Mark Schanowski's NBA Draft Big Board 7.0

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With the Bulls winning 6 of their last 11 games, it might be a good time to take a closer look at players likely to fall in the 4 to 7 range of this year’s draft.

Even though the Bulls look set at the small forward position with Otto Porter Jr., Chandler Hutchison (and possibly Wayne Selden Jr.), they’ll have to go with the best available player strategy. Duke’s Cam Reddish should be on the board if the Bulls pick 4th, and he has a versatile skill set that will allow him to play both wing spots at the pro level. Reddish hasn’t shot the ball as well as expected this season, but he has impressed at times with his ability to attack closeouts and finish at the rim.  At 6’8”, Reddish is the prototypical 3 & D small forward, but if the Bulls were to draft him it would be as a two way wing who could provide scoring off the bench playing behind Porter and Zach LaVine. Not an ideal choice picking that high in the draft, but this year’s crop is short on star prospects outside the top 3.

So, what if the Bulls fall to 5, 6 or dare I say, 7th? Point guard and a good shooting big man are their biggest needs heading into the off-season, and the Bulls did get a chance to scout Vanderbilt PG Darius Garland before he suffered a season-ending meniscus injury in late November. Garland doesn’t offer the highlight reel excitement of Murray St.’s Ja Morant, but he’s a better outside shooter and could wind up being the choice to compete with Kris Dunn at training camp, if the Bulls’ front office is convinced his knee is sound.

The big man market is pretty thin, unless the Bulls are in the mood to roll the dice on Oregon’s Bol Bol, who’s an excellent outside shooter coming off a broken foot, which is a huge red flag for 7 foot prospects. Much like his father Manute, Bol Bol is very thin and will need a lot of work in the weight room to be an effective pro.

I had a chance to watch Texas freshman center Jaxson Hayes last weekend, and his body type is very similar to former longhorn Jarrett Allen, who’s enjoying a breakout season in Brooklyn. Hayes has a nice touch from close range, but he doesn’t appear to have the shot-blocking athleticism that makes Allen so effective. He would definitely fall into the project category, not worthy of a top 7 pick.

Gonzaga’s Rui Hachimura continues to impress for the top rated Bulldogs, but he’s more of an old school power forward who looks to score from 15 feet in. The Bulls could use a combo power forward/center who can bring some of the scoring skill they had with Bobby Portis, but that need could be filled with a veteran free agent.

Which brings us back to taking the best player available. Should the Bulls go with players who were highly rated at the start of the season but have failed to put up big numbers as freshmen like USC’s Kevin Porter Jr., Kentucky’s Keldon Johnson or North Carolina’s Nassir Little? Drafting a player from that group would be betting on high end potential rather than evaluating what we’ve seen on the court this season.

Wing prospects Jarrett Culver of Texas Tech, Romeo Langford of Indiana and De’Andre Hunter of Virginia would add some scoring punch to the Bulls’ bench, but none of the 3 look like future All-Stars.

It all comes back to hoping for good luck when the lottery combinations are drawn on May 14th, because after Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Morant, the lottery portion of the draft appears to be loaded with solid starters or rotation players low on star potential.

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