The Louisville Cardinals have to sit in the midst of the more disappointed teams in college basketball that the season ended early due to the COVID-19 precautions. And one of the best players on the Louisville basketball roster for the season that was included junior small forward Jordan Nwora.
The age factor is always going to be a concern when a team like the Chicago Bulls drafts Nwora. The Bulls just took a flier out on the former Boise State Broncos small forward Chandler Hutchison later in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft. That hasn’t worked out very well for them to date, but his depth presence was welcome when he was actually healthy.
Drafting Nwora could present similar challenges for the Bulls as drafting Hutchison back in 2018 did. But the main positive point that the Bulls could face by drafting Nwora is the fact that he doesn’t have the same injury history as Hutch does with that bad shoulder. Nwora also brings a more well-rounded game to the table than Hutch and he’s younger coming out of college.
In 31 games played last season (30 of which he started), Nwora averaged 18.0 points per game, 7.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.7 steals, while shooting 44.0 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from beyond the arc. This could be the volume scoring presence and potential underrated two-way wing that the Bulls could really use off the bench moving forward.
Nwora is a good place for the Bulls to focus their second round draft scouting on from here on out.