Bulls vs. Raptors NBA Odds, Prediction and Picks: Kawhi’s Return Headlines Toronto Opener
A very highly anticipated Raptors season, thanks in large part to Kawhi Leonard’s return via trade, opens Wednesday night at home against a rebuilding Chicago Bulls team. Toronto is -9.5 on the NBA odds with a total of 235.5 points.
Bulls vs. Raptors NBA Betting Odds
Wednesday is the first busy night of the new NBA season with 11 games, and it is not part of a back-to-back for either Chicago or Toronto. The Bulls are one of the biggest unknowns in the league as they undertake a full rebuild under a new front office and head coach in Tiago Splitter, who went 42-40 last year in Portland and led the Trail Blazers to a surprise playoff appearance as the interim coach while Chauncey Billups dealt with legal issues.
Splitter did a great job but new penny-pinching Portland ownership never much tried to bring him back and the Bulls snapped him up to replace Billy Donovan. If you are looking for a style of play, Splitter led the Trail Blazers to a Top-10 defense in their final 51 regular-season games, and Portland led the NBA in second-chance points per game overall last season.
Wednesday marks the first of three regular-season meetings between the teams, and they have a home-and-home set to conclude it Jan. 17 in Chicago and Jan. 19 back at Scotiabank Arena. The Raptors won all three in 2025-26 quite easily, but the Bulls have still won three of the past four as the road team in the series. The Raptors are one of only four teams Chicago has a .500 or better record against all-time on the road (it’s 28-28).
NBA Player Odds and Props
For Toronto, take point guard Immanuel Quickley over 5.5 assists as he should be setting up Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes plenty. For Chicago, lean over 18.5 points for Norman Powell. He should lead the club in shot attempts.
Chicago Bulls
Chicago had three major offseason player moves. The biggest was lucking into moving up a few spots to No. 4 in the 2026 NBA Draft via the lottery and taking North Carolina electric freshman forward Caleb Wilson. He looked terrific in Summer League and is the +370 second-favourite for NBA Rookie of the Year. The Bulls also added two solid veterans in guard Norman Powell and centre Nic Claxton. Powell spent his first spent his first six seasons in the NBA with Toronto (2015-21) and averaged 21.7 points per game a season ago with Miami. He could make a good trade candidate in February. Claxton averaged 11.7 points and 6.9 rebounds last year for Brooklyn. Add those three to carry-overs in guard Josh Giddey and young forward Matas Buzelis, and the Bulls should be a lot more interesting if still not great most nights. Best-case scenario is likely sneaking into the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Toronto Raptors
It took until late-September to finalize the trade because of the situation surrounding the punishment of the Clippers, but the Raptors landed one of the biggest fish of the offseason in bringing back Kawhi Leonard for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two future first-round draft picks, one future first-round pick swap and two future second-round picks. Of course, Leonard was named NBA Finals MVP in 2018 with Toronto before heading to his hometown of L.A. The Raptors improved 16 wins last season from 30 the season prior, the fourth-largest record improvement in team history. That kind of jump won’t happen again to 60-plus wins, but this is an East contender if Leonard can stay healthy. Big if. In fact, Toronto’s season betting win total is the same as it was last year essentially at 46.5. How much action will rookie first-round pick Allen Graves see in this rotation? The former Santa Clara star had a bit of a rough preseason, but coach Darko Rajakovic insists that he keep shooting. The Dinos lost one of their best reserves from last season in Sandro Mamukelashvili.
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