The Chicago Bulls had just a 32 percent chance to land a top-four pick Thursday evening in the NBA Draft Lottery, and thankfully lady luck was on their side as they drew the fourth overall pick behind the Charlotte Hornets.
New Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas will have a big decision on his hands as the draft approaches. In a recent interview with longtime Bulls beat reporter Sam Smith, Karnisovas explained his biggest priority will be adding “talent” to an already talented young roster.
“Talent wins championships. So we’re going to be focused on adding talent. It’s going to be up to the coaches to maximize it. Just to get high upside guys on our team. Looking at our roster I love what I see. The players we have now, a young core with vets like Thad and Otto. I think we can build on that. This group definitely can do better than what they’ve showed the last couple of years.”
There will be some serious talent available for the Bulls’ front office to choose from with the fourth overall pick and the current ESPN mock draft has the Bulls taking Obi Toppin a forward from the University of Dayton.
Toppin averaged 20.8 points and 7.5 rebounds in 18 games for the Flyers, a team many thought had final four potential before COVID-19 brought the world to a screeching halt.
Whether the Bulls take Toppin or go down a different road, this draft is expected to be a little more open and unpredictable than the previous draft, so it appears Karnisovas and the new Bulls’ front office will have plenty of things to ponder as October draws near. Fingers crossed he makes the right decision.
