Since trading for All-Star center Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline, the Chicago Bulls have gone just 10-16, and now sit a near-insurmountable three games behind the Washington Wizards for 10th in the East with just three games left to play.
The Bulls have all but finalized another season short of their playoff goal. The most painful reality of this year’s disappointment though is not just the higher expectations that came from having two All-stars for the back half of the season, it’s also the lack of draft compensation.
In past years the Bulls had the NBA Draft to turn to after a disappointing regular season. This year, not so much.
In the Vucevic trade, the Bulls sent their first-round pick to Orlando, leaving them with only their second-round pick in 2021. The pick is protected and will return to the Bulls if it lands in the top four, but the odds of that happening are not too likely, sitting at just 26.3 percent (according to Tankathon).
Chicago Bulls fighting the odds in the draft lottery
If their pick lands out of the top four, for the first time since 2005, the Bulls will not have a first-round selection. But, that doesn’t mean that the Bulls can’t get in on what could be one of the best drafts in recent history.
Just like they traded their pick away, someone else can do the same and send the Bulls one their way. But with such a deep draft class, and teams like the Houston Rockets in need of young talent and holding multiple picks (Houston has three in the first round alone) there aren’t too many options for the Bulls.
These three picks could be on the market though, and the Bulls should jump at the opportunity to grab them in a trade.