Chicago Bulls: Looking back at each fourth overall pick in franchise history
In the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery, the Chicago Bulls landed the fourth overall pick in the first round for the fifth time in franchise history.
The Chicago Bulls looked like they were in a pretty desperate spot heading into the offseason following the third year of the rebuild. They had a worn out front office between John Paxson and Gar Forman, and one of the least popular NBA head coaches in recent memory in Jim Boylen. The roster was also starting to generate some serious question marks.
But ownership actually made the right moves to get this rebuild going in the right direction heading into its fourth year. Back in spring, the Bulls hired former Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas to replace Paxson as the lead voice in the front office and former Philadelphia 76ers senior VP of player personnel Marc Eversley to replace Forman as the next general manager.
The Bulls are also in the midst of a coaching search at the moment since they parted ways with Boylen back on Aug. 14. Since the Bulls made a lot of good moves likely that will drastically improve this team heading into the 2020-21 season, and make it more marketable in the public eye, this offseason could become a lot more promising.
What added even more optimism to the 2020 offseason was the result from the NBA Draft Lottery. The Bulls jumped up three spots to land the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft. They originally came into the night with the seventh best odds to land the first pick and win the lottery.
How have the other fourth overall picks in franchise history gone for the Bulls? Here’s a look back at the four previous fourth overall picks in the NBA Draft and how they turned out.
4. Bulls fourth overall draft pick: Tom Boerwinkle, Center
The first ever fourth overall pick in the NBA Draft that the Bulls ever had was the former Tennessee Volunteer and 7-foot and 265 pound center Tom Boerwinkle. The Bulls picked Boerwinkle with the fourth overall pick out of the Tennessee basketball program in the 1968 NBA Draft.
And the Bulls would wind up getting a player that would spend his entire career in the Windy City with Boerwinkle. He played in 635 career regular season games with the Bulls. He was truly one of the most underrapreciated players of this time period. Boerwinkled played with standout Bulls that are well known like Bob Love, Jerry Sloan, and Chet Walker.
In his career playing with the Bulls, Boerwinkle averaged 7.2 points per game, 9.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks. But blocks and steals were only counted for a few seasons of Boerwinkle’s career. This was a good pick for the Bulls that helped them for more than a decade.
3. Bulls fourth overall draft pick: Kelvin Ransey, Point Guard
This was the sole example of the Bulls trading their fourth overall pick in the draft in franchise history. The Bulls did originally pick the former Ohio State Buckeyes 6-foot-1 and 170 pound point guard Kelvin Ransey with the fourth overall selection in the 1980 NBA Draft. Soon thereafter, the Bulls trade Ransey to the Portland Trail Blazers for point guard Ronnie Lester and a 1981 first round draft pick.
But even the 1981 first round pick the Bulls had wound up getting traded. Essentially this picked turned into a few years or Lester in the Bulls backcourt rotation and former big man Orlando Woolridge. It was probably better that the Bulls got Lester and Woolridge out of this ordeal, as Ransey only played around half a decade in the NBA.