Category: Bulls NBA Draft

NBA Mock Draft sees Bulls take Duke guard with No. 11 pick

In a recent NBA Mock Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Duke guard Jared McCain with the 11th pick.

As the Chicago Bulls prepare for the offseason, they need to have their eyes on two key things – the NBA Draft and the trade market. Free agency won’t matter as much for the Bulls this year, as rumors have indicated that they plan on trying to trade Zach LaVine. And if that’s the case, one can assume that they may try to take a step away from the current core.

But even if they don’t, adding new young talent to this team is crucial. Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu look like potential stars in the making and Patrick Williams looked solid before his injury, but outside of that, there isn’t much to look forward to on the roster moving forward.

In a recent NBA Mock Draft concocted by Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, the Bulls picked up Duke guard Jared McCain with the 11th pick.

“Eight three-point makes against James Madison gave Jared McCain another bump in the draft’s shooter rankings,” Wasserman wrote. “He’s now up at 41.5 percent from deep on the year with a balanced shot distribution chart of spot-up, off-screen and pull-up jumpers.

“But stellar pick-and-roll play with his pacing, floater touch, finishing craft and passing IQ also adds an extra element of creation and playmaking for McCain to generate offense with.

“Despite lacking ideal size or plus athletic traits, he has an easy-fit game with his on/off-ball skill set. Positive energy and passion are bonuses with teams likely to covet McCain’s character and intangibles.”

Adding McCain’s ball-handling and shooting would be huge for the Bulls.

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New mock draft has Chicago Bulls taking controversial wing

The talent is there — but so is the baggage.

It might be a bit early to start thinking about Chicago Bulls draft prospects even before the 2024 NCAA Tournament is even over. But for the analysts who make their living by projecting the NBA draft like Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, this is the thick of their high season.

And for the 2024 NBA draft. Wasserman has a prospect in mind for a player he sees the Bulls taking 12th overall. We’ll avoid the implications of what it would mean for Chicago’s postseason aspirations if they did indeed draft from that position, but we have some reservations about the prospect he has in mind for Chicago.

That would be Illinois’ Terrence Shannon Jr., a 23-year-old combo wing who plays like Kelly Oubre, Jr. if you squint enough. “There isn’t a prospect in the draft with a more dangerous one-two punch of explosive slashing and perimeter shot making,” writes Wasserman.

“He’s made real strides this season, optimizing his speed and quickness to create advantages, easy-basket chances and trips to the line,” adds the draft expert. “And he took another step forward with his jumper, drilling 38 catch-and-shoot 3s and 30 off the dribble.”

However, as Wasserman notes, Shannon has a pending case against him for sexual assault. Should he be unambiguously cleared in a court of law, the pick might make sense.

But anything less than that should be avoided like the plague, as the stain he would carry would far offset anything he could bring to the team on the court.

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NBA Mock Draft sees Bulls select South Carolina forward with 12th pick

In a recent NBA Mock Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles.

A rough start to the season made it seem as though the Chicago Bulls were doomed, but as the year has gone on, their potential future plans have gotten brighter and brighter. Not only have they pushed their way back into the Play-In race, but Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu have emerged as solid building blocks.

Now, as they prepare for the offseason, their sights need to be set on adding more young talent to help White and Dosunmu. At the same time, they should be looking to add guys who can develop into solid players themselves, as they don’t have great young talent on the roster outside of White and Dosunmu.

A recent NBA Mock Draft from No Ceilings has them selecting a guy who could fill both of those distinctions: Collin Murray-Boyles out of South Carolina.

“South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles has been one of the most productive freshmen in the 2024 class,” wrote Corey Tulaba. “The 6’7” lefty with a rumored 7’2” wingspan has some Julius Randle in his game, merging physicality and finesse. Murray-Boyles is a crafty interior scoring presence with playmaking feel who can face-up and attack or seal his man and finish on the block. Defensively he can move his feet and switch out to the perimeter while offering enough rim protection that he could play some minutes at the five. Murray-Boyles’s lack of perimeter shooting ability won’t fill an immediate need for a Bulls team in the bottom ten of distance shooting, but taking a swing on a young, talented forward who has been killing the advanced stats models is a worthy swing in the backend of the lotto for a middling team that needs an influx of young talent.”

Murray-Boyles isn’t a shooter, but he’s the type of versatile forward who could be an intriguing piece in a Bulls lineup that features a solid amount of offensive creation already.

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Chicago Bulls select 6-foot-5 guard in latest 2024 NBA Mock Draft

A recent 2024 NBA Mock Draft has the Chicago Bulls selecting Baylor guard Ja’Kobe Walter.

This summer will be an important one for the Chicago Bulls as they will have a chance to seriously plan for the future. The 2024 NBA Draft will provide them with an opportunity to add some much-needed young talent to the roster, ideally to complement the likes of Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and Patrick Williams (if he re-signs).

A recent 2024 NBA Mock Draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has the Bulls selecting Baylor guard Ja’Kobe Walter with the 12th pick. Walter is a 6-foot-5 guard who is in his freshman season with the Bears and could be a solid shot-creator in the NBA.

Wasserman notes this skill as a reason teams may look to select him.

“A falling three-point percentage won’t cause scouts to stop seeing an NBA shotmaker in Ja’Kobe Walter. Dating back to high school, the eye test shows a versatile shooter with impressive positional tools and some extra ability to hit tough runners,” Wasserman wrote. “It’s the lack of creation and playmaking that raise some concern and highlight the importance of Walter being able to consistently knock down jumpers. Over Baylor’s last 13 games, he’s just 19-of-80 from deep with 21 assists”

So far this season at Baylor, Walter is averaging 14.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists while shooting 38.5% from the field and 32.3% from behind the three-point line.

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Second NBA Mock Draft in a row sees Bulls take elite 3-point shooter

A recent 2024 NBA Mock Draft has the Chicago Bulls selecting Reed Sheppard out of Kentucky.

The Chicago Bulls have some serious changes to make this summer. They’ve been a middle-of-the-pack team for the past few seasons, and for the third year in a row, they stood pat at the trade deadline. But if they want to make any sort of significant improvement, they need to take a long look in the mirror this offseason.

In addition to free agency and the trade market, the Bulls need to nail the NBA Draft. A recent NBA mock draft from Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo and ESPN had the Bulls taking Reed Sheppard out of Kentucky, and Sam Vecenie of The Athletic made the same choice.

Vecenie’s latest mock draft had Sheppard going to the Bulls as well.

“With Sheppard, it’s easy to understand why,” Vecenie wrote. “As a 6-3 player without much length or the kind of athletic traits that raise a guard to this level, Sheppard doesn’t look like the typical lottery pick. But I think he has a real case for being one of the five best players in the country as a freshman, and I’d certainly consider him an All-American in some capacity. He’s averaging 12.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 52.6 percent from the field, 51.4 percent from 3 and 80.8 percent from the line. He racks up 2.6 steals per game on top of averaging nearly one block per game. His closeouts on shooters are textbook and disruptive.”

The 6-foot-3 guard has shot 50.9% from three-point range on 4.1 attempts per game this season.

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Bulls mocked to take Kentucky guard in new ESPN 2024 mock NBA draft

The 6-foot-3 native of London (Kentucky) can shoot the rock well from beyond the arc, connecting at a bonkers 51.4%.

While it might be too early for you, dear reader, to be thinking about what the Chicago Bulls ought to do with their first round draft pick for the 2024 NBA draft, for analysts who specialize in the draft, this is right in the thick of the NCAA, G League, and overseas action.

And for ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, the Bulls ought to turn their eyes to the backcourt of the University of Kentucky in their latest mock draft for this summer’s big event. The player they think Chicago ought to target with their No. 12 projected lottery pick (based on their recent record) is combo guard Reed Sheppard.

The 6-foot-3 native of London (Kentucky) can shoot the rock well from beyond the arc, connecting at a bonkers 51.4% with the Blue Devils so far this season.

He’s also a defensive menace who has logged 2.6 steals and 0.8 blocks per game with Kentucky in 2023-24 and is a solid rebounder at 4.4 per game.

He doesn’t score enough for a player with his talents and he could grab a few more offensive boards, but there’s not that much to critique in a 19-year-old player with plenty of room to grow into a high-level starter with star potential. If Sheppard is still on the board, the Bulls had better pounce.

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New mock has the Chicago Bulls taking French forward in 2024 NBA draft

“Age, positional size, shot making, play-finishing and defense create an exciting foundation” for this player.

It might be early for most Chicago Bulls fans to think about the 2024 NBA draft, but Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman has a player in mind for the Bulls to draft in his most recent mock for the 2024 class. In it, the B/R analyst has Cholet’s Tidjane Salaun, an 18-year-old forward who has been compared to Obi Toppin going to Chicago at No. 11 overall.

Putting aside the assumption Chicago is in the lottery, Wasserman writes that despite streaky play, “he’s one of the draft’s youngest prospects, shooting 38.1% from 3 as an athletic, 6-foot-9 forward with the tools and mobility to guard multiple frontcourt archetypes.”

“Age, positional size, shot making, play-finishing and defense create an exciting foundation for Salaun to build on,” he adds.

“The Chicago Bulls will prioritize upside over fit with the franchise still stuck in no-man’s land, Zach LaVine on the trade block and DeMar DeRozan entering free agency,” suggests the B/R draft expert.

“And the French forward is starting to look more interesting than the majority of NCAA one-and-done freshmen and upperclassmen still on the board.”

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Can Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley find success in the NBA draft for the Chicago Bulls?

Can AKME and company find the right players for the Bulls’ future plans?

Chicago Bulls front office execs Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley have done a solid job finding talent within their organization. One such example is their most recent move to elevate reserve floor general Coby White to the team’s starting gig in the wake of an extended injury absence to star Bulls point guard Zach LaVine — and then sticking with White as a major part of the team’s rotation on his return to the fold.

But even so, AKME (as Karnisovas and Eversley are sometimes called) have yet to find success in the draft, forward Patrick Williams having been drafted by the duo’s predecessors. Can AKME and company find the right players for the Bulls’ future plans in the next several drafts?

This is the question explored by Haize, the host of the “Chicago Bulls Central” podcast on a recent episode.

Take a look at the clip embedded above to hear his thoughts on Chicago’s draft future under Eversley and Karnisovas.

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Latest NBA Mock Draft has Bulls select Baylor wing with 8th pick

In a recent NBA Mock Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected Ja’kobe Walter out of Baylor.

As the season rolls on, the Chicago Bulls should focus most of their energy on the trade deadline. Despite their recent success, the Bulls still don’t have the talent to compete with the top teams in the East, and getting assets in return for their veteran assets should be a top priority.

However, since the Bulls will likely finish toward the bottom of the conference and perhaps even miss the playoffs, the NBA Draft will be important, too. Chicago could end up with a top-10 pick this year, and nailing that selection will be crucial to the future success of the franchise.

In a recent NBA Mock Draft compiled by Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, the Bulls would select Ja’kobe Walter out of Baylor.a

The 19-year-old is currently in his freshman season with the Bears. At 6-foot-5, he’s proven to be a reliable three-point shooter with solid defensive tools.

“Positional tools and shotmaking versatility create a floor and easy fit that’s seemingly solidified Ja’Kobe Walter in the top-10 discussion,” Wasserman wrote.

“His skill set is tailored for plug-and-play off-ball scoring, with Walter shooting 40.0 percent on spot-up threes and 9-of-16 on shots off screens. But he’s also looked effective scoring in ball-screen situations, mostly by attacking downhill, finishing through contact or earning trips to the free-throw line.

“At 6’5″ with length and strength, he has the defensive tools to pair with a jumper, creating a low-risk, popular archetype.”

So far this year, Walter is averaging 15.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists while shooting 44.5% from the floor and 41.3% from deep on 5.8 three-point attempts per game.

For a Bulls team that should be constantly looking to add shooting, Walter makes a ton of sense.

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