“The fun part of it,’’ comes to an end Thursday evening for the Bulls.
The player workouts and interviews are over, the false intel has been floated and when pick No. 7 of the 2019 NBA Draft arrives, it’s time for general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson to trust their scouting and the draft board, handing in the name of the next Bulls player.
Maybe.
Is there a crack at No. 4 for the Bulls to try and trade up to with the New Orleans Pelicans? Are the Phoenix Suns willing to swap places from No. 6 to No. 7? For an organization that historically plays draft night fairly straight forward, Paxson seems to have taken on more of a riverboat-gambler mentality since Season 2 of the rebuild ended.
Like it or not, the organization has pushed the chips all-in on coach Jim Boylen, inking him to a three-year extension and was aggressive in adding two highly respected assistant coaches to his staff. The Bulls were more than just sniffing around Hollywood, trying to land point guard Lonzo Ball from the Los Angeles Lakers.
“[Picks] 1 and 2 are very special,’’ Paxson said of Zion Williamson and Ja Morant last month. “But we’ve seen it over the years, there’s talent at a lot of different places in a draft, and you don’t always know the day you draft them, either. It’s how they work themselves, how they fit into the team you have. This is the fun part of it now, and I am convinced that this is a draft where at 7 we’ll get another piece we like.’’
Paxson should feel that way.
After all, rolling sevens has been a good thing the last two seasons, landing Lauri Markkanen in 2017 after the Jimmy Butler trade with Minnesota, and then last season grabbing Wendell Carter Jr. at 7.
Markkanen was a no-brainer for the Bulls at the time, with teams behind them admittedly hoping he would fall a spot or two. Carter, however, was a war-room debate that went to the final minutes.
Multiple media outlets, including the Sun-Times, reported that Forman obviously liked Carter, but was in on point guard Collin Sexton. The voices that were “Team Carter’’ won in the end, however, and the Bulls went with the big man.
Considering how both picks played this season, there was good reason for that in-house debate to rage on.
Carter was having a solid start before a hand injury in mid-January forced him into surgery and then street clothes for the rest of his rookie season, while Sexton closed his first season in absolute beast mode, averaging 22.4 points through March, and 20.2 over his final five games in April.
The problem is this draft is not 2017. It’s not even 2018.
There’s more landmines than prospects, and kicking the tires on players past the top three – throw R.J. Barrett in there after Williamson and Morant – may result in a flat.
Just look at one of the players the Bulls have been linked to in Coby White. Fast? Yes. Athletic? Yes. Can play off the ball when Zach LaVine is at the point? Yes. But he’s a former two-guard converted into a point guard without the court vision and decision-making.
The only reason the Bulls are back in the point guard market is to find a better decision-maker and a player that respects ball security.
White is not that. Not yet — and maybe never.
The other glaring hole on this Bulls roster is perimeter defense, and at 7, there are options to repair that with De’Andre Hunter or even the enigma that is Cam Reddish.
Hunter is the safe pick, while Reddish could be a gamble.
Paxson is poised to go either way.
