Draft night trades
It is important to consider what went down on draft night to determine how this class in 2000 would fall in line. The Bulls did draft six players originally in the 2000 NBA Draft, but there was one who was part of a key trade. Austin, TX, native and Texas Longhorns product Chris Mihm was the Bulls seventh overall pick of the 2000 NBA Draft.
But the Bulls didn’t keep Mihm around for very long, literally not even through the night. The Bulls would trade Mihm to the Cleveland Cavaliers for cash considerations (we shouldn’t be surprised) and point guard Jamal Crawford. The cash considerations are obviously a running joke in the Bulls camp, but landing Crawford was a game-changer.
All in all, Crawford was by far the best addition the Bulls got in the 2000 NBA Draft. Until Crawford went unsigned in free agency within the last eight months, he was a key contributor on a number of teams over the course of the last 20 years. Crawford is a three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner and has played on eight different teams.
Four of the seasons Crawford spent out of the gates in the NBA were with the Bulls. He averaged 11.2 points per game, 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.0 steals, while shooting 39.7 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from beyond the arc. Crawford would be nothing short of a brilliant spark plug and microwave scorer off the bench for most of the teams he would play for in his career.