After the NBA Draft tonight, the Bulls need to come out improved.
They stood pat at the trade deadline as their Eastern Conference rivals grew stronger. They can’t squander another roster-building opportunity.
It became blatantly clear in Chicago’s short-lived and injury-marred postseason how much more the Bulls need to truly contend for a championship. The goal this summer must be to fill out the roster and surround the team’s star players with better complementary pieces.
How the Bulls go about it will begin to reveal itself at tonight’s draft.
The Bulls will enter with the 18th overall selection. This is considered to be a deep draft. There is said to be value into the 20s. What will the Bulls do this year? It’s the third draft led by executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas.
In 2020, he stayed put and selected Patrick Williams fourth overall and Marko Simonovic with the 44th pick. Last year’s first-round pick went to Orlando in the Nikola Vučević trade, but the Bulls plucked Ayo Dosunmu as a second-round steal at No. 38.
This year, with their selection in the middle of the first round, the Bulls could go in several directions as they strive to take another step. How should the Bulls operate in this year’s draft?
Here are a few options at their disposal.