Chicago Bulls: Being careful about trading up in 2019 NBA Draft
Chicago Bulls fans are so pigeon holed into taking a point guard rather than the best player or the right player.
Sure, Coby White is a fine player and is certainly worthy of a top-ten selection. However, White’s ceiling is not what the Bulls should be looking for at this stage in the rebuild. Drawing many comparisons to Denver’s Jamal Murray, White is not the player who is going to put a team on his back and carry them to the promised land. A great NBA starter? Sure. But I just don’t see White being an All-Star in this league.
The Bulls have some nice pieces in Lauri Markkanen, Otto Porter Jr., Zach LaVine, and Wendell Carter Jr., but none have emerged yet as the guy to get them over the hump. Adding Coby White to the mix would give the Bulls another great building block, but searching for role players is something that teams competing now should be doing- not a rebuilding squad.
In he scenario that Garland is off the board, Duke’s forgotten star Cam Reddish will still be on the board. In high school, Reddish was a top-five player in the class of 2018 and drew comparisons to Paul George. Before being overshadowed at Duke by Williamson and Barrett, Reddish was expected to be a no-doubt top-five selection this June.
Obviously, he failed to meet expectations in his lone college season, but potential like his does not disappear in one season. Who’s to say Reddish just wasn’t a good fit at Duke? Or maybe he just had a poor season, or possibly the expectations of being a major part of one of the greatest recruiting classes of all time.
In Chicago, perhaps Reddish could have a bounce back season. With less pressure to contribute immediately, more touches off the bench to start off his carer, and a new system around him, Cam just may rediscover that inner star he was destined to be.
The risk of drafting him at seven and him busting are significant. But what does the team have to lose? Championships are built on risk taking, not by playing it safe all the time. If Garland is off the board at seven, Reddish should be the pick based on pure upside. In this scenario, the team should opt to either address the point guard position in free agency or in next year’s draft.
Sure, it can be argued that trading up is “taking a risk”. However, that is a far greater risk than using one mid-lottery pick to try to hit a home run. Trading a star is obviously risky, and moving up and forfeiting a future pick can waste two picks rather than just one. Reddish is the way to go if Garland is off the board, and many Bulls fans agree.