The NBA Draft season is firmly underway. After a raucous NBA Draft Lottery that saw the Dallas Mavericks come away with the first-overall pick, intrigue and excitement surrounding one of the offseason's most coveted events are at an all-time high.
Although the Chicago Bulls' draft position remained unchanged pre- to post-draft lottery, there's still heightened anticipation regarding whom the franchise will select one year after adding high-impact rookie Matas Buzelis with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
The 2025 crop of prospects is much deeper than a season ago. Value will be found all throughout this year's iteration. While last year's mid-first-round grouping of prospects was more of a gamble, this year's prospects with mid-first-round grades offer high ceilings, high floors, and immediate plug-and-play potential.
Chicago will have its fair share of intriguing prospects to choose from
Chicago has already met with several prospects who personify each archetype. The Bulls met with Texas' Tre Johnson, a score-first freshman who could easily average 20-plus at the next level. Chicago also met with South Carolina's Collin Murray-Boyles, a combo forward with defensive versatility in the mold of Draymond Green.
However, one player the Bulls did not meet with, who's been routinely mocked to Chicago, is Michigan State's Jase Richardson. The 6-foot-2 guard offers a high ceiling, a high floor, and plug-and-play potential.
At 19 years old, Richardson is one of the younger prospects, thus, his ceiling is unscathed. The NBA legacy appeared in 36 games last season. However, he only started in 15. Richardson's confidence and, consequently, his performance, improved as the season wore on. The freshman averaged 16.1 points per game as a starter compared to 9.3 as a reserve.
Although high-floors aren't typically associated with freshman prospects, Richardson's feel for the game is synonymous with a safe prospect. He's efficient, turnover-averse, and wise beyond his years. Richardson has excelled against top-notch competition despite being undersized and lacking his father's phenomenal athleticism.
Lastly, as a knockdown shooter, Richardson is immediately NBA rotation-ready. He's diligent off-ball and equally as skillful as a cutter as he is as a spot-up shooter. And while he's undersized, he understands defensive positioning and leverage, alleviating concerns of potentially problematic defense at the professional level.
Yahoo's Kevin O'Connor has the Bulls adding yet another guard
Sure, he's a well-rounded prospect, but he doesn't fit the Bulls' needs. Nonetheless, in Yahoo's Kevin O'Connor's first post-lottery mock draft, he has Chicago selecting Richardson with the 12th overall pick. O'Connor highlighted Richardson's offensive acumen before writing, "Pairing Richardson with Josh Giddey could make for a lethal two-man combination since Richardson is so potent moving without the ball."
A Giddey-Richardson backcourt pairing does make logical sense. Giddey's 6-foot-8 height at point guard makes up for Richardson's smaller stature at the two-guard. But what about Coby White? O'Connor failed to mention White at all in his blurb about Richardson. The 6-foot-5 guard is coming off a career-best campaign in which he averaged 20.4 points on 60.1 percent true shooting.
Richardson is essentially a White 2.0. The two guards' play styles are much different, but their archetypes are similar. Both are point guard-sized players who operate with a scorer's mentality. Although White is a more natural floor general than Richardson, he's better suited as a scoring guard, as evidenced by his career-year next to Giddey.
Richardson makes for a picture-perfect White replacement, yet that's not at all mentioned in O'Connor's mock draft. The NBA pundit instead focuses on Richardson's immediate fit with the Bulls as a whole, stating, "…the Bulls have a ton of length and versatility that could mitigate that concern on defense, and enough shot creation on offense to let Richardson thrive off ball while picking his spots as a creator."
"Enough shot creation on offense" likely refers to White, who's Chicago's sole shot creator. White is the only Bull who relied on a bevy of unassisted buckets. However, if White and Giddey are starters in the backcourt, where does that leave Richardson?
A bench role is certainly the best role for Richardson in year one, but who's to say he'll come into a rotational role right away? The Bulls are flush with guards, including Ayo Dosunmu, Lonzo Ball, Kevin Huerter, and Dalen Terry. It's not difficult to envision Richardson usurping Terry in Donovan's rotation. Moreover, Dosunmu, Ball, and Huerter are all guaranteed to see at least 15-plus minutes per game, nudging Richardson out of the rotation altogether.
Instead of selecting an undersized guard, it'd be best for the Bulls to choose a defensive-minded forward, such as Murray-Boyles, or a do-it-all big man like Georgetown's Thomas Sorber. For what it's worth, more apt prospects, France's Noa Essengue, Arizona's Carter Bryant, and Georgia's Asa Newell all come off the board after Richardson in O'Connor's mock draft.