After years of rostering subpar wing groups, Vice President of Basketball Artūras Karnišovas has made it a priority to replenish Chicago’s thin supply of two-way wings—now one of the NBA’s most coveted archetypes.
In back-to-back seasons, Karnišovas has drafted Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue and also acquired Isaac Okoro via trade. As a result, this year’s wing rotation looks dramatically different from even the start of last season, when Patrick Williams was the only forward logging significant minutes.
Yet despite the recharged wing rotation, Karnišovas appears intent on continuing to stockpile versatile forwards, at least according to Bleacher Report’s latest NBA Mock Draft, which has the Bulls selecting Duke’s Dame Sarr with the 17th pick.
The Bulls’ wing obsession continues
Sarr, an Italian national who spent last season with FC Barcelona, came stateside to join the Duke Blue Devils for the 2025–26 campaign. Through eight games, the 6-foot-8 wing is averaging 7.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 1.6 steals in 20.9 minutes per game.
While his counting stats aren’t overly impressive, Sarr’s stock is driven by his tools and long-term potential. The 19-year-old is playing on a loaded Blue Devils squad featuring multiple potential first-round picks, including Cameron Boozer. As a result, he isn’t a focal piece, ranking sixth in minutes, fifth in points, and fifth in usage rate.
However, while tools and long-term upside sound great in theory, they also bring Bulls fans back to Karnišovas’ recent drafts built around those same traits. Since 2020, Chicago’s VP of Basketball Operations has selected Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry, and Noa Essengue—all prospects with modest production but praised for their physical tools.
Matas Buzelis could also be lumped into that group, but the 6-foot-10 forward at least produced, averaging 14.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game for the G League Ignite. By contrast, Williams and Terry averaged fewer than 10 points per game in college, while Essengue managed just 10.7 points per game in Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga.
Buzelis looks like a budding star, though his game still has areas to refine. Williams, by contrast, has fallen flat, projecting as little more than a rotational wing, while Terry has yet to translate his athleticism into meaningful impact. Essengue has looked promising in the G League, but at just 18 years old, he is still far from NBA-ready.
Considering Sarr’s modest statistics and primarily off-ball role, he could easily be grouped with Williams, Terry, and Essengue among Karnišovas’ past draftees. As Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman notes, "The lack of ball-handling and dropped passes paint him as raw. Scouts will want to have confidence in his shooting, given his lack of creation or passing."
It’s not that Sarr couldn’t become a valuable NBA contributor—no one knows. But using yet another pick on a high-upside wing feels redundant for the Bulls. They might be better off swinging at a raw big man, who could contribute immediately as a lob threat or an intimidating defensive presence, which is exactly what Chicago needs.