Chicago Bulls: Hollinger has Deni Avdija at 4, high marks for Haliburton

The most recent 2020 NBA Mock Draft from John Hollinger (founder of PER) of The Athletic had the Chicago Bulls getting Deni Avdija fourth overall.

All of the discussion surrounding the 2020 NBA Draft is really heating up, considering it is now less than 10 days away. In fact, we are just eight days away from the long awaited draft night. For teams in the “Delete Eight” that haven’t played a meaningful NBA game since mid-March like the Chicago Bulls, the draft is the first event of substance that can materially effect the roster in a long time.

The Bulls did get to take back to the floor at the Advocate Center a little less than two months ago for mini camp while the NBA was still rounding out the playoffs for last season in the bubble at Disney World. But not even all of the Bulls active roster got to participate in mini camp.

Now that the 2020 draft is just around the corner, come the night of Nov. 18, there’s a lot to be excited about for Bulls fans. The Bulls do hold the fourth overall pick in the draft lottery, and the original Memphis Grizzlies 44th overall pick in the second round.

And the projections for who the Bulls will pick in the four slot seem to be narrowing down to just a few names. In his most recent mock draft, John Hollinger of The Athletic (paid content) had the Bulls picking the Maccabi Tel Aviv shooting guard/wing Deni Avdija fourth overall. Avdija is a commonly projected pick for the Bulls in mocks at this point in time.

Another interesting part of this mock draft was Hollinger hinting at a link between the Bulls and former Iowa State Cyclones sophomore point guard Tyrese Haliburton. He mentioned that while he doesn’t know if “Chicago is the team that takes Haliburton” but that what he does “know is that he’s going high”.

If the Bulls do want to pick a point guard in this draft lottery, they might be able to trade down a few spots to land Haliburton. The possibility that point guard LaMelo Ball is off the board by the fourth pick and they still want the best player left at the position on the board could mean that Haliburton is the Bulls best option.

In general, Avdija might be the most commonly projected pick for the Bulls in the four slot in this draft lottery. Avdija is also considered maybe the fourth best prospect in this draft class outside of center James Wiseman, shooting guard Anthony Edwards, and Ball.

The Bulls finished up the 2019-20 season with a record of 22-43 under the direction of former head coach Jim Boylen, good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. In last year’s draft, they picked former North Carolina Tar Heels point guard Coby White seventh overall and former Arkansas Razorbacks center Daniel Gafford 38th overall.