Draft Night was a Weirdly Solid One for the Bulls

To describe the 2016 NBA Draft for the under-construction Chicago Bulls, the words “weird” and “confusing” come to mind.

After Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram came off the board as the top two picks of the 2016 NBA Draft on Thursday night, the draft officially kicked off.

The Chicago Bulls weren’t scheduled to pick until No. 14, but they were in the spotlight for a large portion of the first round.

Why?

Because rumors were circulating at a ridiculous pace that the Bulls were engaged in talks with the Boston Celtics (who had the No. 3 overall pick and seven(!) other picks in the draft) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (who had the No. 5 overall pick in the draft).

When the dust settled, the Celtics shocked a ton of viewers by taking California’s Jaylen Brown with the third pick and new Minnesota head coach Tom Thibodeau got “his man” and the Timberwolves selected Kris Dunn (a Bulls target) with the fifth pick.

Eventually, when it was the Bulls’ turn to select a prospect at 14, they went with a wing and chose Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine and his outstanding pair of socks designed by Stance Hoops.

Thoughts on the 14th pick (Denzel Valentine):

I liked the pick. I didn’t love the pick.

Personally, if I was in the Bulls’ war room with Gar Forman, John Paxson and Fred Hoiberg, I would have had guys like Vanderbilt’s Wade Baldwin IV and France’s Timothe Luwawu ahead of Valentine on the big board.

But, the Bulls got a good pick in Valentine, who can virtually fit with any roster in the NBA with his style of play.

The $64,000 question is, how will Valentine’s body hold up?

Chicago has already had enough scares with stars and knee injuries. If Valentine’s knees are fine like he and the team says they are, he’s a nice addition.

Despite rumblings of the Celtics still being interested in Jimmy Butler‘s services — a common trend since February of this year — the big talks during draft night were about the Bulls potentially doing a deal with Tom Thibodeau and Timberwolves general manager Scott Layden.

The fact that the two sides would discuss, well … anything after what happened last summer in Chicago is rather strange and mind-boggling.

There was this thought:

Now this is a beef that would actually make some sense involving the Bulls.

In the end, nothing happened.

Johnson’s probably the most reliable source that’s consistently with the organization, so I’d personally take his word here.

(And, yeah … the Bulls should’ve said no to that deal.)

Also, a nugget from Johnson’s coverage on Thursday night during the draft:

That’s curious, but nonetheless, no deal was made and the Bulls would move on to their post-draft presser.

Oh, wait. I almost forgot.

The Bulls had another pick and took a player nobody had ever heard of. (OK, to be honest, I had never heard of him.)

With the 48th pick in the draft, the Bulls took Germany’s Paul Zipser.

Thoughts on the 48th pick:

Like I said, I had never heard of Paul Zipser until his name was called.

But thankfully, some smart people have heard of him and know more about his game than I obviously do.

Kevin Ferrigan and Brian Schroeder and two intelligent NBA followers on Twitter.

When they give analysis, you probably should listen.

And honestly, when I watch some footage of Zipser in action after he was selected, I saw the same things that Schroeder did. He moves much better than I expected him to.

Of course, there’s always a “but hold on, wait…” when it comes to the Bulls.

There’s also this, too:

He’s solid from the film, but with a lot of foreign prospects, he does come with some questions. (But, you’ll be able to watch him in Rio this summer, so that’s cool.)

Gar Forman speaks after the draft:

Sounds like what he said after trading for Doug McDermott in 2014.

Yeah, sure … OK.

I don’t disagree here. (Plus, you shouldn’t be trading him anyway, but I digress.)

You’d have to trade Butler to do that, so what are you saying?

Next: Bulls' new point guard depth appear to be good fits for Hoiball this season

Overall thoughts:

I didn’t dislike, but I didn’t adore the Bulls’ draft.

They did the right thing once again by not trading Jimmy Butler. Moving Derrick Rose may have been a tough call for everybody, but it was the right call.

On top of that, the picks were solid.

They’re not the flashiest of picks, but they’re good if both guys are healthy and can produce in the rotation. Anyone that follows the Bulls will be on edge to hear that their draft picks already have injury issues. That’s just the way it’s been over the years.

But, Valentine and Zipser are good players. They’re not going to alter any trajectory for the Bulls in a major way this season, but they’re good pieces to the puzzle.