2013 Draft

[Jimmy Forums]

The first one's just about maxed out, so here's the new one to take us to draft night.

Who's everybody's top targets/ideal loadout at this point in time? Would you rather get a big or a scorer with our first pick? How will the signing of Malcom Thomas affect our draft plan?

My top big targets: Dieng, Adams, Withey, and Norvel Pelle is deserving of a look.
My top guard targets: Gary Harris, Ricky Ledo (I, personally, would maybe put him before Harris), CJ McCollum, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Archie Goodwin.

I think I have to say I'd like to get Dieng with our first pick, and at this point in time it seems that Ricky Ledo could be had late in the 1st or sometime in the 2nd, so whatever (likely minor) move has to be made to nab him is what I'd like to do. Stashing Giannis would also be a steal, but he won't be a secret come draft time.

[Shill]

Supposedly Goodwin has an atrocious bball IQ and a spotty jumper. Don't know if he's a good fit.

[Air Poohdini]

So I guess we won't be trying to go after Cody Zeller?

[League Circles]

I want a strong guy that is over 7 feet tall. Does he exist at our pick?

[JohnnyKILLroy]

I want a strong guy that is over 7 feet tall. Does he exist at our pick?

Adams is gonna be a monster...

[Payt10]

Shabazz Muhhamed, Victor Oladipo, Otto Porter, Anthony Bennett, Archie Goodwin, Kelly Olynyk, Steven Adams, Isiah Austin, CJ McCollum.

All guys that interest me for the Bulls. Heavy on the offense, as it should be.

[BuffaloBull]

I either want a big (preferably a 5) or a wing who can shoot.

Bigs I like:
Alex Len, Gorgui Dieng, Steven Adams

Wings I like:
Sergey Karasev, KCP, Allen Crabbe?

I haven't really watched enough college ball to have an informed opinion though, so I'll be happy to give the FO the benefit of the doubt.

[drosestruts]

What's everyone's preferred source for Draft info?

I know draftexpress and nbadraft.net but neither seem to be making mocks based on team needs or assumption of pick, they just seem to be doing rankings generally.

I like Dieng or Whithey for our first pick, locking up a solid back-up center will be nice, the market for back-up bigs seems to be at an all-time low and this draft has several intriguing options.

For the second round I like Doug McDermmott and Ricky Ledo does have a good highlight reel, unfortunately that's all I know about him.

I don't like using 1st round picks on "potential" guys. We need role players on reasonable contracts and the best place to find that is the draft. If you want to high risk high reward pick use that in the second round.

We have an established team so I'd like to see us pick a guy in the first round who will fill a role on this team and see time on the court next season, no projects.

[drosestruts]

Bonanza Hawk what sets Ricky Ledo apart from a guy like Josh Shelby who was also highly touted coming out of high school and now plays in the D-League?

Again, all I know of him is his highlight reel and well, everyone looks good in a highlight reel.

[basghetti80]

1st rd pick for me comes down to Dieng, Withey, Caldwell-Pope(if he comes out) or Allen Crabbe. My preference leans towards one of the bigs with Dieng more to my liking. In the 2nd rd a guy I really like for this team is Michael Snaer. Obviously if we went wing in 1st rd then a big here is more likely. Maybe Oriahki...

[ManualRam]

I know draftexpress and nbadraft.net but neither seem to be making mocks based on team needs or assumption of pick, they just seem to be doing rankings generally.
.

the majority of mocks to this point are and should be just big boards. you'll see needs taken into consideration once the draft pool and order are set.

[Indomitable]

Bonanza Hawk what sets Ricky Ledo apart from a guy like Josh Shelby who was also highly touted coming out of high school and now plays in the D-League?

Again, all I know of him is his highlight reel and well, everyone looks good in a highlight reel.

He is 6'7 and has a great ceiling.

[kodo]

What's everyone's preferred source for Draft info?

I know draftexpress and nbadraft.net but neither seem to be making mocks based on team needs or assumption of pick, they just seem to be doing rankings generally.

Standard procedure this early.

You can still use their mocks just make an intelligent choice about what your team would pick. Certainly we wouldn't pick up yet another PF in McAdoo (unless Morey is running this show), so move on to the next pick which would be Adams according to DX.

I use DX about 10x more than any other draft source.

But I don't think any mock draft from anyone has ever correctly predicted a Bulls pick since Rose. Our FO seems to really think out of the box.

[League Circles]

I want a strong guy that is over 7 feet tall. Does he exist at our pick?

Adams is gonna be a monster...

I want a strong guy that is over 7 feet tall.

[dafunky1]

Dieng- Just because he fits so well in Tibbs system and for the sheer laughter I would get when Funk tries to say his name.

HardawayIII- A Rose relative on the team, would Reggie approve??

[Jimmy Forums]

Bonanza Hawk what sets Ricky Ledo apart from a guy like Josh Shelby who was also highly touted coming out of high school and now plays in the D-League?

Again, all I know of him is his highlight reel and well, everyone looks good in a highlight reel.

Firstly, Josh Selby was advertised out of high school as a 6'4" point guard when he really turned out to be 6'2", and really had more of a 2-guard game. In short, his not panning out is a result of him being a poor man's Monta Ellis rather than the second-coming of John Wall.

Ledo, on the other hand, is a legit 6'6", maybe 6'7", and his game adequately resembles that of a shooting guard. Also, compare their highlight tapes from high school; Knight was very impressive, but you can tell that Ledo has a much better dribble and feel for the game just by how smoothly he operates. Really I couldn't analyze that any further, it's just something you can see. Other advantages he has over a guy like Selby just from his size is that he'll be able to get his shot off with much more ease, and he also has the potential to become a much better defender/rebounder. And this is not to say that Selby was a bad shooter, but Ledo's range is legit and his jumper consistent and seems effortless.

Ricky gets a bad rap mainly because of a couple things: 1) His being to multiple high schools, and 2) his perceived awful AAU career. Regarding the first, Ledo went to, I believe, 5 high schools in his 4 years, but that was not a function of him being a bad kid or being in trouble or stupid or anything like that. He had a tough background which led to him moving around a lot, and the reason he was ineligible this year was because his academic records were so sporadic and difficult for the NCAA to make sense of, not because there were actually any "violations" or anything like that. (Ledo is actually a fairly intelligent kid.) That is why he was a partial-qualifier and still allowed to practice with the team. One person who had a similar situation is a Kansas player named Ben McLemore, who nobody seems to have any character issues with at all.

Regarding his AAU career, Jeff Goodman of CBS wrote an article somewhere along the line stating that Ledo was a bad teammate, citing that his AAU team had zero wins last summer. However, and this is really a pathetic story, this was purely Goodman dragging Ledo's name through the mud for some reason. The winless team he was referring to was not Ledo's real team, but rather one he was a guest player on because they needed somebody, which is not uncommon on the AAU circuit. By the most recent accounts, Ledo was a good teammate in practice, and was the primary cheerleader on the bench for the Friar's this season. People have also said that since receiving real top-level coaching from a guy like Ed Cooley and being able to practice with a D1 program, he has evolved further as a passer and creator for others.

All the information I have on Ledo is from high school highlight and game tapes, tape from the Friar's pre-season intra-squad game, the tape of him against John Wall, Jameer Nelson, and Jason Terry at the Reebok gym, and from the Friar's message boards.

[kulaz3000]

Best player available or within range that we can trade up for, regardless of position.

Drafting for position has a higher probability of failure than simply drafting the best player, so whatever position that player may play, I don't care. I think the Bulls scouting system has done quite well thus far, and I have confidence that we'll make the right choice.

Someone tell me though, I admit that I have absolutely no clue about the college game, how does this draft rate? And please give me an honest answer, without buying into the hype, hopes and dreams of a young college player with boundless potential which sells dreams to the ticket buyer. What kind of draft is this? No franchise players or franchise changing players, but deep with solid NBA level talent which can make an impact right away is what I'm hearing and reading right now - if that's the case, this is the type of draft that the Bulls brass would relish with.

[Jimmy Forums]

What's everyone's preferred source for Draft info?

I know draftexpress and nbadraft.net but neither seem to be making mocks based on team needs or assumption of pick, they just seem to be doing rankings generally.

I like Dieng or Whithey for our first pick, locking up a solid back-up center will be nice, the market for back-up bigs seems to be at an all-time low and this draft has several intriguing options.

For the second round I like Doug McDermmott and Ricky Ledo does have a good highlight reel, unfortunately that's all I know about him.

I don't like using 1st round picks on "potential" guys. We need role players on reasonable contracts and the best place to find that is the draft. If you want to high risk high reward pick use that in the second round.

We have an established team so I'd like to see us pick a guy in the first round who will fill a role on this team and see time on the court next season, no projects.

To be quite honest, the best way to evaluate prospects is to triangulate what outlets like DX and ESPN have to say with your personal evaluations of highlight tape. Draft Express also posts really exceptional scouting videos on YouTube that go very in-depth. Those are probably the single best scouting videos I've seen, but they've only done them on a select number of players.

[Jimmy Forums]

Best player available or within range that we can trade up for, regardless of position.

Drafting for position has a higher probability of failure than simply drafting the best player, so whatever position that player may play, I don't care. I think the Bulls scouting system has done quite well thus far, and I have confidence that we'll make the right choice.

Someone tell me though, I admit that I have absolutely no clue about the college game, how does this draft rate? And please give me an honest answer, without buying into the hype, hopes and dreams of a young college player with boundless potential which sells dreams to the ticket buyer. What kind of draft is this? No franchise players or franchise changing players, but deep with solid NBA level talent which can make an impact right away is what I'm hearing and reading right now - if that's the case, this is the type of draft that the Bulls brass would relish with.

That's really what it is. Not a single guy who projects to make a splash from the get-go, but there is likely a good number of above-average role players, or adequate but not exceptional starters.

[Keller61]

We can't have Dieng and Deng on the same team - no way Neil Funk can handle that.