Chicago Bulls: Projecting starting 5 if they trade for Chris Paul

Chicago Bulls starting small forward: Isaac Okoro

In this scenario, we have Karnisovas and Eversley sending off the fourth overall draft pick in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, where they receive multiple draft picks in return (namely the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft). If the Bulls dropped down to six, they likely would still be able to comfortably land the former Auburn Tigers standout two-way freshman small forward Isaac Okoro.

Especially if the Bulls were to ship off OPJ in a trade with the Thunder to land Paul and Schroder, they would need to find wing depth elsewhere. It’s hard to imagine that the front office and coaching staff would plan to trust to-be third-year former Boise State Broncos small forward Chandler Hutchison enough to start him at the three next season.

Landing Okoro with the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2020 draft would give the Bulls another key piece of this building young core that they could keep around over the long haul. Okoro has a rather high floor and could help to improve their defensive efforts on the perimeter and on the wing.

Okoro was solid for Auburn during his true freshman campaign in college. He averaged 12.9 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks, in 28 games played during the 2019-20 college hoops season. The main weakness to Okoro’s game is his shot creation from beyond 10-feet from the rim and shooting consistency from downtown. The rest of his skill set is pretty solid and polished.