Late into the evening on Thursday night, the Chicago Bulls selected 22-year-old Paul Zipser with the 48th pick in the draft. The 6’8” Zipser is a German International player who most recently played for FC Bayern Munich in Munich, Germany.
It took a minute for me to confirm that the Bulls had not, in fact, drafted one the best soccer players in Germany. Sadly, they did not. However, they did draft one of the best German basketball players from the sister club to one of the best soccer teams on the planet.
Zipser was ranked much higher than 48th entering the draft, but like many other names he surprisingly fell further than expected. The Bulls were all too happy to take his name off the board.
At the 2016 Eurocup, Zipser average 8.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and shot 47 percent from 3-point range. If this sounds like the kind of player the Bulls want for head coach Fred Hoiberg, you would be correct.
Swarm and Sting
Zipser doesn’t project to be one of the very best in the league, but he shows enough promise to easily work into an NBA rotation while being young enough that starter minutes could be a reality before his first contract is over. His staying power in the league will be simple: does he translate as a 3-and-D player in America?
Lest you think I’m high on Zipser’s potential simply because he is now a member of the Bulls, DraftExpress rates him as the No. 26 prospect on their Top 100 board, right behind Denzel Valentine. If Valentine doesn’t ring a bell, you must have missed the draft and not read our mock draft because he is the player that the Bulls selected with the No. 14 pick in the first round.
The Bulls needed a player like Valentine, but they also need more options like Zipser. If you list Jimmy Butler as a point guard, the Bulls feature Tony Snell and Mike Dunleavy at shooting guard with some combination of small forward mixed in for Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic if he is stationed at the three instead of power forward. As you can see, the Bulls draft picks tonight were used to target a couple of potential holes and give Chicago flexibility to explore moving Snell and Dunleavy if the opportunity presents itself.
All signs point to Zipser joining the Bulls this year, though he is set to miss the Summer League to participate with the German National Team.
Forman said the hope is for Zipser to be at training camp. He does have a buyout.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) June 24, 2016
While the trend is to draft-and-stash, the Bulls look to be bringing this European draft pick to the Windy City as soon as possible.
Next: Bulls Take Denzel Valentine No. 14 in 2016 Draft
That Gar Forman “retooling” we have heard so much about just keeps rolling right along.