Draft night 2020 is almost here and the Chicago Bulls might have to find a replacement for at least one of their departing free agent guards.
The way that the Chicago Bulls could treat their run in the 2020 NBA Draft, set to take place on the night of Nov. 18, could largely depend on positional needs that have emerged of late with free agency looming large. Early this week, the Bulls decided not to extend qualifying offers to the likes of defensive stopper point guard Kris Dunn and breakout combo guard Shaquille Harrison.
But the Bulls did extend qualifying offers to other impending free agent guards Adam Mokoka and Denzel Valentine. The former Michigan State Spartans 6-foot-4 27-year-old shooting guard Valentine might be the most surprising impending free agent that received a qualifying offer from the Bulls this week. Mokoka seems, on the surface at least, to bring more value to the table over the long haul for the Bulls than Valentine.
Although we don’t know what direction newly hired executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have planned for this franchise heading into the fourth year of the rebuild. What we do know is that it will take a lot to replace the defensive presence on the perimeter that Dunn and Harrison brought to the table.
Dunn was robbed of NBA All-Defensive Team honors last season, and Harrison was one of the Bulls best perimeter/wing defenders coming off the bench over the course of the last two years. The former of those two standout defender guards Dunn is going to be the most significant loss to the free agent market for the Bulls this offseason, though.
Here’s a look into three potential draft targets that the Bulls could have in mind if they want to replace Dunn’s defensive value.