The Chicago Bulls’ 2026 trade deadline return headlined by Collin Sexton, Rob Dillingham, Jaden Ivey and Anfernee Simons. But the best acquisition was not one of these four players. Hidden in the weeds of second-round picks and Guershon Yabusele was Leonard Miller. What seemed to be a throw-in in the Ayo Dosunmu for Dillingham trade became a future building block for the Bulls.
It’s Miller Time
Sexton scored 20+ points in four straight games this month. Simons scored 20+ points in half of his games with Chicago before breaking his wrist. Nick Richards has four double-doubles.
How can Miller be the best acquisition? His contract.
Miller is the only player who isn’t in the final year of his contract, other than Dillingham, who has a club option that the Bulls are most certainly going to exercise. The other acquisitions might be better players currently, but they have no future with the team.
That doesn’t mean Miller is the best just due to circumstance; he’s playing great as a starter. Miller has five straight games scoring 10+ points. In fact, he has scored at least 10 points in seven of the nine games he has played over 20 minutes. Not bad for a player who only played 10 minutes in one game this season before joining the Bulls.
Dillingham was the headline of the Dosunmu trade, but Miller has outplayed him. Over the last 15 games, Miller has more total points while having a better field goal and three-point percentage. He has started five games and has a +/- of 60, while Dillingham hasn’t started a single game and has a +/- of -62. Miller has by far been the best player of the trade and the best acquisition of the entire deadline.
Patrick Williams Replacement
When I graded every move the Bulls made at the deadline, I predicted that Miller would step into the Julian Philips role. He ended up taking Patrick Williams’ minutes and demoting Williams to the Philips role. Head Coach Billy Donovan has opted to start Miller in the last five games instead of Williams, showing that he has gained more trust in two months than Williams has earned in six years.
This is even getting some national attention from the Bill Simmons Podcast. In a recent episode, Simmons did an ‘NBA Worst Contracts’ draft, and he said, “Patrick Williams, this is another example of, I don’t want to pay that guy $18 million a year, when I can find someone for [$2 million].”
That is exactly what Miller has been and will be for the future. His cheap contract is bailing out the front office’s horrible decision of giving Williams a $90 million contract. When Isaac Okoro and Noa Essengue are healthy next year, there is a real possibility of Williams being the third forward off the bench.
Miller has been a revelation for Chicago. Once a throw-in, he became the best player in a trade, climbed the depth chart, and practically guaranteed himself a spot on the Bulls next season.
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