The 2020 NBA Draft big board for the Chicago Bulls with the fourth overall pick in the first round is starting to get more clarity in the public eye.
As we move closer and closer to the night of the 2020 NBA Draft, it feels like fans are getting more clarity as to what the Chicago Bulls plan for their lottery pick will be. There is still the unknown factor surrounding recently hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley as to whether they will trade up or down in the first round of the draft.
If Karnisovas and Eversley stay put with the Bulls fourth overall pick in the draft lottery, then there’s a number of possibilities they could have for which prospect to go with. A clearer top three in this draft class does seem to be emerging in recent weeks. In all likelihood, the top three picks will consist of former Georgia shooting guard Anthony Edwards, Illawarra Hawks point guard LaMelo Ball, and Memphis center James Wiseman.
But if any one of those three prospects falls out of the top three, it could really play to the Bulls benefit. Whether it be Karnisovas and Eversley trading down from the four slot to pickup more future/draft capital in the process or getting a steal with one of those three prospects, that would be a good situation for the front office.
The Bulls hold the fourth overall pick in the first round of the draft lottery, and the original Memphis Grizzlies 44th overall pick in the second round. This will be the first time in more than three years that the Bulls aren’t picking seventh overall in the draft lottery, which is a pretty refreshing feeling.
Here’s a look at three emerging realistic options if the Bulls stand pat with the fourth overall pick in the 2020 draft lottery.
3) Chicago Bulls emerging draft options at No. 4: Tyrese Haliburton
An often discussed possibility for the Bulls, no matter where they were set to pick in the draft lottery, was the former Iowa State Cyclones sizable 6-foot-5 and 180 pound point guard Tyrese Haliburton. If Karnisovas and Eversley still want to address the point guard position for the future of this Bulls rebuild, drafting Haliburton wouldn’t be the worst way to go.
Haliburton is one of those prospects in this draft class that the Bulls haven’t seen play in a very long time, 10 months+. He missed the last month or so of his sophomore campaign, in what was a shortened 2019-20 college hoops season in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic, due to an upper-body injury.
During the shortened 2019-20 regular season with Iowa State, Haliburton played in 22 games (starting in all of them). He averaged 15.2 points per game, 5.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and 0.7 blocks. And Haliburton shot a very solid 50.4 percent from the field, 41.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 82.2 percent from the free-throw line.
Haliburton is a really good two-way point guard that offers excellent length, shooting ability, one-on-one defense on the perimeter, and excellent basketball IQ. He’s a really good all-around prospect, but seems to have a limited ceiling as to what he could do at the next level. Maybe he’s an option if the Bulls don’t have the option to pick LaMelo, Wiseman, or Edwards at four. Or he could be a solid option if Karnisovas decides to trade down in the lottery.
2) Chicago Bulls emerging draft options at No. 4: Deni Avdija
At this point, it feels like the most realistic option for the Bulls in this draft to take fourth overall will be the Maccabi Tel Aviv 19-year-old 6-foot-7 shooting guard/wing Deni Avdija. At the outset of the 2020-21 regular season, Avdija will nearly be 20 years old. But he’s still one of the youngest and most potent prospects (among the wings) in this draft class.
Avdija is also heading up what is a really deep international pool of prospects for the 2020 draft. He is about the best that the realistic draft options get too in the fourth slot in the lottery. Avdija is a very versatile talent that offers a lot of length and playmaking ability as a primary or secondary ball handler/creator.
It might take some time for Avdija to mature his game once he reaches the NBA, but his skill set should be very potent in the modern NBA. He did have an up and down run with Maccabi Tel Aviv in EuroLeague over the last two seasons, but he was playing against an extremely high level of competition since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
Over the course of the last two seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv, Avdija played in 34 games in EuroLeague. He averaged 4.0 points per game, 2.4 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.2 blocks. And Avdija shot 43.8 percent from the field, 31.6 percent from beyond the arc, and and 60 percent from the free-throw line.
1) Chicago Bulls emerging draft options at No. 4: LaMelo Ball
What a lot of Bulls fans would find to be as a potential grand prize selection for them in this draft lottery is the 6-foot-7 19-year-old former Hawks NBL point guard Ball. If the Bulls really want to address a positional need at the point guard spot and let Coby White play in more of a combo guard role, it’s hard to fault the idea of picking Ball to play next to him.
Now keep in mind that it is a very realistic scenario that if Ball does fall to the Bulls in the four slot, that teams like the New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, and/or the Washington Wizards might be looking to move up. The Bulls could take advantage of a team that still has a good lottery pick but is willing to part ways with a lot of pieces and future draft capital to get LaMelo.
Ball played in a dozen games overseas with Illawarra in the NBL. And he averaged 17.0 points per game, 7.6 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.1 blocks. LaMelo shot 37.5 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from beyond the arc, and 72.3 percent from the free-throw line. He has a lot of kinks to still work out in his game, but LaMelo has possibly the highest ceiling of any prospect in this draft class.
The raw playmaking ability, solid perimeter defense, gifted physical tools, and overall potency in transition could make LaMelo a really special point guard in the NBA. The only questions for the Bulls if they want to draft him are can they either trade up or will he fall far enough in the lottery for them to be able to snag him?