2022 Draft Prospects Thread :Bulls get 18th pic: Poll added

[TheSuzerain]

Patrick Baldwin Jr.
Leonard Miller
Kennedy Chandler
Tari Eason

These are my four currently. The bigs look pretty generic and we obviously don't need another SG sized player.

[Michael Jackson]

Oh ****, Liddell is gonna shoot up the boards after individual workouts and won't be there at #18, isn't he?!

**** hell

Meh maybe. He has the Jr tag... and we only draft on upside if you are a freshman. Look how far Haliburton dropped in a weak draft, and even if a guy does, that surely doesn't mean they can't be great pro's. The NBA likes drafting on unproven potential... That being said I remember a jr being drafted that wasn't too bad for the Bulls. Granted that was a different time. Hell Brand was the first underclassman drafted from Duke (and Maggette followed as a bench playing rookie) Still He could move up but it might be hard to move up super far imho. In recent history Obi Toppin was considered a huge reach because of his age. Now we can counter that with Keegan Murray who is similar to Keegan Murray he will likely go high even though he is 21. Wade and Butler were also a bit "long in the tooth" Worked out OK for them. We can go on and on I guess but I think Liddell might be there.

[Michael Jackson]

Patrick Baldwin Jr.
Leonard Miller
Kennedy Chandler
Tari Eason

These are my four currently. The bigs look pretty generic and we obviously don't need another SG sized player.

Eason seems consensus earlier than 18 though. Granted that doesn't always play out that way but that would not be a bad choice as far as I am concerned.

Chandler as you mentioned... We don't need a guard, although I think you might have something there

Baldwin and Miller sound good and I like Eason. I also like Foster but I would say the upside is better on the other guys.

[GimmeDat]

Okay, so I've looked into Agbaji, Liddell, Branham, Sochan and a few others today. Haven't watched any few games, but my impression is somewhat like this -

Tier 1

Dyson Daniels
Malaki Branham
Ousmane Dieng

Tier 2

Ochai Agbaji
Jaden Hardy

Tier 3

EJ Liddell
Jeremy Sochan

Tier 4

Nikola Jovic
Patrick Baldwin Jr

Obviously someone like Eason dropping would be exceptional but I'm assuming he's not a realistic dropper. Seems like Mark Williams should heavily be in the conversation at 18 as well if he's there, I don't feel great about drafting a big like that, but he clearly has some innate qualities that would help us with some immediate issues.

[Grodoboldo]

Oh ****, Liddell is gonna shoot up the boards after individual workouts and won't be there at #18, isn't he?!

**** hell

Meh maybe. He has the Jr tag... and we only draft on upside if you are a freshman. Look how far Haliburton dropped in a weak draft, and even if a guy does, that surely doesn't mean they can't be great pro's. The NBA likes drafting on unproven potential... That being said I remember a jr being drafted that wasn't too bad for the Bulls. Granted that was a different time. Hell Brand was the first underclassman drafted from Duke (and Maggette followed as a bench playing rookie) Still He could move up but it might be hard to move up super far imho. In recent history Obi Toppin was considered a huge reach because of his age. Now we can counter that with Keegan Murray who is similar to Keegan Murray he will likely go high even though he is 21. Wade and Butler were also a bit "long in the tooth" Worked out OK for them. We can go on and on I guess but I think Liddell might be there.

Yeah, you surely have a point.
I just feel that the game that guys like Bane, Cam Johnson, Brandon Clarke and even Ayo himself have shown right from the get go, especially compared to guys like Zhaire Smith, Josh Green, Jerome Robinson, etc, has somewhat changed the perception around the league as to what is ideal in middle of the pack picks.
For some reason, I think this year, after the top 8-10, we'll see a lot more "ready to contribute" players drafted.

Just to ilustrate my point, and I'll even use Liddell himself: if those skills translate (great weak side rim protection and decent outside shooting), he'd be awesome in Charlotte playing as a sml ball 5 next to Lamello. Maybe some of those late lottery teams, who now have the play in to settle their sights on, choose guys who looks ready to play right from the gates.

But yeah, back to your point, I sure see the downside to guys like him. He definitely doesn't look refined in the post. By now, he should have some more skills to work in there, and he'll have less time do develop them.

[TheSuzerain]

Patrick Baldwin Jr.
Leonard Miller
Kennedy Chandler
Tari Eason

These are my four currently. The bigs look pretty generic and we obviously don't need another SG sized player.

Eason seems consensus earlier than 18 though. Granted that doesn't always play out that way but that would not be a bad choice as far as I am concerned.

Chandler as you mentioned... We don't need a guard, although I think you might have something there

Baldwin and Miller sound good and I like Eason. I also like Foster but I would say the upside is better on the other guys.

Chandler is a different kind of guard than we currently have. He could theoretically be a high-volume half-court playmaker.

[AshyLarrysDiaper]

I’m intrigued by Malaki Branham. Great shooting splits. Guard playmaking with wing length. The lightbulb came on for him late season when he routinely had big scoring nights. He should be gone by 18 but stranger things have happened.

[TheSuzerain]

Dieng has poor shooting splits and no burst.

Unless his measurables are outlier good (I don't think they are?), then I'm not interested.

[Michael Jackson]

Oh ****, Liddell is gonna shoot up the boards after individual workouts and won't be there at #18, isn't he?!

**** hell

Meh maybe. He has the Jr tag... and we only draft on upside if you are a freshman. Look how far Haliburton dropped in a weak draft, and even if a guy does, that surely doesn't mean they can't be great pro's. The NBA likes drafting on unproven potential... That being said I remember a jr being drafted that wasn't too bad for the Bulls. Granted that was a different time. Hell Brand was the first underclassman drafted from Duke (and Maggette followed as a bench playing rookie) Still He could move up but it might be hard to move up super far imho. In recent history Obi Toppin was considered a huge reach because of his age. Now we can counter that with Keegan Murray who is similar to Keegan Murray he will likely go high even though he is 21. Wade and Butler were also a bit "long in the tooth" Worked out OK for them. We can go on and on I guess but I think Liddell might be there.

Yeah, you surely have a point.
I just feel that the game that guys like Bane, Cam Johnson, Brandon Clarke and even Ayo himself have shown right from the get go, especially compared to guys like Zhaire Smith, Josh Green, Jerome Robinson, etc, has somewhat changed the perception around the league as to what is ideal in middle of the pack picks.
For some reason, I think this year, after the top 8-10, we'll see a lot more "ready to contribute" players drafted.

Just to ilustrate my point, and I'll even use Liddell himself: if those skills translate (great weak side rim protection and decent outside shooting), he'd be awesome in Charlotte playing as a sml ball 5 next to Lamello. Maybe some of those late lottery teams, who now have the play in to settle their sights on, choose guys who looks ready to play right from the gates.

But yeah, back to your point, I sure see the downside to guys like him. He definitely doesn't look refined in the post. By now, he should have some more skills to work in there, and he'll have less time do develop them.

I don’t think they have a downside really, it’s just that GM’s see it that way.

[biggestbullsfan]

Watch on YouTube

Just entered the draft, might go undrafted or mid 2nd round. Could definitely use his size on a rookie deal.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

Dieng has poor shooting splits and no burst.

Unless his measurables are outlier good (I don't think they are?), then I'm not interested.

GimmeDat did a write-up on Dieng on one of the past few pages. I think he said to ignore the season stats because he "figured it out" towards the end of the season and was doing much better while playing more aggressively. It might be worth going back and checking it out.

[uppantera]

Watch on YouTube

Just entered the draft, might go undrafted or mid 2nd round. Could definitely use his size on a rookie deal.

A lot of parallels to Ayo last year. If he somehow falls to us in the second round, we'd be crazy not to pick him. The size and low post scoring potential is elite. Kofi has also made big strides with his rim protection. The criticism of him has always been his ability to thrive in the modern NBA. What you have to understand though is that Kofi didn't start playing basketball till he was a teenager. Before that he played soccer and still has that footwork and agility from that time in his life. He's still playing catch up from a skill standpoint but he's come a tremendous distance in the past three years. I think I've watched every game during his time at Illinois and Kofi has the athleticism to continue growing his game. Truly believe there's a very high ceiling in this kid.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

Watch on YouTube

Just entered the draft, might go undrafted or mid 2nd round. Could definitely use his size on a rookie deal.

A lot of parallels to Ayo last year. If he somehow falls to us in the second round, we'd be crazy not to pick him. The size and low post scoring potential is elite. Kofi has also made big strides with his rim protection. The criticism of him has always been his ability to thrive in the modern NBA. What you have to understand though is that Kofi didn't start playing basketball till he was a teenager. Before that he played soccer and still has that footwork and agility from that time in his life. He's still playing catch up from a skill standpoint but he's come a tremendous distance in the past three years. I think I've watched every game during his time at Illinois and Kofi has the athleticism to continue growing his game. Truly believe there's a very high ceiling in this kid.

I wouldn't mind taking Kofi with a mid-to-late 2nd round pick. Unfortunately, we don't own a 2nd round pick this year, and I'm doubtful that ownership is willing to buy one. Or that AKME would consider trading assets for one.

[TheSuzerain]

Edey >>>> Cockburn if we're taking gigantic centers in this draft.

[ghostinthepost1]

Okay, so I've looked into Agbaji, Liddell, Branham, Sochan and a few others today. Haven't watched any few games, but my impression is somewhat like this -

Tier 1

Dyson Daniels
Malaki Branham
Ousmane Dieng

Tier 2

Ochai Agbaji
Jaden Hardy

Tier 3

EJ Liddell
Jeremy Sochan

Tier 4

Nikola Jovic
Patrick Baldwin Jr

Obviously someone like Eason dropping would be exceptional but I'm assuming he's not a realistic dropper. Seems like Mark Williams should heavily be in the conversation at 18 as well if he's there, I don't feel great about drafting a big like that, but he clearly has some innate qualities that would help us with some immediate issues.

Big disagree on Sochan being in Tier 3, I absolutely love the guy. Might be the best all around defensive player in the draft and his play making ability at the size really raises his floor. Plus we all saw how stagnant the offense became with Lonzo out, the Bulls need as many play makers as they can get.

[mack2354]

Edey >>>> Cockburn if we're taking gigantic centers in this draft.

Edey is taller and longer but I'd still prefer Kofi. I think Cockburn is the better athlete and more skilled. I wouldn't take either in the top 40 though. They both look like their ceiling is high end back up Centers for 15-18 minutes per game.

[TheSuzerain]

Edey >>>> Cockburn if we're taking gigantic centers in this draft.

Edey is taller and longer but I'd still prefer Kofi. I think Cockburn is the better athlete and more skilled. I wouldn't take either in the top 40 though. They both look like their ceiling is high end back up Centers for 15-18 minutes per game.

Edey seems clearly more skilled to me. Far more assists. Better FT% career wise.

Cockburn might be more athletic but they're both incapable of guarding the perimeter so I just don't really care.

If we're acquiring a gimmick massive center to play 20 minutes per game, then let's lean into the gimmick!

[mack2354]

Edey >>>> Cockburn if we're taking gigantic centers in this draft.

Edey is taller and longer but I'd still prefer Kofi. I think Cockburn is the better athlete and more skilled. I wouldn't take either in the top 40 though. They both look like their ceiling is high end back up Centers for 15-18 minutes per game.

Edey seems clearly more skilled to me. Far more assists. Better FT% career wise.

Cockburn might be more athletic but they're both incapable of guarding the perimeter so I just don't really care.

If we're acquiring a gimmick massive center to play 20 minutes per game, then let's lean into the gimmick!

The Illini players look to score off iso or when going around screens more than the Purdue players. Kofi has fewer assists because his teammates look to score on their own more. The Purdue players lean more on throwing the ball into their big man with the huge height advantage which leads to more opportunities for Edey to kick it back out for an assist. More assists don't equal more skilled. The way teams play are a huge factor in that.

Russell Westbrook has more assist per game this season than Steph Curry, Giannis, a pure pass first PG in Mike Conley, and several other allstars/quality starters. Nobody thinks Westbrook was very skilled this year.

Edey has a more skilled ft shot and mid range but when I look at him in the post it looks like Edey just shoots over the top of much smaller people. Kofi has the better footwork which will translate better at the next level.

[TheSuzerain]

Edey is taller and longer but I'd still prefer Kofi. I think Cockburn is the better athlete and more skilled. I wouldn't take either in the top 40 though. They both look like their ceiling is high end back up Centers for 15-18 minutes per game.

Edey seems clearly more skilled to me. Far more assists. Better FT% career wise.

Cockburn might be more athletic but they're both incapable of guarding the perimeter so I just don't really care.

If we're acquiring a gimmick massive center to play 20 minutes per game, then let's lean into the gimmick!

The Illini players look to score off iso or when going around screens more than the Purdue players. Kofi has fewer assists because his teammates look to score on their own more. The Purdue players lean more on throwing the ball into their big man with the huge height advantage which leads to more opportunities for Edey to kick it back out for an assist. More assists don't equal more skilled. The way teams play are a huge factor in that.

Russell Westbrook has more assist per game this season than Steph Curry, Giannis, a pure pass first PG in Mike Conley, and several other allstars/quality starters. Nobody thinks Westbrook was very skilled this year.

Edey has a more skilled ft shot and mid range but when I look at him in the post it looks like Edey just shoots over the top of much smaller people. Kofi has the better footwork which will translate better at the next level.

There is no offensive system in the history of basketball that says a big can't pass to the open man.

Edey had 44 assists in 700 minutes last year. Cockburn has 47 assists in 2500 career minutes. Edey is the better passer and it's not particularly close.

And given Edey's size, I think his plan to shoot over the top of smaller people actually translates just fine. He's gigantic.

[d boy gentleman]

As a guy, I try to avoid cock burn...

But, in all seriousness, I believe that there will better options than Kofi at 18 given that I believe that one of Williams(unlikely, but hey, a guy can dream), Kessler or Koloko will be there and are better options than he is. However, if he goes undrafted or AK buys back in the 2nd, he would be a good pick.