1. Ja Morant
One of the pearls of this year’s draft class. Ja Morant has the potential to be an NBA superstar and the catalyst for the Chicago Bulls success.
This 20-year-old has an incredible tool box. Count his great handles, missile-tracking software for passing vision, and elite ability to get to the rim as strong suits. In terms of weaknesses, he does turn the ball over frequently (5.2 turnovers per game last season) and doesn’t have an outside jumper quite yet.
What Morant could be should be scary to the 29 teams he won’t join. He showed huge strides in all angles of his game between his freshman and sophomore seasons. His leap into an NBA training program could send his progression into ludicrous speed.
Morant shined on the national level during March Madness, despite an early exit. His Murray State Racers ran wild in an 83-64 first round victory over Marquette; Morant dropped 17 points, 16 assists, and 11 rebounds. In the second round, Florida State proved too strong with a 90-62 victory, but Morant still scored a brilliant 28 points.
In this scenario, the Bulls need the ping pong balls to fall the right way; right now the second-worst team in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns, are in deep love with Morant. In fact, they’re rumored to draft Morant over Zion Williamson if the Suns get the top spot in the lottery.
If the Bulls want any chance at Ja Morant in Chicago, they’ll have to come out ahead of Phoenix in the lottery.