The number 11 was good for a moon landing; not so much for the Bulls achieving the impossible Sunday in the 2024 NBA Draft Lottery.
That’s because the Bulls based on their 39-43 regular season record had the No. 11 pre-lottery position. Their hope was shooting for the moon, like Apollo 11 did successfully in 1969, in this year’s NBA Draft. But after the smoke cleared, the Bulls remained at No. 11 for the June player dispersal following the Draft Lottery.
Eleven is a prime number, thus divisible by itself and one. Though it wasn’t this time for the Bulls in their 11th hour hope to be in position to acquire an elite talent in this year’s draft.
The number 11 often is associated with veterans because of the 11/11 Veteran’s Day to commemorate the end of World War 1.
The Bulls do well most games with their veteran No. 11, DeMar DeRozan. But with DeRozan expected to return with a contract extension and Nikola Vučević, the Bulls could still use more of those kids.
So with the No. 11 selection in this year’s NBA Draft, the Bulls select...
...Ja'Kobe Walter of Baylor, a 6-5 shooting guard for the all-time Coby/Ja’ Kobe backcourt.
Or another potentially good shooter. Or a wing like Tyler Smith or Ron Holland from the G-League, or a point guard like USC’s Isaiah Collier, or a big man like Kel’el Ware of Indiana, Kyle Filipowski of Duke or the G-League’s Tyler Smith? Bronny, anyone?
There’s going to be a lot of speculation to come the next six weeks.
The Atlanta Hawks, just ahead of the Bulls in the No. 10 spot, drew the lucky combination and fast broke all the way to No. 1 for the 2024 NBA Draft.
It was bad news again for the teams with the poorest records as the cursed Detroit Pistons again dropped the maximum four spots, the same as last year, from No. 1 to No. 5. The Washington Wizards in the second spot remained No. 2 and will select there. Charlotte with the third best odds fell to No. 6 for the June draft. The Houston Rockets in the preliminary ninth spot with the draft pick from the Brooklyn Nets moved up to No. 3 for the draft.
The San Antonio Spurs, who were at No. 5 this year and last year jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 to select Victor Wembanyama, moved up a notch to gain the No. 4 position. Portland dropped from fourth best odds to No. 7 for the actual draft. Toronto fell out of the draft as it’s No. 6 pre-lottery position went to the the Spurs at No. 8 to give the Spurs two top 10 selections.
Portland also has two picks, Nos. 7 and 14. But they still don’t have to extend a pick to the Bulls from a previous trade unless they get a non-lottery pick before 2028.
The so called experts have theorized this draft to not be among the best. Though that’s probably because there’s not an exciting, can’t miss No. 1 pick, like Wembanyama, Anthony Edwards, Zion Williamson or LeBron James. But there seems like a depth of talent at least through the middle of the first round. So it’s up to the teams to separate the basketball wheat from the underachieving chaff.
Here’s a look at an early projection for this year’s NBA draft to be conducted in Brooklyn on June 26-27.
1. Atlanta Hawks. Alex Sarr, 7-1, 215. Australia (France)
He’s probably as close to a consensus top pick for this draft who’s got some Wembanyama in him with a long reach. He’s also mobile and athletic. But what’s with this French assault? Who knew they knew basketball? Je ne comprends pas. That’s right, I don't understand, either. You figure this could be the start of something new in Atlanta with likely Trae Young probably on the market and a reshaping of a roster that shouldn’t have been this bad.
2. Washington Wizards. Zaccharie Risacher, 6-9, 205, France.
No team probably needs more than they do, and given the District of Columbia is an international city, why not the French wingman? They seem highest on their No. 1 pick from last year, France’s Bilal Coulibaly, who was their lottery representative. Assume they move Kyle Kuzma and are stuck with Jordan Poole (for LaVine?), but they’re a ground up operation for now. Risacher is a good shooting athletic wing, which we say about just about every 20-year-old these days.
3. Houston Rockets. Donovan Clingan, 7-2, 280, Connecticut.
Alperen Şengün came on strong last season as a most improved candidate, but has had injury problems. They’ve loaded up on guards and wings and could use some size in a Western Conference growing larger with the threat from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The NBA again is returning some to the you can’t have enough big men theory.
4. San Antonio Spurs. Dalton Knecht, 6-6, 215,Tennessee.
The conventional wisdom is they need a point guard to work with Wembanyama, which is true. Though with all the future draft picks they have and this season also at No. 8 they can acquire a veteran. What they’ll most need around a player getting so much attention, like Shaq did and LeBron does, is perimeter shooting. Knecht has some size and toughness and a sweet shot.
5. Detroit Pistons. Reed Sheppard, 6-2, 185, Kentucky.
There’s a team that can call conspiracy. Consecutive worst seasons and falling to fifth again undercuts all those break-it-up strategies because the lottery is so random. They’ve been accumulating talent, but little of it who can shoot. He’s a bit on the small side, but an excellent shooter and tougher defender for his size.
6. Charlotte Hornets. Stephon Castle, 6-6, 215, Connecticut.
Another team with a new coach and basically a start over mentality. Like with Atlanta with Trae Young or Washington with Jordan Poole, anyone want LaMelo (another Zach trade possibility?). They’ve got basically Brandon Miller from last year’s draft and need 14 other guys; or 16. Castle would be a good start as a hard playing guy with good size and time to improve his shot.
7. Portland Trailblazers. Matas Buzelis, 6-10, 215, G-league Ignite. Serbia.
They’ve got guards aplenty with not much size, and not going anywhere. He’s got some big ceiling possibilities as an exceptionally fluid, athletic big man.
8. San Antonio Spurs. Rob Dillingham, 6-2, 175, Kentucky.
Maybe take a chance at a point guard with their second pick who at least can be a solid backup. Or maybe more as he projects with some similarities to Tony Parker, whom they tried to trade for a veteran until they couldn’t and then won titles with him. The Spurs are getting scary.
9. Memphis Grizzlies. Cody Williams, 6-8, 190. Colorado.
No team had more injuries, so they’ll be returning almost an entire roster. The brother of Oklahoma City’s Jalen is a versatile wing player who can be there if not everyone returns.
10. Utah Jazz. Nikola Topić, 6-6, 200. Serbia.
They’ve got a load of draft picks coming, and with Danny Ainge quiet there could be big changes. They had the most trouble with someone to deliver the ball, so point guard is a start.
11. Bulls. Ja'Kobe Walter, 6-5, 195, Baylor.
The Bulls have The Coby, so why not Ja’Kobe? I can have fun with that, and the Bulls maybe can smile if they can draft a shooter like Walter. He’s got size and a nice shooting stroke, and while the Bulls could use some size and speed, they really, really, really could use shooting. So time to take a shot?
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