Need or best player available? John Paxson says Bulls will lean toward latter

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John Paxson said he didn't want to see the Bulls franchise go through a season like they had in 2017-18 ever again.

And as one of two men who will decide who the Bulls add to their foundation in next month's NBA Draft, he believes the team will lean toward drafting the best player who can make an immediate impact for a team that went 27-55 last season.

The Bulls were awarded the seventh overall pick after the Sacramento Kings, tied with them for the sixth best odds, jumped up to No. 2 Tuesday night in Chicago. It's not what the franchise expected after getting off to a 3-20 start and dealing leading scorer Nikola Mirotic at the trade deadline. Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen also missed a combined 102 games. They also won three straight games in the season's second-to-last week to decrease their chances at landing a coveted top-3 pick.

But seventh is where they stand - they'll also draft 22nd thanks to that Mirotic trade - and an impact player is necessary for a team vastly short on impact talent. Though Lauri Markkanen, the seventh pick last season, showed promise and Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn proved to be viable starters, the Bulls are still missing star power and/or a sidekick for Markkanen.

That could be a wing, like Villanova's Mikal Bridges or Missouri's Michael Porter Jr., or one of the bigs such as Michigan State's Jaren Jackson or Texas' Mo Bamba could fall to No. 7.

"The game is at such a state where versatility is a big thing, especially at the wing," Paxson said. "You take a look at some of the teams that are still playing, how versatile they are. So that's obviously something all teams could use. But like I said,. we'll have our rankings and we'll determine best available and we'll go with that when we have our chance to pick."

The Bulls certainly adhered to taking the best player available a year ago when they selected Markkanen, while having Bobby Portis in the fold and Nikola Mirotic expected back. That worked out, as Markkanen was one of the league's most impressive rookies and set 3-point records.

And while Paxson said he's happy with what the Bulls have at point guard in Dunn and Cameron Payne, Paxson said they'll consider everyone.

"We talk about needs and we obviously have some needs I've spoken about before," he said. "But most times we've gone down our board and the best player we've taken."

That could be Oklahoma point guard Trae Young, who became the first player in NCAA history to lead the country in points and assists per game.

Trading up is also a distinct possibility, especially with the Bulls holding that No. 22 pick.

"We may not even want to do that and it's hard to do, to trade up, unless you have something really valuable," Paxson said. "But now we know where we're at and we can go on about that and work on that."

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