The NBA draft happened last night, and the Bulls had two draft picks, and neither choice was inspiring. This new management really could’ve put their stamp on this team, but instead, the Bulls settled in this draft.
Round 1 pick #4 SF Patrick Williams Florida State University
Age 19, 6’8”, 225LBS – 29GP 22MPG 9.2PPG 4RPG 1ASG 1SPG 1BPG 1.7TOPG .46FG% .32 3PT% .84FT%
Williams, who didn’t start a game last year, has some of the best upside of the 2021 draft class. He has all of the intangibles that make a great NBA player, and he comes from a great program. FSU’s head coach Leonard Hamilton preaches defense ad nauseam. This is great because playing good defense can be one of the hardest things to get young players to do consistently in the NBA.
My gripes with this pick are that the Bulls could’ve moved back in the draft and still gotten Williams, and we have to wait and see what kind of player he becomes. A safer pick at four would’ve been G-F Deni Avdija, who really would’ve filled all the holes the Bulls have right now. His shooting lacks, but what he lacks in shooting, he makes up for in versatility. Deni can generally play all five positions on the court, and his vision is one of his best assets. The Bulls lack a true distributor to help the offense, and Avdija would have filled this void in spades.
Williams is still raw, and I hope the coaching staff and organization are ready to work on the development he will need to become a force on both sides of the ball. The unfortunate thing is that this potential may not show itself for a couple of years. Williams can become one of the Bulls’ best draft picks ever made, or he could be a total waste of a top-five pick.
Only time will tell, the last thing I want to hear. The Bulls have been asking us to be patient since 2015. With this pick, they ask us to be patient yet again. The chances that Williams will contribute in a significant way this season are slim.
Round 2 Pick #44 C Marko Simonovic KK Mega Bemax (ABA League)
Age 21, 6’11”, 215LBS
Marko Simonovic is a draft and stash player. He won’t be doing anything with the Bulls this season. He will stay overseas, where he can continue to develop and play meaningful minutes. The Bulls’ new head of basketball operations, Arturas Karnisovas, has a proven international eye for talent. Karnisovas made one of the best all-time second-round picks in NBA draft history when he took C Nikola Jokic for the Denver Nuggets in the 2014 draft.
Again, my issue with this pick is that the Bulls have a glaring need for a PG. The Bulls chose not to re-sign PG Kris Dunn, who had finally figured out his role with the Bulls and became a vital piece to the team last season. One of the best available, PG Nico Mannion, fell to them at 44. Instead, they passed him up for their second project of the night.
I could be wrong on Mannion, and he could be a total bust. However, the Bulls passed up a position of need to take a player that needs two to three years in development before seeing if this pick makes any sense.
Overall I will give the Bulls a C for drafted pure potential. There were safer bets in this draft that the front office could’ve taken to give the Bulls an immediate boost. Of course, I genuinely hope that it all works out for the new basketball operations regime. Still, only time will tell.