In the 2018 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls potentially completed their starting lineup. Many fans in attendance at Joes On Weed Street in Chicago were visibly upset when Wendell Carter Jr. was called at pick 7. Just as many fans that were upset with the pick, others were thrilled and either waited for the Bulls to trade back up or wait for pick 22 to see who’d they draft next. Enter Chandler Hutchison. A 4-year college player with tons of upside and athleticism.
Why Paxson Succeeded
Taking Wendell Carter Jr. a big that can shoot the rock and defend and paring him next to Lauri could secure our paint for the future. Two bigs that are versatile and that have very good offensive games will be tough for other teams to deal with. Wendell Carter at Duke last year had a very underrated season. Playing next to Marvin Bagley and Grayson Allen who was always in the spotlight, Carter just flew under the radar and put up good numbers.
Now, the 22nd pick may not be the youngest player in the draft or the most coveted but, Chandler Hutchison has done one thing every year since being at Boise St. and that’s improve.
| Season | School | Conf | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | SOS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | Boise State | MWC | 29 | 18 | 12.3 | 1.1 | 3.0 | .356 | 0.9 | 2.5 | .370 | 0.1 | 0.5 | .286 | 0.8 | 1.3 | .649 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 3.1 | 1.38 | |
| 2015-16 | Boise State | MWC | 31 | 8 | 19.8 | 2.6 | 5.2 | .497 | 2.5 | 4.8 | .520 | 0.1 | 0.4 | .231 | 1.6 | 2.5 | .636 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 4.1 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 6.8 | 3.12 | |
| 2016-17 | Boise State | MWC | 32 | 32 | 31.7 | 6.5 | 13.1 | .495 | 5.7 | 10.9 | .519 | 0.8 | 2.2 | .377 | 3.7 | 5.5 | .665 | 1.2 | 6.6 | 7.8 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 17.4 | 2.72 | |
| 2017-18 | Boise State | MWC | 31 | 31 | 31.0 | 6.6 | 13.9 | .475 | 5.1 | 9.8 | .523 | 1.5 | 4.1 | .359 | 5.3 | 7.2 | .728 | 0.9 | 6.8 | 7.7 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 20.0 |
What a lot of Bulls fans wanted, including myself, was to use this draft to potentially complete the starting lineup. Paxson stayed true to his word in taking the best players to fit this team and to “Grow With Us.” He said he wanted players that were athletic and that had tons of upside.
Another thing Paxson said in an interview with 670 The Score is that he isn’t going to rush this process by trying to add big time free agents.
“Here’s our philosophy in free agency. We do have cap space. We’re going to be cautious in terms of this: Anything we do has to fit the timeline in terms of a rebuild and development. We’re not just going to go out and look for older guys that fit a need necessarily. If you do, it can’t be a long-term situation. We have to get our young players continuing to play to see what we have. I think one of the benefits last year of what we did — and we say this all the time — in order to really evaluate young players, they need a consistent role over a consistent number of games.”
The front office finally picked a direction and they are sticking to it. This season should be a fun and exciting one for the Bulls.
