Chicago Gave Up 121.5 Points a Night Last Season. Taj Gibson Is Now on the Payroll.

The Bulls closed out their offseason business this week and turned toward training camp, with the team announcing its 2026 camp schedule on Sept. 19 — complete with a fan-facing twist that gives back to the local faithful. But the more telling development came a day later: Taj Gibson, the long-time Chicago big man, is joining the staff as an assistant coach, and his assignment writes itself.

Defense. Because last season's numbers were gruesome.

The number that defines this rebuild

Chicago finished 31-51 in 2025 while allowing 121.5 points per game against a 116.3 scoring average — a minus-5.2 point differential across 82 games. The year-adjusted splits are no kinder: a 118.4 defensive rating against a 113.4 offensive rating. The closing stretch was genuinely grim, with the Bulls dropping eight of their final ten (2-8) while posting a minus-10.3 net rating and a 119.7 defensive rating over that span.

April tells the story in three lines: 145 points allowed to Indiana, 136 to New York, 149 to Dallas. Only one of those was a home game.

That's the context Gibson walks into. He spent his prime years in a Chicago system built on defensive accountability, and the Bulls have now made a deliberate bet that his voice can help a young roster learn what the previous one never mastered.

What the roster actually looks like

The Bulls aren't devoid of talent. Josh Giddey averaged 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists across 54 games, and the franchise committed to him with a four-year, $100MM deal that runs fully guaranteed without options. Matas Buzelis, entering the all-important third year, put up 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 77 games at 29.2 minutes a night, shooting 34.9 percent from three — a two-way baseline that screams "leap candidate." His Most Improved Player odds sit at +3500 (roughly 2.8 percent implied), which is a market that says the tools are there but the production hasn't arrived yet.

Then there's Caleb Wilson, the rookie forward who has absorbed nearly every ounce of offseason hype. His Rookie of the Year price at +300 carries about a 25 percent implied probability — notable respect for a first-year player on a team projected near the bottom of the league. Nic Claxton arrives as the short-term answer at center, with Chicago still hunting a long-term anchor at the position.

The pivot point

Here's the uncomfortable math: the home/road splits from last season were 18-23 in the United Center and 13-28 away. Against the East, Chicago went 19-32. This is a team that was competitive-ish at home and functionally uncompetitive elsewhere.

The Bulls open preseason play Oct. 7 at home against Phoenix, then open the real season Oct. 21 in Toronto. A market win total of 29.5 and a No. 27 ranking in ESPN's three-year outlook underline how little external faith exists right now.

So the most compelling thread of this week isn't a signing or a trade — it's the organizational admission that the previous defensive standard wasn't acceptable. Gibson's hire is a small move with an outsized mandate. If Chicago can shave even five or six points off that 121.5 figure, the Giddey-Buzelis-Wilson core gets room to grow instead of chasing deficits. If it can't, the rebuild stays stuck exactly where it's been: watching the scoreboard, not controlling it.

Training camp opens with a young roster, a new voice on the bench, and one very large number to erase.