Chicago Bulls: No. 1 player selected after Wendell Carter Jr. – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The 11th overall selection is the 2018 NBA Draft was current rising star in the NBA, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA went 11th overall to the Los Angeles Clippers before being a featured piece of the trade that saw Paul George get sent to the Clippers.
The Oklahoma City Thunder hit the nail in the head in targeting Gilgeous-Alexander in that deal as they now have one of the games’ rising stars on their team in addition to their never-ending pool of draft capital.
Gilgeous-Alexander showed his versatility in college for Kentucky, averaging 14.4 points per game along with 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds. His true NBA value may have been overlooked by evaluators due to the loaded Kentucky team he played on, but everyone knows now just how good he is.
A six-foot-six guard that can do everything, SGA was limited in his rookie campaign with the Clippers due to the success of that team. Since getting to Oklahoma City, though, he has displayed why he will likely be an all-star in the league for years to come. Last season, his first with the Thunder, he averaged 19 points per contest.
This season that number is up to 23.7 behind 41.8 percent shooting from three and 50.8 percent shooting from the field. That’s hard to do in general but especially for a guard in the league. He wouldn’t have worked alongside LaVine is a valuable argument, but it doesn’t hold much water.
When you have players of their talent level it tends to work itself out and would have the Bulls in possession of two absolutely deadly guards that can match up with any backcourt from a size perspective.
As we stand today, SGA is the miss that hurts the most from the 2018 NBA Draft, though there are a few that will sting until this Bulls team is competing for Championships again.