The jury is still out on the likes of Wendell Carter Jr., Coby White and even Denzel Valentine.
There’s still time for those Bulls draft picks to change that, however.
But with Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in town on Friday, it was just another reminder of how many empty draft picks the old regime missed on since grabbing Butler with the 30th overall pick in the 2011 draft.
Even coach Billy Donovan admitted that it’s hard for an organization to overcome that.
“The way I would describe it, and I dealt with this a lot in the college ranks, you missed on a lot of the players, and I still think the story hasn’t been written on those guys,’’ Donovan said. “I think clearly you can take a lot of guys, maybe like a [Luka] Doncic or [Jayson] Tatum, that are really young, that have kind of exploded on the scene so to speak.
“The one thing I realized even being in college, and I know this is the pros and these guys are older, but I think Wendell one year of college, Lauri one year of college, Coby one year of college … yeah, some guys have obviously gone right out of high school, some guys have gone in after one year and made an impact, and by their second year, third year, been cusp of All-Stars. I totally get that, but the one thing I’ve always realized is everybody kind of matures and grows at their own pace, so I think it’s early because these guys are young, to draw those kinds of conclusions or opinions.’’
The five drafts after Butler was selected included Marquis Teague, Tony Snell, multiple picks traded for Doug McDermott, Bobby Portis and then Denzel Valentine. Only Valentine remains with the team and he’s been mostly a role player.
Donovan pointed out that there are different paths to greatness, and some take longer than others. He was hoping that was the case with some of his roster.
“Like a guy like Zach [LaVine], finally made the All-Star Game, but it took him a period of time,’’ Donovan said. “Even Zach would tell you, ‘I kind of learned and grew at my own pace,’ and everybody kind of gets it at a certain time, so I’ve got a lot of confidence and belief that these guys will continue to get better and improve.’’
Not an easy situation
There has been some movement on the Chandler Hutchison front, with the forward at least dressing for games as the second half of the season tipped off on Thursday.
What Donovan can’t predict – nor will he even try – is when the third-year player is ready to return from “personal issues’’ that have sidelined him 15 straight games, and rejoin the rotation.
“I think one of the things we are trying to do with Chandler, and I think this is really important is what we have him continually be around the team as much as possible,’’ Donovan said. “To dress him, to make him active, to have him warmup, to do those things.
“But he’s still not at a place where either he or I feel comfortable or think he’s ready to come back and play at this point in time.’’
Since being selected 22nd overall in the 2018 draft, the Boise State product has played in just 79 total games, and only seven this season because of numerous injuries and now the latest setback, which the Bulls deem “a sensitive situation.’’
He is owed $4 million next season, and then has a $5.8 million qualifying offer for the 2022-23 season.
