Is there any way that the best move for the Chicago Bulls, with the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, is picking a wing?
Luck was on the side of the Chicago Bulls on Aug, 20, the night of the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery. The Bulls wound up getting the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft. Draft lottery night saw them jump up three spots in the odds order to land the fourth overall pick. Both the Bulls and Charlotte Hornets caught the luck of the draw that night, jumping way up to the top four picks. The Hornets got even luckier than the Bulls, as they moved up five slots to get the third overall pick.
Now that the Bulls have their spot in the first round of the 2020 draft, the new front office has to figure out what their board will look like. A lot will depend on how the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, and Hornets (top three picks in order) fall in line with their selections. If someone like shooting guard Anthony Edwards or talented point guard LaMelo Ball slips to the third or fourth spot, the Bulls should think about taking them no matter what. Or maybe they could even trade up to the Hornets spot if the asking price isn’t too high.
What the Bulls need more than anything to start moving this rebuild in the right direction is a star that develops at the forefront of this young core. Heading into the fourth year of the rebuild, the Bulls don’t really have anyone that commands that role yet. Will it be shooting guard Zach LaVine, point guard Coby White, center Wendell Carter Jr., or even power forward Lauri Markkanen?
That question is still a bit far from being answered conclusively, but none of those four are proven stars yet. Three of them aren’t anything close to that level.
This leaves the looming question for the 2020 draft: do the Bulls pick best player available or for positional need?
The Bulls got pretty lucky last year in the fact that they were really able to accomplish both by snagging White seventh overall. But this year the biggest positional need on the roster is definitely on the wing. If they can get someone like Edwards in a small ball rotation or Deni Avdija fourth overall, then picking for positional need makes more sense.
One writer has the opinion that the Bulls should be picking for positional need likely no matter what. According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bulls picking a wing would be the safest path they could take in the 2020 draft.
Cowley mentioned Avdija and former Auburn Tigers small forward Isaac Okoro as two places for the Bulls to look to add depth on the wing through the 2020 draft. Other writers have picked the Bulls to draft Avdija in the four slot, so that is certainly a viability if he’s still left on the board.
The Macabbi Tel Aviv 6-foot-7 wing Avdija possess a special skill set that would add some potency to the Bulls rotation and young core on the wing. He’s a natural playmaker, consistent shooter (at least of late), and has potential to be a plus defender given his length.
Then Okoro possess a lot of the gifted physical tools that could make a real force to be reckoned with on both ends of the floor. Okoro does need to improve his outside shooting, but most other facets of his game should be very appealing to the Bulls.
This draft pick is big for the Bulls to get right. It would be a natural bridge for recently hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley to get off to the right start with the new front office regime.