Chicago Bulls players with a bright future to be excited about: Marko Simonovic
A fast-rising player in the ranks of the Bulls fan discussions early this offseason is Karnisovas’ second-round draft pick in the 2020 class, big man Marko Simonovic. A rather unheard draft pick at the time, Bulls fans have started in bits and pieces to buy into the potential that Simonovic brings to the table over the long haul.
When Karnisovas and the Bulls selected Simonovic 44th overall in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft, the immediate reaction was that of confusion. But Bulls fans quickly started to realize that Karnisovas had crafted this storyline before during his time as the Denver Nuggets general manager when he picked another prospect coming out of Europe in the second round with big man Nikola Jokic (also the reigning MVP).
The 6-foot-11 and 215-pound 21-year-old big man Simonovic had a big season playing in Europe with KK Mega Bemax. He did have an up and down 2020-21 campaign but finished with mostly positive numbers. He was especially solid for KK Mega Bemax in the Serbian RK Cup, where he averaged a double-double and had a true shooting percentage north of 62.
Simonovic is a developing facilitator from the paint, already shows the ability of a gifted rebounder, and is an already capable shooter. Developing other parts of his game like rim protected and running well in transition for a big man should come along with time, but it might not be too long before Simonovic comes over to try and make an impact with the Bulls.