Bulls Draft Summary
By Joseph Slowik, Draft Analyst

Based purely on talent, the Bulls did well in this draft. They started the night by drafting LaMarcus Aldridge, but they traded him to Portland along with a future second round pick for the rights to LSU forward Tyrus Thomas and former first round pick Viktor Khryapa almost immediately. They used the same type of trade later in the draft, trading the rights to Rodney Carney for the rights to Swiss wing player Thabo Sefolosha.

Thomas is a forward with great athleticism that could be a star in the future. Sefolosha is a big wing player that was flying up the draft board. Khryapa is a long, talented forward that has had limited playing time thus far in the NBA.

However, for the Bulls it doesn’t quite cut it. They came into the draft desperately needing instant production in the post, especially offensively. They came away from the draft without filling that need.

Thomas still needs to improve in numerous areas before making a significant impact. For a PF, he’s undersized for the NBA at this point in his career. At 6’8”, he weighs only 217 pounds, making him a better fit at SF right now. His lack of polish is also an issue. His offensive repertoire is very under-developed. Most of his points at LSU came at point blank range, usually on dunks. He occasionally showed decent range and accuracy with his jumpshot, but it was not a major part of his game. His post game is also virtually non-existent, and he simply doesn’t have the ball-handling or perimeter shooting abilities to play on the perimeter. He’s an impressive prospect because of his athleticism, but he’s also a bit of a project.

The team now has four players that are primarily small forwards at this point in their respective careers with the additions of Thomas and Khyrapa, and un-drafted free agent signee Luke Schenscher is the only true center on the roster. They’re also short on dependable options at PF. The team will now have to turn to free agency or make a trade in order address that concern.

Sefolosha was a very good pick however. He has been a solid player for Angelico Biela of the Italian League this year. He is a versatile swing man that is dangerous in the open floor. He has above average ball-handling and passing skills for a player of his size. He outside shot was an issue in the past, but he has made strides in that area. He still needs to improve his shooting off the dribble however. He should fit well in the perimeter rotation for the Bulls.

This draft could work out in the future if Thomas fulfills his potential, but in the short term it puts the team in a bind in the post. Sefolosha was a solid pick and gives the team a taller wing player to complement Ben Gordon, but LaMarcus Aldridge was a better fit for this team than Thomas, at least in the short term. Right now this draft rates as a C- because of the uncertainty that it creates. Their post situation is still a serious question mark, and no one knows what to expect from Thomas.

Maybe in your opinion its a C- but almost every other board rates our Draft as an A, as do I. Now way in hell do they deserve a C-. They came out with what they wanted to get and thats length and athletiscm. Who cares if they didnt get a NBA ready player, this team is on the rise and made the playoffs the last two years. We can afford to take a chance on a player like Thomas.

Good post, bad grade IMO

Nice write up Zoom. Im with you in that it appears that Aldridge made a little bit more sense for this team... We really needed a PF/C now, and for the future. And instead we got a SF/PF. Maybe for other teams TT would make more sense, but i dunno about this team. But o well.... Lets see how TT turns out, and hope that Paxson did his homework...

I completely understand why you gave our daft a C-. However, we did have two lottery picks, and we did get some good, young, talented players, compared to other teams. We should be happy.

The only thing i hate thinking about is this... We had a GREAT chance of getting Both Aldridge, and some1 like Brewer. To me, that would have been an A+ draft, especially for this team. Im actually not dissapointed at all that we got Thabo... But Im not sure about Thomas. Just too many question marks of how he fits both now, and for the future when we already have players that play somewhat the same position as he does. And will we get any low post scoring any time soon? If we get a guy like Pryzbilla, or Nazr, it still wont solve our problem now, and for the future.... Al Harrington is a guy thatcan provide scoring from the PF position... But then again, we would be adding another SF/PF.

My grade is a C+

Zoom, I agree completely. A C- is right on the money. Sef fills a need, but Thomas does not by any means. He has great potential...but this team needs low post scoring now and Aldridge was a better fit.

If Thomas is a bust like Chandler..this will be a big missed opportunity. But, he could be an all star in 4 years as well...

Only time will tell if this draft was an A or an F...

My god you guys get over it! Thomas is our man, No way in hell does our Draft Deserve a C-.. EVERY Single board and site Ive been to has given the Bulls no lower than an A-! so stfu and move on

http://www.nba.com/jsp/TrivialPollResult.j...l&useFrag=false

NBA Draft.net

Another A grade

Fox Sports Grades Us an A

Who cares what every other board says?

The person who wrote this article has this opinion, and provided reasons for why he gave his opinion.

You can disagree, but just because 100 people say its true, does not make it true.

Anyways I agree that the Bulls draft could of been better and deserves to be some where in the C- range. I think Aldridge was the better player than Thomas, so when the Bulls passed on Aldridge they have to suffer grade wise.

I do disagree and its not just 100 people, Thousands! And when 99.9 % says we get an A yet a board on here thinks we sucked makes all of you look like fools. Answer this, John Paxson set out to get more athletic and get a bigger gaurd to take pressure off ben and kirk, did they not? Did they succeed? Both answers are Yes!
I know its your opinions and thats ok but it frustrates me when you dont see the big picture.

BTW, did anyone else notice how stiff Lamarcus was when he walked up to shake hands with the commissiner?

Ah nvm, Ill let all you Anti-Tyrus fans do what you think is right

Since basketball is not my area of expertise, Im not really going to get into an argument why thousands of people are wrong.

But in other sports that I do know about, plenty of times experts and fans have not known spiff.

I have seen Thomas and Aldridge with my own eyes, I like what Aldridge would have brought to the team. I think he would have provided an interior presence that could have complimented Chandler.

When the Bulls drafted Chandler and Curry, the Bulls were trying to get younger and bigger. Did they, yes. So I guess that was an A+ draft mission accomplished.

At the time it sure as hell was. Im not saying Thomas will be a superstar, he can be and hope he will be but, At the time you would think both Curry and Chandler would be stars and they deserved an A, you can say the same for this draft but l8r down the road is where you really see how the draft turned out.

The almighty Draftexpress gave us a B-, I would grade it somehwere between C- and B-.

All gotta say is this... Just because Paxson drafted some players doesnt mean he gets an automatic "A" from every1. I dont know when Paxson became the number 1 GM at drafting players, in the history of drafts...lol Paxson can make mistakes you know.... And that remains to be seen.... The bottom line is this. Every1 has an opinion on what grade our draft deserves... and if you can back it up w/ reasons, like some of us have, then thats a good thing.

Please dunnot take this personal, or take it in the wrong way... But you're making it seem like we deserve an A just because other people think so... Yet ur not giving us reasons why YOU think we deserve an A... This and that, and that and blah gave us an A and so on... And we should too? I dont think so.... We can think for ourselfs too and can give the draft any grade we want... Some people arent gonna agree w/ every1, but hey, thats not really suppose to happen. Thats life...

Woah, that article basically sums up my thoughts exactly. I even told one of my friends after the draft ended that I gave it a C-.

wtf? I have given more reasons than all of you guys have and thats a fact. Let me repeat myself then.

Paxson came in this draft to get more athletic and more length, did he do that? In the best way possible. Wether or not you though we should have kept Aldridge isnt your decision to make. Therfore we got what we wanted and even more with Khryapa who is another athletic player. Alls im saying is, look at what other boards are saying. I find it hard that every other board is giving us good grades but this one, not sure why but I feel most of you just think he will be the next Tyson Chandler and that doesnt look to be the case.

Tyrus had a year in college and produced against teams like Duke, Texas and so on.. Tyson never played one game at the college level and thats why drafting highschool players are tough decisions. O and it always helps to be able to catch the ball . Tyrus can develop into a really good player down the road and im hoping he does just that. They Deserve an A.

O and BTW, when Tyrus becomes a great player or far surpasses ur expectations dont ANY of you come back and fess up about tyrus being a good player and dont jump on his bandwagon then. Your Anti-Tyrus fans for good if thats the case, I hate people who jump on the bandwagon late.

Yeah but the Bulls also came into the draft needing a low post threat... Will thomas be able to do that? All i know is that Aldridge looks more promising to be able to do that for this team in the future...

-Also, We need TALL PLAYERS. PERIOD. Teams NEED SIZE. And Paxson didnt bring that to our team in this years draft. Maybe some people think that tyrus will grow 2-5 inches?

And yes We can still adress out front court size because we can sign free agents... but the players that are available, and that are tall, dont have much of a promising offensive low post game. Not compared to a guy like a young Aldridge.

The bottom line is this... because Paxson didnt adress some of our "NEEDS"... IMO, we dont deserve an A. Im sure TT is gonna be a nice player. Prolly not soon, but im pretty sure he will. But i still have doubts from the bulls if we will ever get a good go-to guy in the post.

Tyrus thomas will prolly play more like a SF, so i dunno if he willl be our low post player for the future. And are we always gonna be just a "perimeter" type of team??

Also... i still think that adding another SF is a WASTE when we could have drafted a true PF which is badly needed now, and for the future. Thats why i dont think we deserve an A.

Big Ben+Tyrus Thomas+Tyson Chandler= 12 blocked shots per game with 6 of them sent into the 12th row

Absolutely! I think that Pax's strategy coming into this draft was to do what most teams on the rise and at the top of the league are not able to do: draft for ceiling, not for floor. I believe that the Bulls are more optimistic than most about their ability to sign quality FA big men--which is a relief to be able to say. Free agents want to come to Chicago! w00t.

Also, I believe that Thomas will turn out to be a superior PF to Aldridge. It's the leaping ability that sells me...

Or not. I doubt all 3 would be on the court at the same time...ever. And I dont expect Tyson to be a Bulls by October...

Welcome aboard. I think right now you guys are over-rating our blocks because Chandler may not be back and Thomas will not get a ton of minutes early on because he is definately incredibly raw. We will use him for his energy and athletism early but he's going to have to practice hard and work hard if he wants to turn into the player the Bulls think he can be.

There is a lot of "risk" associated with our draft and I always thought of Pax more as the conservative guy but he rolled the dice here knowing that next year there is going to be a very very deep crop of legit bigs who we can take (probably the last draft where we really can accumulate any more talent to help put us over the top).

Because of that he felt this would be as good a time as any to try and lure a potential superstar.

By the way I want to say welcome aboard

As far as draft grade, I think Sef was a relatively safe pick because he's a pretty strong Euro guy with good fundementals and he really fills a need. In Tyrus' case there is a chance that he totally busts but there is also a chance he's the best pick of this entire draft so in a best case scenario this draft is definately an A, in a worse case scenario, Aldridge proves he was the safe pick (by just turning into a solid, but not an All Star PF) while Sef does his thing and in that case the pick turns into a C or so.

What will happen, I don't know, but I got a lot of faith in Skiles who is a great great teacher.

Teams cant always go for the best pick available... Just look at the Atlanta Hawks... Why do they have soo many SFs? lol

-Plus its not like Aldridge doesnt look like he could be a nice, solid big man for us in the future...

BTW, Welcome!

That was basically my point. I don't see how you can call it a slam dunk right now. The grade will change greatly depending how Thomas turns out and what players we still add in FA or by trade.

I don't really care what other people think about the draft. I try to be an impartial and unbiased writer. I honestly don't think that Thomas was the best pick for our team, not when we have a team that can win right now. Tyrus would have been a solid pick if we were in the middle of a rebuilding plan, but that's not our situation.

What other people think doesn't really mean anything. There are very few sure things in the draft, and Tyrus clearly isn't one of them. A lot of people thought that Sam Bowie was going to be a far better pro than Jordan too.

Are you really trying to make judgements based on his walk to the podium? What's next, how firm his handshake is?

Plus Aldridge was probably dissapointed that he wasnt coming to the Bulls... Did u see his face? poor guy. I remember his agent saying how he didnt want Aldridge ging to the TrailBlazers... and what happened? yeah....

Alot of media outlets gave the Bull 01 draft an A as well.