CHICAGO _ This is what all the injuries, pain and losing produced. This is what the offseason leading to season No. 3 of the full rebuild undertaken with the Jimmy Butler trade will feature.
After a nightmarish and injury-filled 22-60 season, the Bulls exited Tuesday's NBA draft lottery held at the Hilton Chicago with the seventh pick in the June 20 draft.
The Pelicans won the lottery, followed by Grizzlies and the Knicks.
The Bulls entered Tuesday night with a 12.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick, the fourth-best odds behind the Knicks, Cavaliers and Suns. In the first year of NBA draft lottery reform, those teams each had a 14 percent chance at the top pick, which is widely expected to be Duke big man Zion Williamson. Murray State point guard Ja Morant is widely considered to be the No. 2 pick.
Not counting the 2003 appearance he inherited from Jerry Krause shortly after succeeding him as head of basketball operations, this marked John Paxson's seventh participation in the draft lottery. However, two of those, in 2006 and 2007, followed playoff seasons, courtesy of two first-round picks acquired in the October 2005 Eddy Curry sign-and-trade with the Knicks.
In 2004 the Bulls stayed at No. 2 and drafted Ben Gordon. They also stayed at No. 2 in 2006, the year Paxson traded LaMarcus Aldridge's rights to the Trail Blazers for No. 4 pick Tyrus Thomas' rights and Viktor Khryapa.
The second pick acquired from the Knicks worked out better. The Bulls stayed at No. 9 after the 2007 lottery and selected franchise stalwart Joakim Noah. His and Rose's ascension helped the Bulls avoid the lottery until 2016. With Jimmy Butler representing the franchise on the dais, the Bulls stayed at No. 14 and drafted Denzel Valentine.
Last year the Bulls dropped one slot to No. 7 and picked Wendell Carter Jr.
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