1) Prospects Chicago Bulls should not trade down for: Nico Mannion
Maybe the area that the Bulls have the least bit of a need is with a combo guard that is a volume scorer, like the former Arizona five-star recruit and freshman combo guard Nico Mannion. The 6-foot-3 and 190 pound Italy native Mannion definitely had his fair share of ups and downs during his freshman campaign in Tucson.
After his freshman campaign came to a premature end, Mannion rounded things out with All-PAC-12 Freshman Team honors, and 2019-20 All-PAC-12 Second-Team selection. To get those honors, Mannion stood out in most of the 32 games he played in (starting in all of them). He averaged 14.0 points per game, 2.5 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.2 steals.
Mannion shot a rather poor 39.2 percent from the field, 32.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 79.7 percent from the free-throw line. That amounted to a 5.4 box plus/minus rating, .152 win shares per 40 minutes, 17.2 player efficiency rating, and a 52.0 true shooting percentage. The advanced metrics paint a mixed picture for the results from Mannion’s freshman season.
Coming out of high school as one of the most highly touted recruits for the 2019 cycle, Mannion was anticipated to be one of the more lethal freshmen shooters during the 2019-20 season. Mannion didn’t shoot well consistently, had some trouble at times with on and off-ball defense, and the floor and ceiling are just too volatile to want to use a mid-first round pick for him.