# Can the Bulls guards defend? That's the whole season

> Chicago's new front office wants size and physicality from its backcourt, and camp will show whether the guards can deliver it.
- Title: Can the Bulls guards defend? That's the whole season
- Summary: Chicago's new front office wants size and physicality from its backcourt, and camp will show whether the guards can deliver it. Talent was never the Bulls'…
- Keywords: bulls, nba, basketball, chicago, roster, news, local, guards, defend, That's, whole, season
- Source: Chicago Sun-Times — https://chicago.suntimes.com/bulls/2026/09/13/bulls-preview-guard-room-has-talent-will-it-slap-when-called
- Published: 2026-09-13T11:34:08.563+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: bulls, nba, basketball, chicago, roster, news, local
## SLAP is the new standard
First-year executive Bryson Graham drafts and builds by SLAP: size, length, athleticism, physicality. New coach Tiago Splitter wants the same. The current guards don't check every box.
## Defense sets the tone
Graham put the philosophy plainly this offseason, and it starts in the backcourt.

> When you compete on the defense end, your team typically competes harder.
## Camp is two weeks out
With Bulls camp a little over two weeks away, the spotlight lands on the backcourt, starters and reserves alike, to see if they can absorb what Splitter preaches.
## Miami scrimmages proved little
There was progress in team-only scrimmages in Miami last month. Nobody in the building is treating that as evidence.
## Don't strand Norman Powell
Josh Giddey, Tre Jones, Rob Dillingham and rookie Dailyn Swain all need to step up defensively so Powell, now 33, isn't left alone on an island.
## Splitter will adapt
The new coach has a system in mind but says he'll shape it around what the roster actually does well.

> I have a vision, I have a way I want to play, but you also have to explore what they do best.
## The Spurs inheritance
Splitter came up under the Spurs umbrella, where ball movement and the extra pass were a way of life. His offense demands both.
## Two pass-first guards
Giddey and Jones are both pass-first ballhandlers who hunt the best available shot rather than their own. That's exactly the profile Splitter's offense wants.
## Giddey rebounds like a forward
Giddey gives Splitter real positional size in the backcourt. His 8.3 boards per game last season were a career high.
## A familiar blueprint
Splitter just coached point forward Deni Avdija, who posted Giddey-like numbers. Expect some of those offensive sets to carry over.
## Starters already settled
Giddey and Powell open camp locked into the starting backcourt. Billy Donovan's three-guard looks, often injury-driven, are done now that the frontcourt is stronger.
## Giddey's legacy season
He got paid last offseason, four years and $100 million. Now he's surrounded by the most talent he's had in Chicago and can be the face of a team that meets expectations.
## Powell is a two-way bet
If the veteran fits, great. If not, the Bulls can flip him to a contender. His presence has already been a plus, maybe more off the court than on it.
## Jones, pro and trade chip
The consummate pro has played winning basketball on a losing team. He's a key reserve and a key piece on the trade chessboard if the right deal appears.
## Swain and Dillingham must prove it
Swain should chase minutes as a bench defender, the way Jimmy Butler started. For Dillingham, the No. 8 pick in 2024, it's sink or swim, and he's spent the offseason training with Powell.
## Key takeaway

Talent was never the Bulls' guard problem. Whether Giddey, Jones, Dillingham and Swain defend hard enough to satisfy Splitter and Graham is the season's real question.