The Chicago Bulls have clearly taken themselves out of the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. Head Coach Billy Donovan's squad is all set to finish 10th in the Eastern Conference, but Josh Giddey, Coby White and company enter March 13's game against the Brooklyn Nets on a three-game winning streak and are arguably playing their best basketball of the season, or at least their best since Zach LaVine was moved on Feb. 2.
Is that an ideal place for the franchise to be right now? Probably not. But if nothing else, Chicago's young core will get a taste of what meaningful games feel like. Still, the front office's eyes should be on the future, and that means this summer's draft.
In a recent mock from Bleacher Report, however, the Bulls grab a player who doesn't fill a need and a 23-year-old big man who's seemingly maxed out potential-wise. It's not the most inspiring pair of prospects the organization could bring in.
Bulls take MSU guard Richardson, Creighton center Kalkbrenner in mock
Jonathan Wasserman has never been a draft expert who plans out his mocks based on need (realistically, most NBA teams shouldn't either), but in his March 11 exercise, he has the Bulls adding to their already crowded backcourt by selecting Jase Richardson from Michigan State.
As Wasserman notes, Richardson is peaking when it matters most, scoring 22 points against Iowa and 18 against Michigan in the final two games of the regular season for a team that has a chance to make a deep run in March.
The son of long-time NBA guard Jason Richardson, Jase is a 6-foot-3 guard who's scored 11.6 points per game this year on 52/39/85 shooting splits. But despite playing more than 24 minutes a night, he is only averaging 1.9 assists. He's a scorer more than a creator, but Spartans Head Coach Tom Izzo isn't known for leaning on his freshmen, so there may be more to Richardson's game than he's been able to show.
But White and Ayo Dosunmu are unrestricted free agents after next season, so depending on what the Bulls do with that duo, Richardson could have a significant role as an NBA sophomore.
In the second round, Wasserman has Chicago taking Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner, a 7-foot-1 big who's been consistently productive for one of the Nation's most consistent teams. Kalkbrenner has played in 164 collegiate contests and has started 133 with career averages of 14.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while shooting 66.1 percent from the field.
The fifth-year senior is having his most productive season with the Bluejays this year, averaging 19.4 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. He's also showing a developing outside shot, knocking down 34.0 percent of his 1.7 three-point attempts per game.
Kalkbrenner won't win on athleticism or strength, but he's played dozens of high-leverage games and has enough experience that he should immediately fill a role on an NBA bench.
Together, Richardson and Kalkbrenner don't present a wildly inspiring pair of picks, but depending on how the next few seasons play out in Chicago, they could become solid value.