Blogs.Bulls.com

Bulls draw pick No. 14 in NBA draft

by

May 17

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 their 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.

The Bulls will get the No. 14 pick in this year’s NBA draft.

That came as a result of the annual lottery drawing in New York. The Sacramento Kings kept their draft pick since the Bulls were to get it if it fell outside the top 10. The Kings get selection No. 8.

The Philadelphia 76ers won the No. 1 overall draft pick in a drawing that went basically according to the prevailing odds. The Los Angeles Lakers kept their draft pick as it was top three protected. They got No. 2. The Boston Celtics with the pick from the Brooklyn Nets will select third. The Suns with the Washington Wizards pick from the Markieff Morris trade will select fourth and 13th. In other trades, Denver selects seventh and the Toronto Raptors ninth from the Knicks for the previous Andrea Bargnani trade.

Bulls All-Star Jimmy Butler represented the Bulls at this year’s drawing. Butler came business formal with a blue suit and tie.

The last time the Bulls were in the draft lottery was in 2008 when the Bulls moved up in the drawing to No. 1 despite having the ninth best odds. The Bulls selected Derrick Rose, who went on to win a league MVP award. Former Bulls vice president Steve Schanwald represented the Bulls in 2008. The only other time the Bulls drew the No. 1 pick was in 1999. They selected Elton Brand. Former Bulls general manager represented the Bulls in 1999.

The Bulls at the No. 14 spot had a 0.5 percent chance to get the No. 1 pick and 1.8 chance of moving into the top three in the draft. A maximum three teams could move up to the top three spots in the lottery. The team with the poorest record, this season the 76ers, could get no worse than the No. 4 pick.

At No. 14, the Bulls should be able to get a contributing player, certainly for the future.

NBA team officials and scouts generally consider LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram, both small forwards, as the players likely to go one/two in the draft.

The next group of players is considered among a group that likely includes Providence point guard Kris Dunn, Kentucky shooting guard Jamal Murray, versatile Croatian big man Dragan Bender and Oklahoma shooting guard Buddy Hield.

There are then perhaps eight or 10 other players who project as rotation or future starting players, though teams will have players slotted differently according to position need and their own style of play.

There are big men Jakob Poeltl and Domatas Sabonis, the latter the son of the Hall of Fame center. One or the other could fall to the bottom of the lottery. That’s because there are considered to be several more high level prospects, like California shooting guard Jaylen Brown, Florida State shooting guard Malik Beasley, Washington shooting guard Dejounte Murray, a Jamal Crawford type, Michigan State power forward Deyonta Davis and North Carolina power forward Brice Johnson, Marquette power forward Henry Ellenson, Indiana power forward Marquese Chriss, Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson and Michigan State senior swingman Denzel Valentine.

That’s more than 15 prospects generally regarded to have solid NBA talent and worthy of a place in an NBA rotation.

What do you think? Leave a comment below: