The Chicago Bulls built a dynasty largely through the NBA Draft, selecting players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant who led them to six titles.
But the Bulls' hits outside of the first round have been few and far between, part of the reason they’ve failed to build sustained success since the Jordan era.
Finding talent in the second round or later is one of the keys to team building, as it allows you to get impact value for money and use resources elsewhere, which is why we see consistently good teams regularly finding talent outside of the lottery or first round.
The Bulls have some recent additions to their list to go along with two franchise greats.
Daniel Gafford: 2019, 38th pick
If Daniel Gafford is on your list of all-time anything, you know something went wrong, but here we are.
Gafford was chosen with the 38th pick in 2019, but was then traded in what turned out to be a horrible move for the Bulls. The 3-team deal saw Chicago taking back the worst player in Troy Brown Jr. while Gafford and Chandler Hutchinson went to the Wizards and Moe Wagner went to Boston.
Gafford went on to become a very good shot blocker who has elite efficiency around the rim, something the Bulls could certainly use right now.
He started for a Finals team in Dallas last season and his addition was credited with helping them get there.
Gafford mostly just dunks and blocks shots, but the Bulls gave up on him too soon and lost a starting-caliber big man for nothing.
Ayo Dosunmu: 2021, 38th pick
Again, the fact that you can reasonably put Ayo Dosunmu on this list after only three seasons shows just how thin the group is.
Dosunmu has rounded into a very good two-way player who is poised to have a breakout season in a bigger role now that the Bulls have traded Alex Caruso and DeMar DeRozan.
Dosunmu put up career highs last season with over 12 points per game on 50/40/81 shooting splits, establishing himself as one of the best two-way bench guards in the NBA.
This is more of a projection than based on what Dosunmu has done so far, but he looks like at least a very good role player who still has more upside to tap into.
The next two players are franchise greats whose resumes speak for themselves.
Toni Kukoc: 1990, 29th pick
Kukoc was drafted by the Bulls in 1990 but wouldn’t make his debut until three years later in between Bulls’ 3-peats.
He ended up playing parts of seven seasons with the Bulls, won three titles as a key contributor off the bench and took home the 6th Man of the Year award once and also finished second in the voting the following season.
Kukoc had his critics during his career, mostly because the European game wasn’t as good as it is now and many considered the players “soft,” a notion that now seems hilarious considering the last six MVPs have gone to players born outside of the US.
Kukoc was a bit of a pioneer in that regard, as well as the model for the big skilled wing that every team wants now. You could argue he was even better suited for the modern game given his size and ability to stretch the floor.
But he’s not the greatest second round pick of all time.
Artis Gilmore: 1971, 117th pick
This one is cheating, as Gilmore was technically drafted in the 7th round of the 1971 draft, not the 2nd, back when the NBA Draft had as many as 16 rounds.
He was drafted by both the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA and the Bulls of the NBA in 1971 but wouldn’t play for the Bulls until the 1976-77 season after winning the MVP of the ABA as a rookie and making the All-Star team all five seasons.
He was a 4-time All Star for the Bulls, as the A-Train averaged 19.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while adding at least two blocks per game in every full season he played in Chicago.
Gilmore was a dominant force on both ends of the floor, and after playing parts of 17 seasons, retired as one of basketball’s all-time great centers.