Are The Chicago Bulls Following The Indiana Pacers' Blueprint?

The Indiana Pacers are far from playoff contention right now, but last season, they were a sneaky good team that overcame the odds and took the Oklahoma City Thunder to the limit in the NBA Finals.

NBA teams are not quick to forget impressive postseason performances, and apparently, one team could be looking to replicate the Pacers’ approach. According to ESPN’s Jamal Collier, the Chicago Bulls have looked at the success of their Eastern Conference neighbors and realized that the Pacers’ formula is something they can work with.

“The Bulls’ cross-state rival, the Pacers, went on an improbable run to the Finals, with a deep roster and an up-tempo style built on multiple ball handlers and ball movement,” Collier wrote earlier this week. “They [the Bulls] looked at the Pacers, their roster, their style—and saw a blueprint of what they could be if they charted the same course.”

The centerpiece of the Pacers’ high-octane offense was Tyrese Haliburton, their 6-foot-5 floor general whose elite court vision and passing skills are eclipsed only by his clutch gene. In the 2025 playoffs, Haliburton sank one crunch-time basket after another, ruining dinnertime for families in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and New York.

So, who is Chicago’s version of Haliburton? That would be Josh Giddey, a 6-foot-7 point guard who has stuffed the stat sheets with ease this season. The crucial components of Giddey’s skill set are his ability to speed up the pace, his diverse scoring arsenal, and his selflessness in facilitating opportunities for his teammates. All of these are parallels with Haliburton’s game, and the Bulls have clearly found their court general of the future with the acquisition of the Australian ace.

Though Haliburton (who is currently in recovery after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 against OKC) was the engine that kept the Pacers humming, he had valuable help from his supporting cast in Indianapolis. In his ESPN piece, Collier cited one Bulls team source who extended the Chicago-Indiana analogy.

“They have Haliburton, who is an All-Star, and they have Siakam,” the Bulls source was quoted as saying. “If Giddey can develop into an All-Star and be what Hali was, when do we pull the trigger to get our Siakam?”

Pascal Siakam, of course, is the one-time NBA champion who brought veteran experience and a Swiss Army knife of offensive moves to Indiana. In last season’s playoffs, Siakam’s composure was just as important as his athleticism and scoring production.

The question, then, is whether the Bulls already have a talent on their roster who can fit the Siakam role, or if they have to look elsewhere for this piece. In terms of Siakam’s size and versatility, Chicago has a couple of youngsters who can potentially reach that ceiling: second-year player Matas Buzelis and former French youth star Noa Essengue.

If the Bulls are hell-bent on following the blueprint, they can make a long-term investment in either of these young players or swing a trade for a more established competitor to boost their playoff chances this year. In either case, Giddey’s elevated performance gives Chicago fans hope that the approach employed by last year’s NBA Finals runner-up will yield positive outcomes.