The NBA Draft is tonight, and will take place in the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets. The Chicago Bulls, and the 29 other teams, will be drafting players to build their franchises around, with the Bulls looking to draft a player to pair with their young stars, Matas Buzelis and Josh Giddey.
With the 12th pick, the Bulls have some leverage over teams looking to scoop up the top talent before they’re all snatched up. The Bulls have options with who they will select with their pick, but they could make a surprise move, and do something with their pick that they’ve been urged to do.
The Chicago Bulls have a valuable pick
The Bulls got unlucky when they lost out on the first overall pick, which ended up going to the Dallas Mavericks, but having the 12th pick is a nice consolation prize. Even though they have options on who to choose, the Bulls could end up trading away their pick to accumulate more draft capital to package together to land a big name later in the offseason.
Erik Beaston of Bleacher Report agrees with that statement and urges the Bulls to trade down from the 12th spot and accumulate that draft capital for the future. Beaston’s urging comes from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, who noted that the Bulls have “looked into trade-ups as well as trade-down scenarios.”
Beaston via Bleacher Report:
“The team does not appear to have the assets from a player perspective to make a sizeable jump up the draft order. With that out of play, and so many potential players at the No. 12 pick that one would be hard-pressed to say any are the solution to the Bulls’ problems, the team must trade down and build for the future.
Accumulate draft picks, see if there is a player that can be packaged along with them, and restock the roster alongside Josh Giddey. Especially with Coby White, Lonzo Ball, and Nikola Vučević all potentially gone as unrestricted free agents after the 2026-27 season.
For a team and organization still trying to find its way, some 27 years after Michael Jordan hoisted their final Larry O’Brien Trophy, acquiring as much talent as possible rather than swinging and missing on someone midway through the draft simply because the front office feels obligated should be a priority.”
Trading the pick could work in the Bulls’ favor
Trading away their pick could work in their favor, as the Bulls could be in the market to make a move to take a step forward next season. The Bulls have a few players under contract whom they can pair with their pick, to either trade up or down, with center Nikola Vucevic and guard Coby White being their best options.
Anything can happen, with the draft only hours away, Bulls VP of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley need to have a good night to justify their recent contract extensions. Whether they keep the pick or trade it away will be seen soon, but the Bulls are in a great spot regardless of what they decide to do.
