In a post earlier this morning, we wrote about how the recent trade of forward Luol Deng and the consecutive season-ending injuries to guard Derrick Rose changed the focus of Chicago Bulls’ fans from winning championships, as was the case in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons, to staying abreast of league-wide and even international developments that affect the Bulls’ future.
In this post, we address what NBA draft picks besides their own the Bulls own; and how their fans root for the value of those picks to be maximized.
In the Deng trade, the Bulls acquired Portland’s second round picks for 2015 and 2016. Portland currently has the league’s third best record. Unless the Trail Blazers collapse over the next two seasons, the selections are likely to be at the back end of the draft. However, the San Antonio Spurs have consistently drafted overseas players with first round talent in the second round who dissuaded other clubs because of their long term contracts or expensive buyouts. They then patiently waited until the players’ contracts expired or buyouts become more reasonable before bringing them to Texas. So there could be value in those picks even if Portland remains an elite team.
The Bulls also acquired Sacramento’s protected 2014 first-round pick in the Deng trade. The pick is top twelve protected this year and top ten protected from 2015-2017. If the pick has not been used by then, it becomes a 2018 second round selection. The Kings are currently mired in the bottom of the Western Conference and headed for the NBA draft lottery this season. Bulls’ fans can either hope that the lottery balls fall between thirteen and fifteen this year or eleven and fifteen one of the next three seasons, assuming the Kings remain a lottery regular, or hope the Kings make the playoffs sometime in the next three seasons so that Chicago is guaranteed a first round pick from this selection.
One of the potential sleepers in the Deng trade is the Bulls’ option to swap first round picks with Cleveland next year as long as Cleveland’s selection is not in the top fourteen of the draft. If the Bulls return to the upper echelon of the NBA standings next year and the Cavaliers become a fringe playoff team, the Bulls could be exchanging a pick in the late 20’s for one in the middle teens, which would represent a significant coup.
Finally, there is the first round pick Chicago acquired from Charlotte in 2010. The pick is top ten protected this season, top eight protected next season and unprotected in 2016. The Bobcats have been competitive for a playoff berth so far this season. Bulls’ fans have to decide if they should hope for the pick to manifest in the back end of the lottery of a deep NBA draft this season (between eleven and fifteen); for the pick to roll over to next season when the Bulls might have a chance to claim a slightly higher selection (between nine and fifteen); or hope that the pick rolls over to 2016 when the Bulls could net the first overall pick in the draft.
The longer the pick rolls, the more potential value it gains for the Bulls, provided Charlotte remains a lottery team.
Again, Bulls’ fans focus on winning a championship this season has been sacked. Their attention should now shift to the many draft assets the Bulls have accumulated and, as we wrote about earlier, on when Nikola Mirotic will join the team; how far under the salary cap the team can get this summer; and whether it is more advantageous for the Bulls to finish in the lottery or to make the playoffs.