The string of No. 7 overall picks for the Chicago Bulls continued in year two in the 2018 NBA Draft. The Bulls nabbed Markkanen with the seventh overall pick in the 2017 draft, and continued the trend with another big man in the 2018 draft. That next big man up for the Bulls was the former Duke center Wendell Carter Jr.
In year two, Carter Jr will be hoping to make a big leap with the Bulls in rounding out his game and off-ball awareness on both ends of the floor. Carter Jr. was solid on defense last season, but was left posting up too much. He needs to be more versatile than just a back to the basket scorer. He has the potential to become more of a stretch-five than he is at the moment.
However, the real question for GarPax as to how the Carter Jr. pick will turnout seemingly goes hand in hand with how the fans feel about drafting another big man during this rebuild. If the Bulls could’ve gone with a point guard or a wing, what would the picture of the franchise look like today?
It is also just too early to tell how Carter Jr. will round out his skill set comparatively with other picks in the top 10 of this draft. But there is one prospect who was fairly highly touted but didn’t get all the respect he would prove he deserved with the Oklahoma City Thunder second-year point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Granted it is very easy to say that Gilgeous-Alexander would’ve been a good pick for the Bulls in 2018.