We went back and did a re-draft for the Chicago Bulls with the team taking the players right after them over the past 12 years
The NBA has been around for 75 years, and while players have begun to master different aspects of the game— training, recovery, offensive schemes, defensive rotations, and efficiency included— there is still no sure-fire way to project young prospects.
Some draft picks end up working for the best, such as LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who both went first overall; on the other hand, players such as Anthony Bennett and Darko Milicic are only remembered because of how ridiculously overvalued they were.
In this article, we take a look back on what the Chicago Bulls team would look like if the front office had a change in heart, and their last 12 first-round draft picks were swapped out for the players taken immediately after them.
Chicago Bulls re-draft
2020: Isaac Okoro for Patrick Williams
2019: Jaxson Hayes for Coby White
2018: Collin Sexton for Wendell Carter Jr.
2018: Aaron Holiday for Chandler Hutchison
2017: D.J. Wilson for Justin Patton
2016: Juancho Hernangomez for Denzel Valentine
2015: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for Bobby Portis
2014: James Young for Jusuf Nurkic
2014: Bruno Caboclo for Gary Harris
2013: Gorgui Dieng for Tony Snell
2012: Festus Ezeli for Marquis Teague
2011: Bojan Bogdanovic for Jimmy Butler
So, what is the main takeaway from this comparison? Well, first and foremost, it proves that life can always get worse, as despite having a few forgettable (at best) seasons, a roster of these re-drafted players probably would not win more than 15 games.
However, it also shows that the Chicago Bulls missed out on retaining a few quality players, as aside from their two most recent additions, each one of their selections are no longer with the team. Chicago could certainly have done with a sharpshooting Gary Harris standing in the corner, or a bruising Jusuf Nurkic anchoring the middle during their recent down years, that’s for sure.
All in all, it has to be said that the Chicago Bulls’ actual selections form a much more capable rotation than the alternatives, which is a testament to the front office. Of course, they missed out on several late-draft gems, but the purpose of this exercise was simply to see how their judgment was, instead of what perfect scenario could have formed against everyone’s intuition.Next in line to make Bulls history as a first-round draft pick? Dalen Terry.
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