AK’s first draft pick leaked

[TankForAyton]

Can we talk about this? So much for no leaks coming out this front office.

All that talk about how secretive this front office was and how no one in the media had any idea what the Bulls were thinking?

Color me unimpressed & now all the cronies in the Chicago media making claims about tons of teams trying to trade up to #3 to take.. Williams? I’m calling BS.

[Michael Jackson]

Cowley is not a cronie that’s for sure.

[MrFortune3]

Why would AK and Evs care about making the media care about if he was being targeted at #3 or not?

[JimmyButler21]

I thought when I saw it yesterday that it was either a smokescreen to get someone to trade up or to prepare the fanbase for something unexpected to happen. Imagine if nobody knew going into that pick, I didn't even know who Williams was until KC tweeted it yesterday, wasn't even on my radar for #4.

[kulaz3000]

I don't know what the big deal is. This 'leak' really only came to light really late in the game, and I presume it was because the Bulls and Pistons were battling for Patrick, with the Pistons rumoured to want to leap to 3 to draft him.

[dougthonus]

I don't know what the big deal is. This 'leak' really only came to light really late in the game, and I presume it was because the Bulls and Pistons were battling for Patrick, with the Pistons rumoured to want to leap to 3 to draft him.

Not really, it was leaked yesterday. That's early enough to be meaningful, at the same time, there were tons of stories about the Bulls and their pick, so whether it was a leak or someone just threw something against the wall and it stuck is up for debate.

[dougthonus]

Can we talk about this? So much for no leaks coming out this front office.

All that talk about how secretive this front office was and how no one in the media had any idea what the Bulls were thinking?

Color me unimpressed & now all the cronies in the Chicago media making claims about tons of teams trying to trade up to #3 to take.. Williams? I’m calling BS.

Well Joe Cowley reported the Pistons wanted to trade to #3 to get him, and he's about as anti-front office as you can get, hardly a crony and would never turn down a shot at the FO if given a choice.

I am a little annoyed about the leak too, but I'd add that tehre were lots of guys associated with this pick, so hard to say if its a leak or just people throwing stuff against the wall. Given Williams generally wasn't associated with a high pick makes me think you're right about the leak though.

[nomorezorro]

i think it's next to impossible to know how much it mattered that people accurately reported our target a couple of days before the draft.

maybe we were locked in and let it slip so fans could adjust their expectations. (people would have freaked if this came from out of nowhere on draft night.)
maybe it got out through his agent telling another team "hey someone in the top five really likes him, so you gotta make a move if you're serious about drafting him"
maybe we were being honest about one of our top targets in hopes of baiting another team into trading with us or trading above us for whatever reason.
or maybe we just got sloppy and let something slip at the end of the process.

ultimately, who cares

[PhilLeotardo]

(Sigh) poor Bulls fans

F***g PaxGar totally massacred this fan base lol

[Susan]

If the top 3 were set (it appears they were), there's no issue with a leak.

Especially if the FO valued the top 3 picks ahead of Williams. Worst case Detroit traded ahead of us and we picked Ball (assuming the FO would have been even happier).

[TheStig]

Can we talk about this? So much for no leaks coming out this front office.

All that talk about how secretive this front office was and how no one in the media had any idea what the Bulls were thinking?

Color me unimpressed & now all the cronies in the Chicago media making claims about tons of teams trying to trade up to #3 to take.. Williams? I’m calling BS.

Well Joe Cowley reported the Pistons wanted to trade to #3 to get him, and he's about as anti-front office as you can get, hardly a crony and would never turn down a shot at the FO if given a choice.

I am a little annoyed about the leak too, but I'd add that tehre were lots of guys associated with this pick, so hard to say if its a leak or just people throwing stuff against the wall. Given Williams generally wasn't associated with a high pick makes me think you're right about the leak though.

Could have been a ploy to get one of the big 3? If Detroit traded up to get Williams, then one of the big 3 would fall to us. There is a lot of strategy and the guys could have been working up value to the pick for Detroit to trade with us or trying to get someone to fall. I have no issue with it. They were quiet about their interest for the longest time before.

[dougthonus]

Saw on twitter that we told Williams he was our guy, not sure if true, but if so, the leak probably came from his camp.

[detlef_schrempf]

Can we talk about this? So much for no leaks coming out this front office.

All that talk about how secretive this front office was and how no one in the media had any idea what the Bulls were thinking?

Color me unimpressed & now all the cronies in the Chicago media making claims about tons of teams trying to trade up to #3 to take.. Williams? I’m calling BS.

This post is... uhh...what

[HomoSapien]

I'm not really bothered. There was a rumor the Bulls wanted to trade up for the 2nd pick, presumably to draft Wiseman. Earlier we heard there was interest in Deni. Tons of people expected us to draft Halliburton. There were tons of rumors that we wanted a lead playmaker. And then there was the rumor about Patrick Williams. If the other rumors came true, would we have this reaction or is it simply because so many are nervous about Williams? As Susan said, maybe the leak was intentional because it could have pushed Detroit into trading up for the 3rd pick and pushing Ball down to us. In this situation, it was a fairly risk-free leak.

[mg]

Saw on twitter that we told Williams he was our guy, not sure if true, but if so, the leak probably came from his camp.

Leaks generally come from players' agents and the league office moreso than from teams.

[League Circles]

Saw on twitter that we told Williams he was our guy, not sure if true, but if so, the leak probably came from his camp.

Multiple minor strikes against AK already IMO, this being one of them. Smh

[uppantera]

Keep in mind, not all leaks are bad. This particular one (if that's what it was) didn't effect the outcome and it was limited in scope. When you're picking someone who's unknown it helps your cause if your team reporters and most vocal fans aren't completely in the dark. PR's not everything, but it matters.

[coldfish]

I'm pretty irritated. If there was a team that really wanted someone at 4 and was scared they would be gone, Chicago might have been able to trade down and still get their guy. When you reach like Chicago did here, you really don't want to telegraph it. As a worst case, you get no offer and you take the guy you want.

[ATRAIN53]

It was out there for a coupe days I think.

First time I actually looked up this guy up when I saw some tweet I think on Monday suggesting he was a target.
I heard it on a KOC pod too, I think he speculated we might reach for the kid, I think even on one of his mocks the last couple of days they had it listed.

It was a reach, all the big analysts last night thought so. The fact the guy was a bench player was most noted.


I'm more concerned that the WCJ for #2 trade leaked and that it didn't happen.

How do we think HE feels today after being dangled yesterday?
I know trades are part of the NBA. But guys want to be wanted and when they hear their names in rumors like this it always seems to be an issue.

[DuckIII]

Why would AK and Evs care about making the media care about if he was being targeted at #3 or not?

Makes it look less like the reach that it obviously was.