The Bulls were among the unluckiest teams at the draft lottery, losing their first-round pick to the Magic when it failed to land in the top four, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. Chicago wound up sending the No. 8 selection to Orlando as part of the trade deadline deal involving Nikola Vucevic, and it owes another first-rounder to the Magic in 2023.
With only the No. 38 pick remaining in the July 29 draft, the Bulls will have to explore other ways to improve, Mayberry adds. They’re short on trade assets after investing so much in the roster makeover in March, and they may not have enough cap space to add a meaningful free agent.
Mayberry suggests the Bulls may try to trade back into the first round on draft night, using the expiring contracts of Thaddeus Young ($14.19MM) and Tomáš Satoranský ($10MM), both of which are non-guaranteed, as well as Al-Farouq Aminu ($10.183MM).
They may also reach out to a couple of division rivals who had better fortune at the lottery. The Pistons landed the top overall pick and are likely to draft Cade Cunningham, which could make point guard Killian Hayes available in a trade, Mayberry speculates. Meanwhile, if the Cavaliers get Jalen Green at No. 3, they might be willing to part with Collin Sexton, Darius Garland or Isaac Okoro.
There’s more on the Bulls:
- Zach LaVine‘s inclusion on the Olympic team could be good for the Bulls’ future, states Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. He notes that many star pairings in the NBA began when players got to know each other as Olympic teammates. Cowley cautions it might work the other way, and LaVine, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, could get recruited to go somewhere else.
- Ben Simmons‘ playoff struggles and Spencer Dinwiddie‘s decision to turn down his player option for next season create two intriguing options for the Bulls in their search for a point guard, writes Jamal Collier of The Chicago Tribune. Simmons would be an ideal backcourt partner for LaVine, Collier notes, but it would be hard to put together an enticing offer for the Sixers without giving up LaVine in return. Dinwiddie will be seeking more than the $12.3MM he opted out of, but Collier expects concerns about his partially torn ACL to keep the price tag down.
- Thaddeus Young has been chosen as this year’s winner of the NBA Hustle Award, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The honor goes to the player who makes the most energy and effort plays during the season.
We’re the Bulls unlucky? They had a 20% chance of keeping their pick. That didn’t happen. Really was a long shot to keep it. They were banking on playing better after the trade, so the pick would have been later (and lost for sure).
You are right. The Bulls were not unlucky. Just the price the Bulls have to pay for the trade at the trade deadline with the Magic. The Bulls gambled that Vucevic will help the Bulls more than the two first round picks that the Bulls traded to the Magic. Guess we will have to wait a certain number of years down the road to judge whether or not the trade was good or bad.
Bulls should consider themselves lucky. The #8 pick in the NBA draft is historically bad, especially since the 80s. I know there is not curse on the pick or anything, but the amount of busts in that selection is quite high comparatively. Just the names from the 2010s decade
2010 Al-Farouq Aminu
2011 Brandon Knight
2012 Terrence Ross
2013 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
2014 Nik Stauskas
2015 Stanley Johnson
2016 Marquese Chriss
2017 Frank Ntikilina
2018 Collin Sexton
2019 Jaxson Hayes
Some okay players and some that are too young to really judge, but no real game changers there.
The 2000s decade includes such luminaries as Jordan Hill, Joe Alexander, Rafael Araujo, and DeSagana Diop. In the entire 21st century, probably the best player picked 8 is Rudy Gay. He’s had a nice career, but if he is the #1 guy out of 20 picks, it’s probably not a great list.
If they hadn’t traded for Vuc,they would not have been 8th. They went like 9-9 in their last 18 games. If they had just stood pat and tanked the last 25-30 games, they could have had a top 5 pick.
Without the Vuc trade, we would be talking about All-Star LaVine, a top 5 pick, a promising Patrick Williams, all their 1st round picks available for trade, and the ability to carve out over $40+ million in cap space in free agency/trade market. Sad stuff.
Meh, that’s a lot of ifs. The reason the Bulls made the trade was because they were in a position to make a move. It just didn’t work. They likely would not have gotten in the bottom 5.
Agree with you. When AK made the trade with the Magic, the Bulls were tied for the last playoff spot. AK went for it. AK tried for a good team and something to cheer about now. When the trade was made, it seemed very good. The Bulls added Vucevic, Theis, Aminu and Jonathan Green. Then LaVine entered into the NBA protocol, missed a bunch of games and the Bulls didn’t make the playoffs. It is reasonable to believe that with LaVine the Bulls would have made the playoffs. So the Bulls were unlucky. IMO can’t blame AK for trying.
I have to SMH at that list because the Pistons drafted 3 of them all on their own. So sad that KCP was their best selection made.
I dunno, I think Brandon Knight had a better peak than KCP. That injury he had just basically killed his career.
But I think we can both agree that Stanley Johnson would be last on the Pistons list.
Great list & research hiflew, good job!
Bulls get Simmons
76ers get Lauri, White, Williams, cap
Save 76ers money
Lousy trade
Sixers are win now
Seriously??! Bulls missed the playoffs but might consider Shaquille Simmons as PG! Unrealll!
They should sign Spencer and stay away from Hayes and Simmons. Both of these clowns can’t shoot so you going to lean on Lavine the whole time. It’s a shooter league, if you got no 3’s or jumper then your useless!
Haha Cavs passed on Oneyka and Halliburton for Okoro. Imagine having Clarkson, Halliburton and possibly Green playing on same squad. This team need new board, coach or relocate to different city. They might get luckier in Cincinnati or Columbus.
Onyeka hasn’t done a thing all year and they passed on Tyrese cause they already have two point guards in Sexton and Garland. They needed a wing and to improved defensively.
They were only really looking at Williams, Okoro, Avdija and Toppin…
Haliburton, I thought would’ve been great for the Suns behind CP3 and learning off him and then eventually taking over. Obviously they didn’t need him they are doing great.
Haliburton would’ve been great for the Knicks instead of Toppin.
I agree. I think the bigger surprise was that they took Okoro over Toppin. I was legit shocked that they didn’t take the relatively local guy because the Cavs love Ohio guys.
Should have picked CJ McCollum then, instead of Bennet, besides Toppin. Or demanded Rozier when they found Isaiah Thomas could not jog nor had a therapy. They got Nance, but LAL was dumping salary and was willing to take IT in trade.
Guess I disagree!
if the Bulls want Simmons, that’s smart. if the Bulls want Simmons as a PG, they’re mindless.
The Bulls are an most impossible trade partner for the Sixers.
Agreed. Also, if the Bulls think they can get Simmons without including LaVine they’re no longer aware of the players who play for their team.
Simmons is an “ideal” PG for LaVine? I probably disagree but isn’t it kind of moot either way?
Who besides Vooch (who makes no sense on Philly) has any real trade value on Chicago besides LaVine? As bad as Simmons was I don’t see Morey trading him for Thad Young and Satoransky.
Thad, Aminu, and Satoransky and a pick for Kemba Walker. Pretty simple no?
Pretty bad, after spending for Vucevic.
I’m kind of hoping Dinwiddie does not sign there for his sake. They may not even pick up up Thad Young. May collapse.
Yeah, pretty simple no from the Bulls. Why would they do that? Lol
Sometimes ownership has to cut its losses early and Karnisovas has been a disaster as it’s top decision maker. Hiring Billy D, trading for Vucevic, and keeping Lavine in the hopes of making playoffs this year are dubious decisions. Lights will be out in Chicago for several years.
How is this a good take in year two. Donovan was a solid hire. They added an All-star center, and Lavine has become an All-Star. I wasn’t in love with the Williams pick, but he is really young and showed flashes. This team is a PG away from playoff contention. No one makes this unit a title contender in one year.
If I am the Bulls, I wouldn’t try to trade for any of the guys mentioned Hayes, Sexton, Garland and Okoro. None of those guys will make much of a difference. Bulls would be better off just standing pat. Let Young, Satoransky and Aminu play out the one final year in their contracts. Maybe trade them at the mid season trade deadline if need be. It is not like those guys are worthless. Young was one of the Bulls better players last season.
Forget about Simmons.
The biggest loser of the draft lottery was OKC. Sure they have 6 picks so they can take a lot of gambles with one of the worst rosters in the NBA. They had a decent shot at getting two picks in the top 5 and ended up with none. Delicate Thunder.
It is amusing watching you fight so hard in the battle for 29th best in the NBA between Houston and OKC. Seriously man it’s time to move on. Celebrate your team instead of trying to tear someone else down.
That Vucevic trade was awful. He probably declines this year and is out of the league in 2 years.
a 30-year-old center who averaged 23 points and 12 boards and shoots 40 percent from three will be “out of the league in 2 years” Yeah, for sure man, good analysis.
The Cavs aren’t trading Garland or Okoro lol
Sexton could be available, but he’d be a bad fit in Chicago. He and LaVine would score a lot, they’re both better off playing the 2 and that defense would be terrible.
Simmons for Buddy Hield…
CC can play with Hayes, but if the Pistons decide its not an optimal pairing, then they should move him quickly. These situations don’t age well.
The Knicks might have interest in Hayes. Hard to say, but they certainly liked him prior to the draft (and, while it’s not certain, he likely would have been their pick had he dropped just that one spot). Of course, a bunch of things have changed since last year’s draft. At this point, I think they’re looking more for a veteran PG, as a starter, and don’t figure to have many backup minutes there (if Rose returns, along with IQ and perhaps LV). It’s a question of how deep their man love for him went.