Bulls expect to be happy about picks
By NICK HUT -- Shaw Suburban Media
Despite working the phones, the Bulls as of Wednesday night had not made a trade to move up in tonight’s NBA draft.
That outcome was of little surprise because the majority of such deals happen on draft day or during the draft itself.
Once the selection process begins to play out, the Bulls might not even need to move up from No. 16 to get one of their preferred prospects.
The list of players the Bulls could go out of their way to target: Wake Forest forward James Johnson, Duke guard Gerald Henderson, Louisville guard Terrence Williams and perhaps Pittsburgh forward DeJuan Blair and Ohio State center B.J. Mullens.
At least a couple of those players should remain on the board at No. 16, so the Bulls expect to come away happy no matter where they end up picking.
“We feel pretty optimistic that if we do stay at 16, we can get a good, productive player – a guy that can play a role for us,” general manager Gar Forman said.
The Bulls also have the 26th pick courtesy of the Oklahoma City Thunder, which had acquired the selection from Denver and traded it to the Bulls last February for Thabo Sefolosha.
For the Bulls, trading up tonight figures to require packaging that choice with No. 16.
“We’re expecting there could be a lot of activity on draft night,” Forman said.
The Bulls do not have a second-round choice this year. They included it in the 2008 trade with Cleveland that sent Ben Wallace to the Cavaliers.
The Bulls like their core of Derrick Rose, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah, with Kirk Hinrich, John Salmons and Brad Miller available in reserve.
This draft is important nonetheless. There are areas, such as low-post scoring and team defense, in which the Bulls were deficient even during their late-season charge.
“We need to get better defensively,” Forman said.
Additionally, it is a stretch to assume the core will return intact.
Gordon is an unrestricted free agent and the Bulls will be hard-pressed to retain him without exceeding the luxury-tax line. Jerry Reinsdorf, the team owner, does not want to pay the tax (a dollar-for-dollar penalty on salaries over the limit).
One way to keep Gordon would be to shed Hinrich’s salary by trading him for players with non-guaranteed contracts. The Portland Trail Blazers, who are said to be interested in Hinrich, could offer such players.
The possibility of losing Hinrich could be why the Bulls say they are open to drafting a point guard to play with and behind Derrick Rose. Forman, though, was adamant that the team will approach the draft without regard to free agency.
The Bulls and other teams with a need for a big man conceivably could fill their void tonight without making a draft pick.
A pair of veteran centers, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Kaman and New Orleans’ Tyson Chandler, reportedly are available and could be on the move. For the Bulls, the likely price would be a draft pick and a player such as Hinrich or Thomas.
Tonight is the Bulls’ first big event since giving John Paxson the title of executive vice president and promoting Forman from director of player personnel.
Paxson technically retains final say, but he and Forman always have worked together.
“We all work together [on the draft] throughout the year to come to a conclusion we feel best suits the organization,” Forman said.
