Could there be a good fit between the Chicago Bulls and former Illawarra Hawks point guard LaMelo Ball if they pick him in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery?
Where the Chicago Bulls go with their fourth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery will be very telling about how Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley are planning to take this rebuild heading into its fourth year. The Bulls already made a lot of changes from the top-down to their organization since their portion of the NBA offseason began back in spring.
Outside of replacing John Paxson with Karnisovas as the lead voice in the front office and placing Eversley as general manager to replace Gar Forman, the Bulls also have started to radically reshape the coaching staff. Now former head coach Jim Boylen was replaced by Karnisovas with the former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.
So with all of these changes that were made within the Bulls organization so far, where do they go from here?
One option would be to trade up in the 2020 NBA Draft to ensure that they land a top tier prospect in this class. Two of the top guard options at guard in this draft class are shooting guard Anthony Edwards and point guard LaMelo Ball. The latter of those two could also have the highest star ceiling of any prospect in the entirety of this draft class.
And Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report updated his “best and worst fits” for LaMelo in the 2020 NBA Draft recently. Wasserman slotted the Bulls as one of the teams that are a good fit with LaMelo. Here’s more on what he had to say on the potential fit between the Bulls and Ball.
"Of the teams in range to draft LaMelo Ball without needing to trade up, the Chicago Bulls have the roster best suited to mask his weaknesses while creating a role that values his strengths.In Australia, Ball struggled to contain his man in ball-screen situations and consistently defend with effort. Chicago ranked No. 9 defensively last year, and new head coach Billy Donovan has had the Oklahoma City Thunder ranked within the top 10 each of the past three seasons.The Golden State Warriors could put a tough defense behind Ball, as well, but his fit there is a little tougher to picture offensively. In Chicago, Donovan could use Ball as the team’s primary creator. The Bulls need a passer and could let the 6’7″ playmaker work to his strengths as a setup man."
The need to improve the backcourt rotation and give a go-to guy to build around for the rebuild heading into its fourth year were two key topics in this part of the list for Wasserman. He likes the fit of Ball as a playmaker in Donovan’s system, along with how he could improve their overall offensive efficiency.
The fit between Ball and the Bulls is certainly intriguing. The young and possible rising star point guard is going to be a highly sought after prospect in this draft class. And since he does bring that star potential to the table, the Bulls should have some level of interest in picking him.
Boylen led the Bulls to finish up with a record of 22-43 during the shortened 2019-20 regular season, good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. That, along with a nice stroke of luck, gave the Bulls new look front office and coaching staff the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft.