I went to Barclay Center to watch the Bulls draft Michael Porter Jr and we came away with Wendell freaking Carter Jr

[JimmyJammer]

Can I get my money back?

[ChettheJet]

Yeah contact the Bulls to get a form to fill out to request your refund. Then wait for the check

[Hangtime84]

The only thing that makes me feel better about all of this is that the Clippers passed on him twice

At least we got a decent asset back in Vuc instead of what Philly got for trading away Mikal Bridges.

[sco]

Driving through life with hindsight is just gonna cause you pain.

WCJ was a promising prospect and Porter Jr. had some serious health flags (and IIRC was sketchy on their disclosure). Draft success is heavily luck driven. If they drafter Porter Jr., GarPax might still be here - so there's that.

[Chicago-Bull-E]

I wanted MPJ pretty badly during that draft. I actually loved the idea of him sitting out the entire year, and the Bulls would essentially do a 'double tank', get another high draft pick the year after, and you have a new core to build around (MPJ and the 2019 draft pick). Hated WCJ and compared his game to Taj, which got quite a bit of ridicule. As of now, he's a worse version of Taj. WCJ stans loved pointing out WCJ 'success' his rookie year and how MPJ wasn't even playing. Short sighted.

To even out this brag, I was wrong about Mikal Bridges, thought he didn't have the athleticism to stick in the NBA. He'll be just fine.

[Hangtime84]

Driving through life with hindsight is just gonna cause you pain.

WCJ was a promising prospect and Porter Jr. had some serious health flags (and IIRC was sketchy on their disclosure). Draft success is heavily luck driven. If they drafter Porter Jr., GarPax might still be here - so there's that.

Doubt it Paxson has been demanding a more modern Front office and training principles for a while now. The last step was replacing himself.

[TheSuzerain]

Above all else we screwed up the tank that year. Picking 7th was the failure more so than picking WCJ at #7.

But yeah WCJ just never appeared all that talented. Drafting that guy can bite you when the guy with talent picked later ends up overcoming his health issues. But unfortunately, we've been plagued with risk averse management who'd rather plug holes than build a contender.

[sco]

Above all else we screwed up the tank that year. Picking 7th was the failure more so than picking WCJ at #7.

But yeah WCJ just never appeared all that talented. Drafting that guy can bite you when the guy with talent picked later ends up overcoming his health issues. But unfortunately, we've been plagued with risk averse management who'd rather plug holes than build a contender.

Again, that's easy to say now, but WCJ looked like he had very good lateral speed, elite shot blocking and a 3pt stroke that would translate to the NBA. He was a high-floor, but decently high ceiling guy too. Too bad there were termites under the floor.

[Leslie Forman]

WCJ looked like he had very good lateral speed, elite shot blocking and a 3pt stroke that would translate to the NBA

He really didn't, people just saw "Al Horford" somewhere and decided he was that without actually bothering to look at his tape in a critical manner.

I don't blame them for skipping on Porter though. 19 and already having serious back issues? That's not a good sign. I'm still not convinced he will have a long and healthy career.

[_txchilibowl_]

Saying Porter Jr regret is hindsight is just lazy analysis. I'm done drafting high-floor, mid-ceiling type players. If you don't have the athletic juice then I'm not even considering it unless you're a Doncic/Young type skilled player (e.g. , it jumps off the page).

That's not to mention the blunder that was drafting another lotto big in a wing-driven league. It was dumb then and it's dumber now.

[pipfan]

I was very wrong-I was happy with the Carter pick and Porter looked like a risk, and a punk (he still looks like a punk). But man, that guy can shoot.

Imagine the Clippers, after a great move to get SGA, picked some guy named Robinson over Porter-huge miss by JWest

[TheSuzerain]

Above all else we screwed up the tank that year. Picking 7th was the failure more so than picking WCJ at #7.

But yeah WCJ just never appeared all that talented. Drafting that guy can bite you when the guy with talent picked later ends up overcoming his health issues. But unfortunately, we've been plagued with risk averse management who'd rather plug holes than build a contender.

Again, that's easy to say now, but WCJ looked like he had very good lateral speed, elite shot blocking and a 3pt stroke that would translate to the NBA. He was a high-floor, but decently high ceiling guy too. Too bad there were termites under the floor.

Yeah not really. He's a big. They naturally have a lower ceiling than other positions.

[sco]

Above all else we screwed up the tank that year. Picking 7th was the failure more so than picking WCJ at #7.

But yeah WCJ just never appeared all that talented. Drafting that guy can bite you when the guy with talent picked later ends up overcoming his health issues. But unfortunately, we've been plagued with risk averse management who'd rather plug holes than build a contender.

Again, that's easy to say now, but WCJ looked like he had very good lateral speed, elite shot blocking and a 3pt stroke that would translate to the NBA. He was a high-floor, but decently high ceiling guy too. Too bad there were termites under the floor.

Yeah not really. He's a big. They naturally have a lower ceiling than other positions.

Ok, sure, but that's overly simplistic when guys like Jokic and Embiid are in the MVP mix. Not that I am saying WCJ was ever gonna be that, just that he didn't show "bust" until way after the draft.

[TheSuzerain]

Again, that's easy to say now, but WCJ looked like he had very good lateral speed, elite shot blocking and a 3pt stroke that would translate to the NBA. He was a high-floor, but decently high ceiling guy too. Too bad there were termites under the floor.

Yeah not really. He's a big. They naturally have a lower ceiling than other positions.

Ok, sure, but that's overly simplistic when guys like Jokic and Embiid are in the MVP mix. Not that I am saying WCJ was ever gonna be that, just that he didn't show "bust" until way after the draft.

The problem with drafting WCJ isn't that he busted, it's that he had basically no shot to become even a fringe star.

There was a chance MPJ would have busted if his back stayed bad. And it that had happened, he still would have been the correct selection over WCJ.

[sco]

Yeah not really. He's a big. They naturally have a lower ceiling than other positions.

Ok, sure, but that's overly simplistic when guys like Jokic and Embiid are in the MVP mix. Not that I am saying WCJ was ever gonna be that, just that he didn't show "bust" until way after the draft.

The problem with drafting WCJ isn't that he busted, it's that he had basically no shot to become even a fringe star.

There was a chance MPJ would have busted if his back stayed bad. And it that had happened, he still would have been the correct selection over WCJ.

That's your opinion...I just think it is heavily colored by hindsight.

[kodo]

You're not alone, he was by far the fan favorite pick, even over Luka & Trae.

Athletic:

During his last visit to Chicago, in his last week before learning which city he’ll soon call home, Trae Young stopped and marveled at the fervor he’s seen from Bulls fans. The sharpshooter out of Oklahoma didn’t need to be told about their passion. He was well aware.

“Man, I already know,” Young told The Athletic. “It’s crazy.”

Young wasn’t talking about Bulls fans’ passion for their team. He was referring to their passion for his friend, Michael Porter Jr.

I thought he was a Chicago lock when he signed with Bartelstein, really no reason for a top pick to sign with them unless they want to go to Chicago. And he only gave Chicago his medicals.

But then when Chicago decided to hand out his medicals to anyone interested, it sounded like we were going to pass.

[TheSuzerain]

Ok, sure, but that's overly simplistic when guys like Jokic and Embiid are in the MVP mix. Not that I am saying WCJ was ever gonna be that, just that he didn't show "bust" until way after the draft.

The problem with drafting WCJ isn't that he busted, it's that he had basically no shot to become even a fringe star.

There was a chance MPJ would have busted if his back stayed bad. And it that had happened, he still would have been the correct selection over WCJ.

That's your opinion...I just think it is heavily colored by hindsight.

How about a post on draft night?

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1717369&p=66913293&hilit=wendell#p66913293

He’s tough to evaluate defensively as Duke played a zone defense.

He’ll probably be good. But you can find good centers in a litany of ways. Not so much when it comes to guards/wings/playmakers.

[JimmyButler21]

The worst thing is, the Bulls could have easily packaged their 2nd #1 pick and moved up for Porter Jr. when he fell but they were so hung up on Chandler Hutchinson and they guaranteed him days before they would draft him.

[Dresden]

From what I recall, this board was about 95% against picking MPJ on draft night. And a fair number of posters didn't think he had talent- they weren't even considering his back issues. They thought that just based on talent he wasn't going to be any good- all his tapes showed was him dunking on guys 6" shorter than he was.

I thought his tapes just screamed elite nba prospect- he had the height, the athleticism, he could shoot, he could handle the ball well for his height, he rebounded and blocked shots. A taller wing that can shoot and is athletic? Those guys don't grow on trees, and when they work out, they usually become stars.

People freaked out over the words "back injury", but if you read about the issues he had, and the procedures he had undergone, there was always a very good chance he would recover and have a normal, or almost normal, career. It's always going to be something he'll have to keep an eye on, and it could rear up from time to time, but for the upside he held, I thought it was idiotic to pass on him for someone like Carter. I had him ranked tied for second that year (with Luka, behind Bagley (big mistake there- I still think if he can ever stay healthy, he could be very good).

[MGB8]

Don't forget SGA or even Mikal Bridges (and his big game last night).