The day that a lot of Chicago Bulls fans have waited for arrived on June 22 with the 2021 NBA Draft Lottery. A possibility that the Bulls could retrieve their first-round draft pick back does exist on the night of June 22, but the chances are slim. The Bulls have roughly just a 20 percent chance to get in the top four in the draft lottery.
A lot of Bulls fans are excited to see what the Bulls front office can do if they get this pick back and sit in the top four for the 2021 draft.
If the Bulls don’t get back in the top four in the draft lottery, then their first-round pick will stick with the Orlando Magic. What gave this pick (that is top-four protected) to the Magic was that big trade deadline day deal that landed star center Nikola Vucevic in Chicago.
The Bulls also shipped off third-year center Wendell Carter Jr., those two first-round draft picks, and veteran small forward Otto Porter Jr. And they got a return of Vooch and veteran forward Al-Farouq Aminu.
Chicago Bulls hoping for good luck again in the NBA Draft Lottery
Representing the Bulls at the draft lottery on this day will be general manager Marc Eversley. And executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas will be anxiously awaiting the results of the draft lottery on June 22.
Last year, the Bulls caught a nice stroke of luck by sliding up three spots in the lottery odds to get the fourth overall pick. With that fourth pick in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery, the Bulls selected the former Florida State Seminoles forward Patrick Williams.
It is also worth noting that the Bulls hold the 38th overall pick in the second round of the 2021 draft.
Key points for the draft lottery tonight:
— Pippen Ain't Easy (@BullsBeatBlog) June 22, 2021
-Bulls have 20.3% odds of getting in the top 4, 4.5% chance of getting the top pick
-In 10 sims on Tankathon this morning, the Bulls got in the top four 4 times, and got an average pick of 6.3 pic.twitter.com/IauxOTec4b
On the morning of June 22, Pippen Ain’t Easy ran 10 more simulations for the 2021 draft lottery through Tankathon. A few of the key takeaways included that the Bulls got back in the top four 40 percent of the time and picked in an average spot of 6.3. None of those 10 simulations go the Bulls the first overall pick, and their highest draft slot was two.
If the Bulls do manage to get back in to the top four in this draft lottery, it would completely change the outlook of the offseason. A solid draft class this year could be fruitful for this building Bulls roster heading into next season if they get the lottery pick back from the Magic.
The Bulls finished up the 2020-21 regular season with a record of 31-41 under the direction of first-year head coach Billy Donovan. Karnisovas and Eversley will need a nice stroke of luck to get another young talent in the mix like P-Will in the 2021 draft lottery on this night.