{"id":908339,"date":"2026-09-28T08:22:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908339\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T08:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T08:22:22","slug":"nba-2026-27-season-preview-why-chicago-bulls-and-boomers-star-josh-giddey-is-ready-to-assist-on-and-off-the-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908339\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA 2026-27 season preview: Why Chicago Bulls and Boomers star Josh Giddey is ready to assist on and off the court"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jon<\/p>\n

September 28, 2026 \u2014 5:16pm<\/p>\n

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Entering his sixth season in the NBA, Australian star Josh Giddey has long forged a reputation as one of the league\u2019s best and most creative playmakers. Whether it be a no-look pass to a rim runner, an off-balance skip pass to the corner or a lob to a rolling tall, Giddey typically finds his man.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the Chicago Bulls point guard is so excited about playing with Caleb Wilson, the No.4 overall selection in the June draft. The dynamic Wilson was schooled in Tar Heel blue at Michael Jordan\u2019s alma mater University of North Carolina, and has been likened to Miami Heat star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.<\/p>\n

\"ChicagoChicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey, through his foundation, has unveiled a new community space at Ronald McDonald House: Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital in Chicago.Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n

\u201cI played with him [Wilson] a few times in pick-up runs and things like that. He looks really good \u2026 I think he\u2019s everything that\u2019s been advertised. He can kind of do a bit of everything out on the court, so he\u2019s going to be super versatile,\u201d Giddey told this masthead from Chicago on the eve of the Bulls\u2019 training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to be able to play multiple positions, guard multiple positions. It\u2019s exactly what we need, and to be able to have a weapon like that is going to be a lot of fun for fans to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson has the guile and speed of a Ferrari, blending athleticism and length at 6-foot-10 and 215 pounds. Giddey worked out with Wilson in Miami recently, the pair combining well when working around the ring.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Josh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe gets up and down the floor. He\u2019s going to be super exciting for fans to see … I\u2019m really excited to play with him,\u201d said Giddey, who amassed 13 triple-doubles last season, bettered only by Denver great Nikola Jokic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear Giddey, 23, is upbeat about the new campaign, his\u00a0frustration with the events of last season<\/a> obvious when he spoke with this masthead in Melbourne mid-year for, among other things, an unofficial Boomers\u2019 training camp ahead of next year\u2019s FIBA World Cup.<\/p>\n

The Bulls had a tumultuous 2025-26 campaign, parting ways with their lead basketball operations chiefs and coach, while Giddey was restricted to 56 games because of injuries, including an ankle problem which led to off-season arthroscopic surgery, the first time he had gone under the knife.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrustrating is, you know, probably an understatement, and this city and fan base is so loyal and passionate that they all want us back in the play-offs and, trust me, no one wants that more than us players,\u201d Giddey said.<\/p>\n

Now fresh and fit, Giddey has the job of helping to lead the Bulls back to relevance in a packed eastern conference, which includes defending champions New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, who have signed all-time great LeBron James and former Boston Celtics\u2019 star Jaylen Brown.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Bulls missed the play-offs last season, and have too often faded from view since the halcyon years of Jordan and Scottie Pippen in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Giddey, with a four-year, $150 million contract<\/a>, said it had been a \u201cwhirlwind\u201d period of change.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we\u2019re doing everything we can to get back there and, you know, we\u2019re a new team to what we had last year. A lot of changes have been made, within the building, front office, coaches, staff, players,\u201d Giddey said.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Here\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s been a whirlwind six months in terms of change, but I think the stability we\u2019ve got now, being able to lock in the group and the people that we have in the building, is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under new coach Tiago Splitter, who did an excellent job as interim coach of Portland last season, the Bulls have been boosted by snaring scorers Norman Powell and Buddy Hield, and defensive centre Nic Claxton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like what we\u2019ve got in our locker room, and I think we can compete with anybody,\u201d Giddey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs good as some of these teams are, I think everyone\u2019s beatable. Yeah, everyone\u2019s beatable. We\u2019re beatable. We can beat anybody. So yeah, it\u2019s a matter of bringing it every night, and we\u2019ll see how we go after 82 games are done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giddey also continues to have an impact off the court. Through the Josh Giddey Family Foundation, the Australian has unveiled a new community space at Ronald McDonald House: Lurie Children\u2019s Hospital in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\"PlaymakerPlaymaker Josh Giddey is healthy and happy and ready to lead the Bulls into the new NBA season.Getty Images<\/p>\n

With the support of Chicago Bulls Charities, local artists and designers, Giddey has helped to construct a room that families can retreat to, featuring a pop-a-shot machine, gaming and Giddey paraphernalia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s one of the best parts about what we do; being able to give back, and do things like this. So yeah, I\u2019m super excited for it, and it\u2019s going to be awesome to be able to open this, and have it kind of tie back to Australia,\u201d Giddey, a famous product of the Melbourne Tigers basketball program, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe room is Australian themed. To be able to tie my home, Australia, to my second home Chicago is going to be pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Dash<\/a><\/p>\n

Giddey said he had plans for his foundation to have a role in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely things I\u2019m kind of brainstorming on in Melbourne or Australia but, more specifically, Melbourne, whatever that looks like is TBD,\u201d Giddey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny time I can do something to give back and make other people\u2019s lives better and improve them \u2026 I don\u2019t take for granted how lucky I am to be in a position I am. So, any chance I can give back and do things like this I, you know, jump at, and try to do as much as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JonJon Pierik<\/a> is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 28, 2026 \u2014 5:16pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-908339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}