2018 Draft

Sam Smith

I may be in the minority, but I really want the Bulls to take Mikal Bridges.  I just have this feeling he's going to be a really good player -- maybe not 25 or 30 points a game, but I think he could get to the low 20s and play really good D, kind of Scottie Pippen-like.  Why aren't more people talking about him rather than Michael Porter?  Kris Dunn and Zach  Levine will be the shot creators -- Bridges can spot up, come off picks.  Too much risk with Porter, and Trae Young too small and no D.  I would be disappointed if we took Carter also with #7.

Am I the only one the wants the Bulls to chase Kevin Knox this draft? He's a long athletic do it all forward with a lot of potential. I don't want Carter Jr. Can't move his feet on defense and does not have quick moves on offense. Modern offense does not allow you to hold on to the ball and take your time.

The only certain in this draft appears to be the 1 pick and Chandler Hutchinson at 22 . Hah. Who do you think is most likely at number 7? Who do hope it is? Who do you hope it is not?

Who do you think the best three picks for the Bulls would be at 7? Guys that might actually be there with no deal? My personal top 3 goes Mo Bamba, Trae Young, Kevin Knox.  Three totally different players and three totally different positions, I know. But the through-line to me with each is they have a chance to be special.  And at 7, and after a year of tanking (outside of the Mirotic MVP run), you need to reach for the highest rung of the ladder. The optics with fans alone near demands it.  And while I love Lauri's game and the future is yet to be written on their current Sort-Of-Big 3 (+Dunn and Lavine), I doubt anyone inside or out of the organization is certain we have a potential future MVP on the roster.

If you are MP Jr., why wouldn't you just forego the draft this year, play college a year, make a statement about your skills, then prove doubters wrong? This is a big gamble not just for the teams but also for him. If he mess up his rookie and sophomore season, it would be difficult to ask for a higher pay grade.

The stage is set, unwittingly or otherwise, for GarPax to take advantage of the Bulls assets.  They have draft picks, cap space, low expectations and a sold out stadium.  And, they have a core to build from.  Except, LaVine.  Have you ever asked yourself, "What Would LeBron Do?".  That is to say, does LaVine have the mental fitness to be a champion?  If not, see if you can send him to Memphis with the #7 to trade up to the #4.  Memphis needs performers to fill their stadium and LaVine can amaze.  I think he would fit with Conley and M. Gasol and with the #7 they may be able to get Trae Young.

The obvious question about Porter is the injury risk.  If you were guaranteed that he would have a career like that of Branden Roy, how high would you draft Porter?  Roy was a true star for a few years.  Is that enough to spend a high pick?

I have been a Bulls fan my whole life. I started watching when we drafted Derrick Rose. I've watched every single game and I have not missed one ever. Do you think getting Michael Porter Jr is a good step for the direction that the Bulls are in?

The Bulls have done OK at #7.  Mostly good players like Kirk &amp; Luol, one bust (Q), and – stay tuned - maybe one star in Lauri. The strangest thing is that whenever they've had two 1st round picks, the 2nd one turned out to be better than the 1st.

So, based on history, it's clear that the Bulls should try to trade #7 to the Clips for #12 &amp; #13, but hang on to #22 because that's
where our next All-Star is coming from.

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Ask Sam Mailbag: 06.20.18

Bulls.com

So just who are the Bulls going to select with the No. 7 pick in the NBA draft Thursday?

It’s down to about 48 hours now with the serious discussion about where players will fall and whether there are trades to be made. Though there’s often discussion about teams trading down and others up or into the draft, there rarely is much movement into the top five of a draft. That’s about where the break is in this draft.

It’s almost certain in some order with DeAndre Ayton expected to go to Phoenix at No. 1 that the top four picks will be Ayton, Luka Doncic from Slovenia, Duke’s Marvin Bagley III and Jaren Jackson Jr. from Michigan State.

Then there’s a group of perhaps a half dozen or more players who could be selected anywhere from No. 5 to the end of the draft lottery. The way teams prepare for the draft is they make a list in order of their preferred choices and then cross off names as they are selected. When their number comes up, they basically select the top name not crossed off.

This is my list and not the Bulls. I’ve made a point not to consult with anyone in management about their preferences, though they wouldn’t tell me, anyway. Draft preferences are guarded much better than state secrets. No way WikiLeaks ever gets a team’s draft order. I believe Mohamed Bamba also is selected before the Bulls draft, but there are scenarios in which he is not. So I’ll include him on my list.

Here’s my order of selection for the Bulls at No. 7.

I’m not that excited because he doesn’t have much offense. But he just turned 20 and has that amazing size and reach and length and pretty good athletic ability. He wasn’t a dominant player in college in not the greatest conference, which is a bit concerning. And there were more questions during the season about his willingness to compete all game. Still, he has the most upside potential for a safe pick who isn’t going to fail.

Duke center. I’m not a big risk taker. When I’m in Las Vegas, I calculate if what I gamble could change my life and generally then go use the money to buy a new golf driver. Carter looks like he’s going to be a very good NBA player. He competes hard, is versatile for a big man, can shoot and will work to rebound and is a good teammate. He won’t be that exciting and isn’t that big at 6-9 without shoes. But I heard he’ll get to wear some in the games. He’ll be in the Al Horford/Elton Brand mold, which isn’t a bad mold. Not the kind to build your team around, but the point is it’s a team and he’ll fit in and make it better.

OK, I’ll maybe try one slot machine. There are some who say Young could be a bust and the Bulls do have a high lottery pick point guard in Kris Dunn. But I don’t see bust with a player who basically averaged 30 points wherever he played. Yes, I know he’s about 6-1 and probably would lose in arm wrestling to me. But since it’s about team, he does basically what no one on the Bulls does and which they beg for constantly, which is pass and move the ball and open the court. He took most of his threes from behind the NBA three-point line in college and loves to look ahead, move the ball, pass, pass, pass, move, move, move. It’s what the NBA is about these days and the Bulls never have been able to do. Mostly because of personnel, but here’s a chance to change that. Sure, he’s a poor defender, but the Bulls need to get some offense to get into this century. He can play in a three-guard rotation with Dunn and Zach LaVine since many teams play multiple ball handlers. And the Bulls desperately need someone looking more for Lauri Markkanen, which didn’t happen enough before. Young would.

He’s my risk choice.  The 6-8 forward with the seven-foot wingspan generally isn’t mentioned in the top seven or eight in most mock drafts, which basically means nothing since in three years the top 10 will be very different. I read a Tobias Harris comparison, though at 18 I see some Scottie Pippen there. He can shoot some, goes to the basket, is long. He’s not much of a playmaker yet, which became the strength of Pippen. Though when Pippen was a freshman in college he was getting his assists by handling out towels in the locker room to the varsity players at a nowhere program on a work/study grant and not even a basketball player. Knox strikes me as the kind of long, wing athlete with developing shooting range who is less of a risk to bust out, but who projects as perhaps a star. But surely a very good player.

I’d be too scared to take the risk. Plus, he’d have to be a superstar to make sense for the Bulls since he doesn’t seem to fit at all with anyone they have. Maybe with Robin Lopez. Porter was considered by many the No. 1 pick for this draft coming into college last season. So what a break for the Bulls? He needs back surgery, which scares off teams and he falls to No. 7 and the Bulls get a shot at a star without losing 70 games? It sounds good, but after the Derrick Rose dramatics and now Zach LaVine coming off his own ACL surgery, are you ready for a guy who needed back surgery at 19? I know, Pippen did after his rookie season and he had a Hall of Fame career. The reports are Porter has checked out OK from his physical, though he hasn’t worked out for teams. It’s one thing to be ready now. But for 82 games? Porter has a great shot with amazing size and the Bulls surely need a small forward scorer. He seems like a gift and the favorite of many fans for the Bulls, who, of course, then would threaten never to watch a game again if he fails. There were these rumblings about doesn’t play well with friends, but I take that more with Porter as an isolation sort of player whose favorite shot is the next time he gets the ball. With Dunn and LaVine, that could be a troublesome mix. Porter is well regarded, but no one says he’s LeBron. There are too many good players at No. 7, it seems to me, to take that kind of risk on a player who probably is 80 percent sure of not having back problems again and being able to sustain an NBA season. I hate that 20 percent.

You hear a lot about him being that 3 and D guy, which I was at one time. You mean not three Ds in sophomore year? Bridges seems safe to me with a low ceiling. Not necessarily because he’s one of the older players in the draft. More because he’s not particularly adept at handling the ball and attacking the basket. The Bulls sure could use a player who can catch and shoot threes and take the toughest defensive assignments and lead a team defensive unit. Defensive inconsistency was a big issue last season I know the Bulls want to correct. He’d go a long way toward helping there and seems like a reliable NBA player. I wouldn’t be upset if they drafted him, but even on his better days he looks like a nice complementary player.

I really don’t see the Bulls selecting him because he’s only a fair shooter and not much of a passer. He seems somewhat like Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, a tough, physical, hard nosed player who probably will scare everyone in the locker room. Lowry came from nowhere in the draft to being an All-Star. Sexton is basically the same size as Trae Young, though we know who would win the fight if the NBA ever allowed that sort of thing. He is an attacking player who plays better in big games against the top opponents. He’ll do well in the NBA and in the backcourt with Dunn could prove an intriguing defensive duo. I expect him to have good games, though more likely against the Bulls.

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Who Should the Bulls pick with 7?

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Draft Workout: Mikal Bridges

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Wendell Carter Jr. sits down with BullsTV

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Photo Gallery: Draft Prospect Mo Bamba works out with team

The Chicago skyline is one of the world’s most imposing with spires like the Willis Tower, Aon Center, Hancock, One Mag Mile and the Prudential Plaza seemingly reaching for the sun. Friday there is to be a new skyscraper to join them, perhaps only temporarily, Mohamed Bamba.

The extraordinary seven footer with the arms seemingly long enough to box with God is scheduled to work out for the Bulls Friday. It’s possible it will be just his first of many trips to the Advocate Center.

He’s a player who may continue to grow on you.

“I actually think I’ve grown a little bit since the predraft process started,” Bamba said during the Chicago predraft combine two weeks ago.

The kid who just turned 20 this month already posted the biggest wingspan ever measured by the NBA folks, seven feet 10 inches with a standing reach of almost nine feet eight inches. Yes, the basket is 10 feet high. Bamba measured just under 7-1 with shoes and 6-11 1/4 without.

The NBA unicorn comparisons were less mythical, to players like Andre Drummond, DeAndre Jordan, Rudy Gobert, Greg Oden, Hassan Whiteside, Willie Cauley-Stein and Clint Capella.

Though at 225 pounds, which is about what the skinny Lauri Markkanen reported in at last year, there don’t seem to be many Bamba will impress at arm wrestling.

Still, this is a player most predraft estimates have going between Nos. 4 and 7 in this draft.

Bamba, like several top players who met reporters at the combine, said he could or should be the No. 1 pick. He called himself the draft’s most efficient player. He won’t be No. 1. It’s likely a race between Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton and Slovenia’s Luka Doncic. Marvin Bagley likely is right after them and perhaps Michael Porter Jr. if his health is deemed satisfactory.

Then comes the musical chairs of this draft with a group of players likely to include Bamba, Jaren Jackson Jr. of Michigan State, Trae Young of Oklahoma, Collin Sexton of Alabama, Wendell Carter Jr. of Duke and perhaps Mikal Bridges of Villanova or Miles Bridges of Michigan State.

There are scenarios which could leave Bamba available to the Bulls at No. 7.

If Porter slides into the top four, then comes Dallas at No. 5. Bamba attended the U. of Texas for one year and has been most often linked to the Mavericks. The Mavericks have strained for years to add a big man even as the game has changed to more perimeter play. Their abortive attempt to land DeAndre Jordan proved embarrassing. But with Dirk Nowitzki back for presumably a final season and owner Mark Cuban anxious about the losing, the Mavericks have been most rumored to pursue a veteran big man in free agency, perhaps even DeMarcus Cousins.

If that were to occur, Bamba could slide down to Orlando at No. 6. But the Magic is woefully weak at point guard while having somewhat of a surfeit of big men. Perhaps Orlando selects a guard like Young or Sexton. After the top three or four, this isn’t a draft in which stardom is assured for any players.

Bamba proved adept at the job interview portion of the Chicago combine and with reporters asking him questions about Dallas and Orlando, he said, “I believe I’m the type of big (Dennis Smith Jr.) wants to play with, play pick and roll.” Then Bamba added, “Orlando likes length.”

Then he said he was anxious to meet with the Bulls.

Then when he was asked about playing for his hometown New York Knicks, who have the No. 9 pick, he joked that he didn’t know they’d traded up to No. 1. Of course,  he then extolled the virtues of the team and Madison Square Garden. Bamba, who grew up in Harlem in northern Manhattan, was playful, outgoing and personal, one of the more appealing players to meet with reporters in Chicago.

He even sympathized with the teams having to conduct so many pre-draft interviews.

“When all is said and done, if you put $30 million into a player, you want to gather as much information as you can before you invest,” he said. “So I am not surprised at how much they do.”

So despite Bamba’s weaknesses in outside shooting and strength, it would be difficult to pass on him at No. 7 given his potential as an entire defensive force.

Bamba has shown that in studying with David Robinson while in Texas and befriending Joel Embiid.

“I was fortunate enough to spend time with David Robinson,” Bamba said. “As far as dominating, we do a  lot of similar things. I was able to pick his brain. He said I would enjoy it and have ups and down, but to take time to listen.

“As far one specific need to work on,” Bamba added from his sessions with Embiid, “I need to play lower. When you play lower, one thing you tend to be is more explosive with explosion up. That’s something I’ve been working on extensively.”

Bamba says he attempts hundreds of threes each day in practice. While Bamba shot only 28 percent on threes in college, he did attempt almost two per game. Overall, Bamba averaged 12.9 points and 10.5 rebounds, but also 3.6 blocks.

Those were rebound and block numbers consistent with the likes of Davis, Whiteside, Oden and Emeka Okafor in college. Bamba’s blocks and rebound percentages outranked players like Drummond and DeAndre Jordan in college. But he was woefully weak in the post on both offense and defense, being pushed around somewhat reminiscent of the way Joakim Noah was when he first came to the Bulls in 2007.

“A lot of people look at me and say I’m too skinny and that they can push me around,” Bamba said. “I think not. I may not always be shooting the ball well, but I can make sure my defense is always on point. To me, offense wins games, but defense will win championships. I take pride in playing defense. Where I come from, if you get scored on three times in a row, you are not playing the next game.”

That’s the kind of talk that would bring smiles to the Bulls management.

The Bulls ranked in the bottom five in the NBA last season in most of the main defensive efficiency statistics, though that was tilted by the late season injuries, substitutions and tryouts. Still, the Bulls amidst their developing philosophy of joining the modern NBA with the three-point shooting game believe in defensive strength.

Center Robin Lopez is going into the final year of his contract while backup Cristiano Felicio has not shown the stuff of a starter. Forward Bobby Portis is most often mentioned as the modern center or backup center for the team.

That has played out in these playoffs with the Golden State Warriors rarely playing any tall players other than Kevin Durant on the outside. The Houston Rockets even went away from Capella at times late in games. Golden State was intentionally fouling Capella in Game 7 of the conference finals. Bamba is an adequate free throw shooter at 68 percent in college. Similarly, Utah had times of replacing and finding matchups for Gobert even as he was being mentioned as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

It raises the question of how much a team wants to invest or commit to an inside big man in this era. Though so called rim protection is vital on defense and a big man like Embiid is becoming dominant in the Eastern Conference. Bamba insists he can play a similar role.

Bamba’s family is from the Ivory Coast in West Africa and he was born in Harlem. He comes from a serious working family, but carried the taint in college of the vague issue with his “motor,” shorthand for doubting his work ethic. But his coaches have denied that and in his play he’s been described as fluid and graceful as a rim runner. Sometimes when a player is so coordinated he can look relaxed.

Bamba also was sullied — though not by anyone with knowledge of NCAA hypocrisy — by an examination that actually was initiated by a half-brother about alleged illegal payments from a longtime coach/mentor. Even the NCAA exonerated him. That brother along with another went to prison on different felony deception charges.

By all accounts, Bamba has been a serious player, choosing to work his way out of often dangerous Harlem to prep schools and then onto Texas and soon the NBA. The Bulls may have a part in saying where.

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The Man, The Myth, The Wingspan

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