Three potential draft busts exist for the Chicago Bulls at any point of the lottery that Arturas Karnisovas mostly should avoid.
One of the initial opportunities that the Chicago Bulls recently hired executive vice president of basketball operations (formerly Denver Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas) and general manager Marc Eversley (former Philadelphia 76ers senior VP of player personnel) to make an impact on this rebuild will be in the 2020 NBA Draft. Karnisovas and Eversley got some good fortune in the draft lottery, by jumping up three spots in the odds to land the fourth overall pick.
The Bulls had their first significant move of the offseason be replacing former lead front office voice John Paxson with Karnisovas and former general manager Gar Forman with Eversley thereafter. And the Bulls have also parted ways with now former head coach Jim Boylen to hopefully help rejuvenate this rebuilding heading into its fourth year.
Something needs to give for the Bulls since they actually took a small step back in the season that was compared to the 2018-19 campaign. The Bulls finished up with a record of 22-43, which led to Boylen rounding out his two season tenure with the team with a record of 39-84.
A boost for the Bulls could put them at least in playoff contention in a weaker Eastern Conference, starting as soon as next season. But Karnisovas and Eversley will have to do some good work starting in this draft to reach that point. To do that, they’ll have to do their best homework to avoid any potential busts either with the fourth pick, or if they trade down in the lottery.
Here’s a look at three potential draft lottery busts that the Bulls should avoid this year.
3) Potential busts for the Chicago Bulls to avoid: Aleksej Pokusevski
One of the rather unknown prospects in this draft class, that could easily fall among the lottery picks, is the towering seven-footer and forward Aleksej Pokusevski. This 18-year-old 7-foot and 200 pound big man could play anywhere between the two and the four if he starts to fill out his frame in the near future.
Pokusevski played a bit with the EuroLeague team in Greece Olympiacos. In 12 games played with Olympiacos during the 2019-20 season, Pokusevski averaged 9.9 points per game, 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.2 steals. He shot 40.0 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 78.3 percent from the free-throw line.
While the facilitating ability and overall court vision of Pokusevski are some of his major drawing points for NBA scouts, his game still has a long way to go. The skill set in that regard might not translate the quickest from the second highest division of basketball in Greece to the NBA. Whatever team lands him in this draft needs to be patient with his development.
A problem area for the lack in strength in Pokusevski’s frame and his overall lack of physicality is on the defensive end of the floor. He’s a smart defender by all indications from his time playing overseas in Europe, but his role could be limited early in his NBA career.
Pokusevski could become a pure playmaker in the NBA, given his facilitating and shot creating abilities. His offensive arsenal could be vast, and his defensive ceiling is high if he can fill out his frame. But we’re pretty much working off of potential only for Pokusevski in this draft class.
2) Potential busts for the Chicago Bulls to avoid: Obi Toppin
The Dayton Flyers saw about the best season possible coming from the sizable 6-foot-9 and 220 pound forward Obi Toppin during the 2019-20 campaign. Toppin won most major awards last season in college hoops. His laundry list of accomplishments from the 2019-20 season included the Naismith Award, AP Player of the Year, Wooden Award, and First-Team All-American honors.
To get all of those accolades, Toppin averaged 20.0 points per game, 7.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks. He did that in 31 games played with Dayton (all of which he started in). Toppin also shot an impressive 63.3 percent from the field, 39.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 70.2 percent from the free-throw line.
Toppin was a good three-point shooter and two-way forward for the Flyers last season. He took them to get an Atlantic-10 regular season title, and potentially what would’ve been a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But what could limit Toppin at the next level is his lack of mobility or versatility in his offensive arsenal. While he could be a tremendous lob threat and still space the floor playing at the four, he could have trouble facilitating or creating his own looks. His footwork and limited mobility could also cause problems for him and his team on the defensive end of the floor in certain situations.
Now let me be clear on this part of the list, I don’t think that Toppin would be a draft bust in general. Given the lack of need for a player like him in the rotation, compared to other positional needs, Toppin just wouldn’t be a good fit with the Bulls.
1) Potential busts for the Chicago Bulls to avoid: James Wiseman
Once again, I don’t believe that the former Memphis Tigers standout freshman center and former top ranked five-star recruit James Wiseman will be a draft bust anywhere he goes. But the Bulls don’t have much of a situation within their projected 15-man roster as it stands now to be proficient for the development of Wiseman in the near future.
The Bulls already have two bigs that could be good in the modern game, if both power forward Lauri Markkanen and center Wendell Carter Jr. can stay healthy and improve next season. Wiseman might not be much more in the immediate future for the Bulls than an insurance policy of Lauri or Wendell weren’t too workout for this rebuild.
Wiseman is a case of a weird situation with his college hoops team, and a very limited amount of film with him in game action in the last 18 months. He only played in three games with the Memphis basketball program, and doesn’t have much other valuable film for him since his run with head coach Penny Hardaway ended.
There is a world where Wiseman is a valuable contributor right out of the gates with a team that has a good supporting cast and has the ability to be a true playoff contender soon. But that’s just not the world that the Bulls are living in right now. Really the only situation where the Bulls should try and snag Wiseman in this draft lottery is if they trade down around pick eight or 10 and he’s still left on the board.