Chicago Bulls: Why drafting Cam Reddish makes sense

As a result of the unfortunate NBA Draft Lottery for the Chicago Bulls, the point guard options are limited so the pick could be Cam Reddish.

Taking Ja Morant with a top-three selection or Darius Garland with the fourth or fifth would have been extremely beneficial for the Chicago Bulls, but luck was simply not on their side. Instead, both Morant and Garland will likely be off the board, leaving the Bulls with an a major question: what do we do with this pick? The conventional route is to either draft a point guard or to trade for one. Could Duke’s Cam Reddish be a possibility?

As for finding a point guard at the seventh spot, the only true option available would be North Carolina’s Coby White, a 19-year-old combo guard who stands at 6-foot-5. White is a solid offensive player who can score from three levels. His numbers at UNC were solid, as he led his team to one of the best records in the country. White will likely have a decent NBA career, but not even White’s biggest fan believes he has star potential.

Lonzo Ball has been a name linked to the Chicago Bulls of late, as the team is supposedly drawn to his ability to distribute the basketball and believe this will lead to further development of players such as Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine. The start to Ball’s NBA career is certainly discouraging and should throw up red flags for the Bulls. This is not to say that Ball is a bust, but if he were to be an elite NBA talent, he would have already shown signs of it.

What both Ball and White lack is the potential to be legitimate NBA superstars, which is precisely what the Bulls need in this stage of the rebuild. Filling the point guard position should certainly be near the top of the to-do list this summer, but at the top of this list is acquiring the most talented player possible at the seventh overall slot.

The most talented player likely available when the Bulls make their first round selection is Cam Reddish of Duke. After an extremely disappointing freshman season in Durham, Reddish has fallen from a sure-fire top two selection all the way to the latter part of the top-ten. Drawing comparison’s to Oklahoma City’s Paul George, the 6-foot-8 forward has serious potential to be an elite two-way player in the NBA.

The reason why Chicago must go with talent over a positional need is because the Bulls have still yet to find the third superstar-caliber player to the tandem of Lauri and Zach. Although Zach and Lauri are great players and are still developing, the two of them alone are unlikely to bring the Bulls back to the promised land, and I don’t think White is the guy to push them over the edge. Reddish, although a major risk, could very well be that guy. After falling three spots down to seventh overall, why not take that chance?

Looking back on prior drafts, drafting positional needs over talent has not gone well. When Phoenix drafted Dragan Bender with the fourth overall pick in 2016, the Suns already had their shooting guard of the future in Devin Booker. Looking back, with Buddy Hield still on the board, the Suns surely would have drafted the more talented player in Hield and made some sort of accommodation in the backcourt.

There are countless examples of teams placing too much emphasis on position rather than talent, and at times this is the right thing to do, but the Bulls are in no position to be singling out one position. Organizations make picks based on positional needs when they are on the verge of becoming a serious threat, and the Bulls are still not at that stage in the rebuild. However, Reddish could be the guy to push them over the edge.

Indeed, he could end up being a wasted pick, but this is simply a risk Chicago has to take. Championship teams are not built by playing it safe, but by taking risks and being bold. The Chicago Bulls must address the point guard position in free agency and focus their attention on drafting the best player available at seven and praying he changes the franchise- Cam Reddish.