and moved up in the draft lottery to the No. 4 selection.
But Chicago is hoping to have better results than it did in the Arturas Karnisovas era, which produced one playoff appearance in six seasons and which began with the team selecting Patrick Williams at No. 4 in 2020. Williams showed flashes early in his career of being a solid role player, but he never lived up to the franchise-changing expectations his draft position warranted, a mistake that was only exacerbated by a five-year, $90 million extension awarded to Williams in 2024.
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