With the night of the 2021 NBA Draft now less than 10 days away, the Chicago Bulls are getting very close to adding another building block to this reshaped core. Granted, since all the Bulls have to utilize in this draft is a second-round pick, this might be a rather quiet night for the front office on July 29.
Last fall, the Bulls had a much busier draft night with a key lottery pick. Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley took a flier out on the former Florida State Seminoles freshman forward Patrick Williams with the fourth overall pick in the lottery.
And then Karnisovas went with the international prospect draft-and-stash approach in the second round by picking the KK Mega Bemax big man Marko Simonovic 44th overall. But the Bulls could see Simonovic join the team as soon as next season.
International prospects likely to be an option again for the Chicago Bulls in the 2021 draft
Taking a flier out on an international prospect is something that Karnisovas is known for during his time in NBA front offices. When he was the Denver Nuggets general manager, Karnisovas regularly took the path of drafting international prospects in the second round. Nikola Jokic is a famous example of that.
So if the Bulls are to take the international route to find their pick in the 2021 draft, what options will they realistically be looking into? This is a rather deep projected second-round pool of international prospects to work with.
Here’s a look into three rising international prospects for Karnisovas and the Bulls to target in the second round.