Due to a power outage in Deerfield, IL, the Chicago Bulls will move their NBA Draft headquarters and media event from the Berto Center practice facility to their home game arena the United Center. And due to a shooting/perimeter scoring outage in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls had to move from the NBA postseason to their summer vacation.
It’s very rare that the team with the best regular season record in the NBA has three picks (two in the first round) the following June. And that means the Bulls will almost certainly not add three rookies to next year’s roster meaning they have the luxury of 1.) going after an international product who might not sign 2.) take a chance on a high-risk, high-reward “project.”
With the league lockout ready to grab hold on July 1, this year’s draft is even more mysterious and arcane than your typical draft. More known unknowns, unknown knowns, unknown unknowns and known knowns than usual. Sorry for going Donald Rumsfeldian there- but he did go to high school a stone’s throw from the Bulls practice facility.
Here we’ll mock all three picks and show you some other possibilities.
This is a Paul M. Banks and David Kay collaboration
E’Twaunn Moore, swingman Purdue Boilermakers
Do they take the local (East Chicago, IN) kid who worked out at the Berto Center last summer? Go here to see why and why not.
Davis Bertans, SF, Latvia
With two of the final three picks in the first round, the Bulls can get a little risky with this pick by taking Bertans. He is a pure shooter and good size at 6’10? but we would hope he gets stronger and continues to develop and them bring him to Chicago in a couple of years.
Shelvin Mack, point guard, not a combo guard Butler Bulldogs
He’s experienced, and he’s a winner- which fits in with what the Bulls usually do on draft night. And he’s already met Michael Jordan, which means the Charlotte Bobcats are certainly interested. Mack was the second-leading scorer (16.0 PG) for the 29-10 Bulldogs. A second team All-Horizon League performer in 2010-11, he was named the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Southeast Regional, and All-Tournament Team at the Final Four for a second consecutive year. He averaged 20.3 points in Butler’s six NCAA Tournament games.
For more on Mack, and an interview of him from the Combine, go here
Now we’ll move on to the players we believe will be “taking their talents to Oak Street Beach” Thursday night.
28. Chicago (from Mia via Tor)- Tyler Honeycutt, SF, UCLA, 6-8, Soph.
Tom Thibodeau preaches defense and Tyler Honeycutt has the quickness and length to be a solid defender in the NBA. He also gives them some flexibility on the wing.
30. Chicago (from TOR via MIA)- Nolan Smith, G, Duke, 6-3, Sr.
The Bulls failed to add some scoring punch off their bench prior to the trade deadline and look to do so with one of their picks. Nolan Smith should be able to play either guard position and possibly find a spot in Chicago’s rotation right away. He kind of models his game after Chauncey Billups, but he’s much more a combo guard than a true point.
I know what you’re thinking- how many Dukies does JohnGar Paxman (I coalesced the two de facto GMs into one name there- see what I did?) need on the roster? Well, this would make the roster 1/4 former Duke Blue Devils, but you know what the front office likes to do on draft night: go big school prospect with lots of college basketball experience. The hope is he can give them an added boost off the bench. Smith is not the true creator that the Bulls crave but the best option this late.
Plus, he’s
Go here for an interview with Smith from the NBA Draft Combine
43. Chicago (from UTAH)- Trey Thompkins, PF, Georgia, 6-10, Jr.
Considering he could be taken in the late first round, Trey Thompkins would be a great value here and add even more depth up-front for Chicago.
GO HERE FOR THE WHOLE NBA MOCK DRAFT FIRST ROUND
CLICK HERE FOR THE NBA MOCK DRAFT-SECOND ROUND
CLICK HERE FOR MEASUREMENTS FROM THE NBA DRAFT COMBINE
CHECK OUT MY NBA FREE AGENT POINT GUARD RANKINGS
CHECK OUT MY NBA FREE AGENT SHOOTING GUARD RANKINGS
CHECK OUT MY NBA FREE AGENT SMALL FORWARD RANKINGS
CHECK OUT MY NBA FREE AGENT POWER FORWARD RANKINGS
CHECK OUT MY NBA FREE AGENT CENTER RANKINGS
Here are the outstanding trades for the 2011 NBA Draft.
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a fomer contributor at The Washington Times Communities. You can follow him on Twitter at DavidKay_TSB.