What Time Is It? DRAFT TIME!

If you're a directionless treadmill team that didn't make the playoffs, the best time of the year is soon upon us.

That time when hope springs eternal and the dashed expectations of a terrible season can be renewed with the promise of new blood that'll inject life into our stale, hapless team.

That's right folks, it's time for the NBA draft!
For those of you who haven't kept up with the going ons of this years crop, here's a quick review.

The Skinny

This year's draft by and large is considered very weak. There are no sure fire superstars and outside the top two prospects no one that you'd feel comfortable calling a blue chipper.

This draft isn't *quite* as bad as 2013, but there's a feeling the middle of the lottery could be as dismal this year as that one.

Of course it's hard to predict what kind of oddball players end up being better than expected, but there's a strong feeling that the quality of players goes down pretty sharply after #2, and as far as blue chippers go, neither Brandon Ingram or Ben Simmons are as good as guys like Anthony Davis, John Wall, etc.

So without further ado, here's a run down of some of the notable players in the draft and my brief thoughts, if I have any.

The Blue Chippers

Ben Simmons - Fr, PF, LSU - He's been the consensus #1 pick the entire year, but his stock has dipped since the beginning of the season. His trajectory as a prospect reminds me a lot of Andrew Wiggins, who began his freshman year with the reputation of a transcendent talent, but subsequently downgraded after his play was a bit iffy and lifeless.

So too is the case for Ben Simmons. He's a ball handling Power Forward who came into college as the next Lebron James and ended the year as the next Lamar Odom. He's an incredibly dynamic athlete with a gift for getting into the open court and finding the open man, and has a deft ability to handle the ball and find the open man, especially for a guy who's 6'10.

He also can't shoot (at all), played somewhat passively, and needs the ball in his hands to be effective. His team also missed the NCAA tournament, which is odd for a supposedly can't miss talent. So there are some lingering concerns that he might be more of an Uber role player than a true #1. It also remains to be seen if he can play his high usage game in the NBA without a jumpshot.

Like Wiggins he seems like a good kid but does not seem to play with a lot of aggressiveness, and this timidity has seemed to follow him for most of his playing career thus far.

Personally I think the Lamar Odom comparison is apt. Odom averaged 17/8/4 his first two years in the league, which seems very doable for Simmons as well. And his career was derailed by smoking too much pot, not because he didn't have the talent to be a great player. But he was no Lebron James.

Brandon Ingram, Fr, F, Duke -- He is a lengthy, offensively gifted forward with a silky smooth jump shot and incredible length. He has the frame of Kevin Durant/Tayshawn Prince and was the best player on a talented Duke team at 19 years old.

His offensive game will likely translate right away, as its very complete. His mid-range game is very advanced for his age, which gives his style of play a Paul Pierce like twist to it that compliments his long-range shooting. He will be a weak link defensively which could hurt his transition to the NBA.

His offensive prowess probably gives him a higher floor than Simmons, but there's a general feeling he doesn't possess the all-around physical talent that Simmons has, which makes him the clear #2 of this draft.

The Rest of the Lottery

Jaylen Brown - Not particularly skilled, but a gifted athlete who can get to the rim and probably defend 3 positions a la Harrison Barnes. He's very raw offensively and is totally a tools guy. His play got consistently better and by tournament play his statistical output mirrored that of Stanley Johnson and Justise Winslow, two players that are good comps for him. He doesn't excite me, but he's going high in a lot of mocks.

Dragan Bender - Youngest player in the draft. Silky smooth offensive game, limited experience. has been the best U18 prospect in Europe for a while. His game kind of reminds me of a modernized version of Pau. His body will require lots of work and it could be a few years before he's ready. Of course they said that about Kristaps as well. He might end up being too much of a perimeter player trapped in a big man's body though. He's an upside pick, but probably worth it given what else is available.

Kris Dunn - Some people are touting this guy as someone the Bulls could trade up for. He's a big PG who gets to the rim a lot. Solid defender. Some people say his upside is more of a poor man's John Wall, but I see more Jordan Clarkson/Jrue Holiday upside.....not quite as high on him as some others. He doesn't play as athletically as he gets credit for, and IMO he needs to hold the ball for too long to get into his high gear. He has nice defensive tools.

Jamal Murray - Offensively versatile 1/2 who's very good at getting his own. Not a great athlete but seems to be good enough. Can do a little bit of everything. Competent and high volume shooter. Has a ceiling of CJ McCollum, floor of Jamal Crawford. Remains to be seen whether or not he can play PG at the next level. Questionable defender, and it's possible a lack of explosive athleticism will render him more of a boutique scorer than a guy you can build an offense around.

Jakob Poeltl - Very well rounded big man prospect who plays with good instinct on both ends of the floor. Very good size, doesn't do anything especially well yet. As a prospect he reminds me of Alex Len.

Buddy Hield - Most prolific offensive player in college since Doug McDermott. Made an unusually big leap his senior year to be the best player in college ball. Incredibly accurate, high volume 3 pt shooter who added a dribble drive game. Very hard worker, good jib/intangibles, average tools. Good length but limited height. He's kind of a Brandon Roy type prospect, albeit his game relies more on outside shooting than probing dribble penetration. A little bit undersized for SG.

Timothe Luwawu - International player who's quickly rising on people's boards. Upside is being compared to Paul George. Long, engaging defender who's very good at getting to the rim and plays with a lot of intensity. Reasonable outside shot and developing outside game. People are talking about him as a guy the Bulls might trade up for if they can get into the 7-10 range. Is 23 years old.

**********Guys We Might Be Able to Draft*****************

All of the above guys will probably be gone by the time we pick, even if they slip a little bit. The following are guys that are probably going to be in our sights as players who'll be available for us to pick at #14.

Tyler Ullis - Terrific poing guard who plays with wonderful defensive instincts, great poise, and has mastered all of the finer details a PG needs in order to play a winning game. And he's 5'10. He projects as a very useful backup PG, but his lack of size will prohibit him from ever being a big minute starter. Unlike lots of other small PG's he's more of a floor general than microwave scorer. So he's not Isaiah Thomas or Aaron Brooks. More like Earl Watson. He actually wouldn't be a bad fit on the Bulls' 2nd unit.

Wade Baldwin - A Mario Chalmers/Patrick Beverley style PG who has good size, terrific length, defensive versatility, and a good catch-and-shoot 3 pointer. He's not very good at creating offense off the dribble, so is best suited to play a low usage game alongside a high volume scorer on the wing. He makes sense as a prospect to develop alongside Jimmy Butler. His play lacks imagination or instinct.

Marquese Chriss - Offensively smooth stretch 4 that has a good bit of upside to his game, but will probably need some physical maturation before he can play his game. Might be more of a 3 than a 4. Poor rebounder. Think Markieff Morris/Thaddeus Young.

Furkan Korkmaz 18, SG/SF, Turkey - Turkish wing who plays like a combination of Marco Belinelli and Kevin Martin, although I'm not sure he'll be as good as either. I personally don't like him very much as a prospect. I don't see him being able to get his own shot very much at the next level and he doesn't look like he can defend a position right now. Plays with a good motor on offense. He could project to be a solid 8th-9th man, a la Omri Casspi. He is 18 years old, and IMO requires quite a bit of developmental resources unbefitting of someone with his ceiling. Better athlete in the open court with a head of steam than off the dribble.

Denzel Valentine Sen, SG, Michigan State - Offensively gifted senior who was neck-and-neck with Buddy Hield for player of the year. Comes from Michigan State so you know he's well coached and mentally tough. He's offensively versatile and has incredible court vision but is a poor defender and would probably have similar problems as Doug McDermott. It'd be hard to find a spot for him on our team as it's currently constructed due to his style of play. Playing him with either Doug or Niko would be a non-starter.

Deyonta Davis PF/C, Fr, Michigan State - A physically gifted athlete with great measurables and good defensive instincts. He was a late bloomer in high school and came on stronger than expected his freshman year. He's very mobile defensively and has excellent shooting mechanics but at this point plays mostly on instinct. He's more of a ceiling pick than a floor pick, but I think his upside at #14 is pretty appealing.

Skal Labissiere - PF/C, Fr, Kentucky - Considered the possible #1 pick before the draft, Skal had a rough freshman year that saw him get demoted shortly after the beginning of the season. His statistical output was meager and many ended up questioning his mental toughness. His body needs a lot of work before he'll be able to see the court. He's all tools at this point. Hard to see GarPax going after this guy.

Taurean Prince - SF, Sen, Baylor - Very solid role player pick. Prince was an unheralded freshman recruit who didn't start until his senior year at Baylor. He plays a very tight, well confined game that translates well to what he'd probably do in the pros -- lots of off ball movement, spot up shooting, and opportunistic scoring with just enough of a dribble drive game to keep teams honest. Limited tools but plays with a lot of intensity and strong motor on both offense and defense. Think Jae Crowder/Luol Deng.

There are more guys we could talk about, but my morning is being eaten up and other work has to be done.

Later!

 

Chriss is an interesting prospect, but he really overlaps a lot with Nikola IMO.

He might be good value at that spot but he's a guy you'd want to package in a trade or else you'd have the same problems with the crowded frontcourt development that we currently have.

My high upside picks at 14 are Deyonta Davis and Wade Baldwin.

Davis is big enough to play smallball 4, and is a really fluid defender with an outside shot to boot. He started playing the game at a late age and plays very instinctively.......he has a high ceiling and reasonable floor.

Baldwin has great tools for a 3&D PG -- he has a 6'10 wingspan and is 6'3, and shoots over 40% from 3. His game just does not have very much intuition to it.

The thing that scares me about Tyler Ullis is that in addition to being small, he's also light.....160 lbs. That basically makes him Allen Iverson sized. You basically have to be a phenom to play in the NBA at that size and I don't think he's a phenom. I see him as more of a late 1st round pick and not a late lotto pick.

My high floor pick is Taurean Prince. His style of play really reminds me a lot of Jae Crowder. He'd fill an important hole from Day 1. His game is a nice compliment to Jimmy and Doug. If we resigned E'Twaun we'd have a nice combo of shooting/defense/ballhandling at the 2/3.