Chicago Bulls: Why picking Sekou Doumbouya at 7 isn’t reaching

Fit with the Chicago Bulls

What the Chicago Bulls really need this summer is to upgrade the rotation entirely without costing themselves too much in the long-term. A Sekou Doumbouya that comes anywhere close to fulfilling his massive potential gives the Bulls a rotation that is significantly upgraded compared to the other draft options on the wing involving prospects with much higher floors, but lower ceilings.

Doumbouya is a very high-reward, and extremely high-reward type draft pick, but he could definitely be worth it in the long-term. He does have star-level potential which is hard to find in this NBA Draft class. But the main concern that would come along with the Bulls picking him is the defensive flaws under head coach Jim Boylen.

Boylen boasted one of the NBA’s worst defenses last season, if not the bottom overall. Doumbouya doesn’t have many forwards to learn from in terms of strong defensive prowess. His off-the-ball defense has a lot of progression to make, but Otto Porter Jr. is about all that he could learn under right now.

Even among the international prospects, it will be difficult to find a player of his caliber and high ceiling in the lottery. Georgia center Goga Bitadze has a high ceiling too, but shouldn’t fall as high in the lottery or the mid-teens in this draft than Doumbouya.