CHICAGO _ If the Bulls wanted, they could trot out an opening night lineup of Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine, Chandler Hutchison, Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr.
Time, training camp and the talents of Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday will tell. But the point is: The Bulls now have five young pieces covering each position _ four from the Jimmy Butler trade and one from dealing Nikola Mirotic _ and projected maximum salary-cap space for either this summer or next.
Unlike last season, the Bulls will be trying to win games next season. Executive vice president John Paxson has said he can't live through another season of tanking, er, player development. But the Bulls very well could be back in the draft lottery next year, which could net another nice young piece.
But the NBA is about star power _ with much of it residing in the Bay Area, some of the bubbling, young variety developing in the Bulls' Eastern Conference in Boston and the biggest in LeBron James, who is set to choose his employer in July free agency. Where's the Bulls' star?
"You hope you draft players who can become stars," Paxson said. "We believe Lauri has the potential. He has a long way to go. But when you can get your asset base up and you can wait for opportunities to present themselves, maybe in a trade situation or cap room and a free-agency situation, those are other avenues. But right now, drafting well is the stage we're in."
Indeed, it seemed fitting the Bulls selected Carter Jr. from the same seventh slot at which they acquired Kirk Hinrich in Paxson's first draft in 2003. Similar to that rebuild, which in 2004 produced first-round pick Ben Gordon, trade acquisition and lottery pick Luol Deng and second-round pick Chris Duhon, the Bulls are intent on building through the draft, with the occasional free-agent signing _ Andres Nocioni _ sprinkled into the mix.
That era's teams never advanced past the second round of the playoffs, mostly because they never produced a transcendent star. A final attempt to add one via free agency in Ben Wallace produced a first-round series victory but ultimately was a short-lived experiment. Paxson traded Wallace in Wallace's second season in Chicago.
The core of this team feels somewhat similar to that era, which featured a jump from 23-59 in 2003-04 to 47-35 the following season. Three straight playoff berths _ but only one series victory _ followed.
"We addressed two positions of need and got two players we feel who fit us and help us grow, hopefully quickly," Paxson said about Thursday night's picks. "Even though we're going to be patient, maybe grow more quickly than some of these teams in the past in these rebuilding situations. When you look at where we were a year ago, we feel we've added five really good young core pieces to build around.
"And we still have the core of our team intact. We're anticipating the young guys we have on this roster currently _ Kris, Zach, Lauri, Denzel (Valentine), Bobby Portis, go down the list _ a lot will depend on their growth as players. We feel these two players complement the roster we have very well."
Beyond the fact it takes two teams to consummate a trade, it's why the Bulls didn't trade up a mere few spots to try to draft Marvin Bagley III or Jaren Jackson Jr. or Trae Young. Not only did they like Carter, trading up would've cost a future first-round pick.
Such a sacrifice doesn't square with the patient approach to the rebuild, which almost certainly will feature the Bulls focusing more on 2019 free agency than this summer.
The Bulls also would like to remind that it's way too early to judge Carter and Hutchison. Perhaps one can become a star?
"In Wendell's case, physically he looks like a man so maybe you don't see upside. We think there is upside to him," general manager Gar Forman said. "When you look at his analytics _ we have 15 years of analytics in the draft _ he's extremely high as far as the efficiency he produced with."
Added Paxson: "In a lot of ways, he didn't get to showcase so much of his game. When Bagley reclassified and then signed at Duke late, a lot of their offense would've run through Wendell this year had Marvin not gone there. The young man sacrificed a lot in order to be a good teammate. A lot of that speaks to who he is."
Carter just turned 19. Hutchison is 22 and a rare four-year college player but made a huge jump from his sophomore to senior seasons at Boise State.
"His ability to rebound and make plays, those are things that are really valuable in our game today. Especially the way we want to play with pace and up-tempo. He fits," Paxson said. "We think he can put it on the floor and create. His shot is getting better and better."
Again, time will tell if the Bulls get better and better. Those Hinrich-Gordon-Deng teams spectacularly flamed out with a 33-49 season in 2007-08 that led to the Bulls winning the draft lottery.
They selected Derrick Rose, the type of transcendent star the Bulls hope they either currently have in the making or can eventually acquire.
