Texas fans were ecstatic when the Chicago Bulls selected Dailyn Swain in the top-15 last night, as tons of different outlets projected him to be a late first-round pick heading into the 2026 NBA Draft.
Regardless, Bulls fans everywhere should be incredibly excited and thankful to have Swain, as he can do so many different things for Chicago early in his career. At 6'6.5", 211 lbs. with a 6'10" wingspan, Swain has more than enough size and length to be an effective defender on the perimeter. This is where he's going to make his mark first.
Sean Miller trusted him to defend multiple different positions in 2025/2026, even having him guard athletic power forwards in the paint.
He's an exceptional athlete overall, and he was a star from the moment he stepped onto the court at Texas. Swain immediately stood out for the way he can move and contort his body when driving to the basket, giving the team a physical scorer who's shown the ability to make plays from different attacking angles.
you never see 6'8 wings toy with guard defenders like dailyn swain did to purdue in the sweet 16. a one of a kind dribbler at his height pic.twitter.com/qnDd78KIp4
— Ben Pfeifer (@bjpf_) March 28, 2026
On top of that, he began to develop a nice, complementary pull-up-jumper off his drives last season, catching defenders off-guard and creating another problem for defenses to consider. His three-point shooting began to improve as the season went on as well, but he can definitely work on that in Chicago.
Swain is also an excellent passer and has incredible court vision for a wing. He consistently made top-notch passes when driving to the rim or when looking for cutters near the basket. The way he's able to find outlets when sprinting full speed to the basket is incredible, and something that made him fun to watch in Austin.
He should be able to develop into a legitimate bench scorer for the Bulls as a rookie, acting as a similar but more effective version of Isaac Okoro. Though it's probably unlikely, there's even a world where Swain becomes the starting small forward at some point in 2026. A starting lineup of Tre Jones at PG, Josh Giddey at SG, Dailyn Swain at SF, Matas Buzelis at PF, and Caleb Wilson at C sounds incredibly intriguing for Chicago. With players like Patrick Williams and Isaac Okoro falling out of favor with the current staff, someone like Swain who provide a valuable and energetic replacement for what they bring to the team.
Very few players in the 2026 NBA Draft class are as well-rounded of an athlete as Swain is, and Chicago Bulls fans are going to absolutely love him both as a player and a person.
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