LeBron’s back and so is Steph, KD, the Joker and Shai. Kyrie’s not, and neither is Tatum, Dame or Tyrese. And now we start to figure out what it all means with Thursday’s release of the NBA schedule for the 2025-26 season.

There’s been some released dribs and drabs, odds and ends and bits and pieces, like the Christmas Day games — the last time the Bulls played that day was in 2016 after seven times in the 1990s — which this season seems basically to be a Western Conference elimination tournament. There’s Tuesday Oct. 21 Opening Night with more Westerns, Oklahoma City and Houston and then Golden State against the Lakers.

Mama, don’t let your favorite teams play in the Western Conference.

Then there’s been the release of the in season NBA Cup brackets with the Bulls in a daunting group with the Knicks, Bucks, Heat and, whew, the Hornets. And there’s been some revelations from the new Balkanization of NBA broadcast with games spread out among Prime, ESPN, Peacock, ABC, NBC, and perhaps other places. NBC, talk about being proud as a Peacock, is back in the NBA business and considering their advance ads you wouldn’t be surprised if they forgot about televising the games and just had John Tesh play Roundball Rock for two hours.

But it does stir hearts in Chicago. Starting their NBA coverage in 1990, it pretty much became the sound track for a half dozen Bulls championships. It’s true that nostalgia has been more go to recently for the Bulls, and this isn’t likely to be a championship season. But with some stability and an appealing style of play perhaps better than many are anticipating.

So here’s a look at some of the highlights of the Bulls 2025-26 schedule:

Opener. Oct. 22 at the UC. Conference champion Detroit Pistons? 

It could be — and another Pistons hill to climb for the Bulls? — the way the Eastern Conference has been decimated by injuries to Boston, Indiana, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. The Cavaliers are the favorites, though another quick playoff ouster punches a hole in their perceived inevitability. The Magic and Hawks had the big offseason additions, and the Knicks lost coach Thibs. Indiana made the Finals, and who saw that last August? Parity means everyone’s — OK, not Brooklyn and Washington — going to be in a lot more games.

— Are they finally flying? Hawks Oct. 27 at the UC.

Along with the Pistons and Magic, they are among the sleepers to perhaps awake atop the East. They got Porziņģis from Boston, which also lost Holiday and Horford, and who expected Luke Kornet to be missed? Haliburton went down and Myles Turner went cheesehead. But Dame went down and home and Embiid’s got his gold medal and seems satisfied. Paul George has two first names, and that’s always bad. Jalen Johnson returns and Atlanta swooped in for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Luke Kennard. It’s not just Trae. That game also finishes the Bulls opening trifecta of the Pistons, Magic (in Orlando) and Hawks. Is that too soon for a measuring stick?

— Old Times. Sacramento Kings, Oct. 29 at the UC. 

Does Zach get a video? The Kings probably are not a playoff team, but there’ll be a lot of hugging with Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan back and former Bull B.J. Armstrong now the Kings assistant general manager. No, it’s not Vooch’s dream destination.

— New York, New York. Knicks Oct. 31 at the UC and Nov. 2 at MSG.

So good they named it twice? We’ll see without the Departed Tom Thibodeau. Talk about plot twists. The Knicks — and the rest of us — still can’t believe that ricochet Haliburton shot. They’d have given the Thunder a better series. It’s consecutive games between the teams, the Knicks now coached by run-and-gun Mike Brown. We’ll see how that works with Jalen Brunson.

— Wemby, now? Spurs Nov. 10 at the UC. 

So we’ve heard two years — and a blood clot — about this greatest of all prospects, and now he’s got a $200 million point guard. So can he make the play-in? If you’re gonna be the next big thing, it’s about time to do something big. Enough with the threes. You’re 7-foot-8. Or something like that.

— Steph needs help. Golden State Dec. 7 at the UC.

There’s still that Kuminga drama going on, so who knows who else joins Curry. He’s got old pal Jimmy Butler, who now faces the test. The Warriors have been a serious team. Jimmy hasn’t been much of that the first half of seasons. He was great last season after the trade, but that was the stretch run. Can he give a shot in the arm to Steph’s shot as the end draws nearer?

— Measuring Sticks now? Cavs and Hawks two each Dec. 17-23.

It’s two more sets of consecutive games where the Bulls could make themselves a statement of sorts. Those games kick off a long home stand with six straight at home and eight of 10 from the day after Christmas to Jan. 10. That offsets November with 10 of 14 games away.

— Flagg Day. Mavericks Jan. 10 at the UC.

That long home stretch concludes with rookie phenom — maybe we’ll know by then — Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks will be treading water lightly with Kyrie Irving likely not back yet from a March ACL tear.

— LeBron Day? Lakers Jan. 26 at the UC.

So is this LeBron’s last United Center appearance? Probably not as he figures to want to choreograph a farewell tour. But there’s strange stuff going on with the Lakers, who seem satisfied to say they are Luka’s team. LeBron doesn’t do supporting roles well. So the next destination stuff naturally has followed. He seems to like his $50 million, which only the Lakers can pay for now. But the scuttle around the NBA, not surprisingly, is LeBron wants a grand exit, and what would be grander than a season in New York? One slow Knicks start and who knows.

— The Nuggets are no joke. Denver Feb. 7 at the UC.

The Nuggets finally loaded up again with enough complementary pieces to add to the compliments for Jokić. Shai grabbed that MVP for maybe a one-timer like Embiid did, but it’s tough to dismiss those Jokić stats. Imagine if he got Luka’s offseason training regimen.

— A rumble of Thunder. Oklahoma City March 3 at the UC.

We’re all pretty good making predictions, which usually come down to the last team we saw win. And so the Thunder is the favorite, but good luck in that conference being the hunted. And you know Holmgren isn’t holding up all season though all that. They also used Alex Caruso every time anyone made a run at them during the playoffs, and his headband may not be up to that for 82.

— Go West Young Bulls. March 5-13 on the road in Phoenix, Sacramento, Golden State and both LA teams.

So you think Julius Caesar had a tough March.

— Everyone, you might have a problem. Houston March 23 at the UC.

That’s a team that could be blasting off. They got Kevin Durant without giving up much, and say Amen. If that kid develops a shot he might be the best two-way player in the game.

— Sixth or bust? April 12 in Dallas.

That ends the regular season, and the Bulls are not tanking for a draft pick. Management and the coach have made it clear they’re about competing, and that you teach young players by competing. Not getting on stage at the Lottery. The Bulls have been wiped out in the play-in the last three seasons after their last playoff appearance in 2022. Sixth gets you in without the play-in, and the early East odds mostly have it Cleveland, New York, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee. Can the Bulls fast break their way into the top six?

It begins Oct. 22 in the United Center.

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or its Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.