(with the caveat that if Blair is there, you obviously take him, and run away laughing maniacally). There are so many guards and tweeners in this draft that are pretty hard to differentiate between, so I think there will be at least one of those guys available later in the draft. A Hansbrough / Sam Young draft would be a solid low-ceiling, high-floor draft. I’d also be happy with Hansbrough / Budinger (Budinger might not be the player people hoped he’d be, but I still think he is versatile enough and good enough all around that he can be a very solid contributor).

Things to like about Hansbrough as a rotational big, off the bench:

1. He can hit the jump shot. (DX using Synergy’s data lists his jump shooting % at 42% which is fairly respectable – if he continued hitting jumpers at that rate he’d be in the LMA, David West range of PF jump shooters).

2. He’s annoying. This is a good thing for success on defense. Nocioni was able to use this to his advantage before his legs and feet betrayed him and that same pesky, annoyingness began hurting the team (because he ran away from his man to chase the ball). Battier annoys the crap out of opposing offensive players. Noah does this well, too. Rodman was a master at this. I know it sounds stupid, and it’s not an argument that I’ve completely thought out, but it seems to me like the players who have a great deal of success on the defensive end are pretty good at irritating their man on defense and taking them out of their comfort zone. Now, this might be self-selection bias because if a guy is shutting you down, chances are you’re going to find him annoying, so it’s a bit of a chicken and egg thing. Hansbrough is limited athletically, but he seems to be committed to trying on defense which is half the battle.

3. He can score around the rim, even with a double team. Note this DX quote: “For one, he ranked third amongst all PFs in points per possession in terms of finishing around the basket, at 1.39. His field goal percentage was fairly average here—64%, just slightly under the mean—but the fact that he draws fouls on an outstanding 20% of his possessions (easily ranking him first) made him substantially more efficient in that regard.”
 
4. He’ll draw fouls and help get teams into the penalty. He drew 7.8 fouls per pace adjusted 40 (per www.kenpom.com), which put him 4th in the country in fouls drawn. This is a hugely underrated part of the game, especially for bench players. If you can continue to get teams to rack up fouls while your starters are on the bench so that you get into the penalty early in quarters it can be a huge boon for your team.

Basically, there’s a lot to like out of Hansbrough, especially since he’s not really undersized. A couple of things that still give me pause are (1) his relatively low rebounding rates for a big man and (2) if his vertical, shuttle, etc. are below average it might be an indicator that he’s not an NBA athlete, despite his adequate size and very good pro production. Buttressing my viewpoint here is that he doesn’t get a lot of steals or blocks to go with his merely adequate rebounding numbers. Steals, blocks, and rebounds are the best statistical indicators of athleticism, so I still have questions about Hansbrough’s athletic ability, but I’m willing to be proven wrong if he shows out well on the combine drills and measurements re: jumping and agility.

All in all, though, given his proficiency for scoring around the basket and with his back to the basket, his bevy of post moves – even against double teams, his effort on defense, and his ability to hit jump shots combined with the new knowledge of his adequate size makes me think that he’s probably worth picking at #16, and definitely worth it at #26.

The Bulls need to establish a player development pipeline.
We should expect the players we draft to occupy positions 10-15 on the roster regardless of draft position.
Draft based on potential and the Bulls’ ability to develop players.
16 and 26 are very low positions plus this is a weak draft.

Since we have logjams at PG, SG, and SF, (pending any trades) draft bigs with the most potential, for example Daye and Mullins.

If the Bulls’ aren’t good at player development, change the culture (Pax).

Example: Jermaine O’Neill.

depends on if the Bulls are going to use and keep both their picks.

If we’re going to use both, I’d rather go for upside with the first pick and take someone like Mullens because I suspect there will be some decent “step right in” guys at the end of the draft like Young or Summers.

If we’re selling one or trading one, then yes, go for the low cieling, high floor guy just to add someone cheaply to our rotation.

It’s what Danny Ainge smartly did in consecutive second rounds of ’06 and ’07, getting guys like Leon Powe and Glen Davis. And when he had to gut his team to acquire KG, there were capable players to fill the remaining holes.

It was shocking this year how we went from a “too-deep” team (at least in theory, the reality of Larry Hughes aside) to a seven deep team with one trade and some injuries…

I’d like to see us coax someone behind us to trade for the 16 pick. He’ll be there at least through 22-23, so no reason to overpay. If we could grab both him and Ellington in the last 10 picks of the first round, I’d be ecstatic.

Like Budinger. If you think you can resign Gordon, you draft TH and hope to get a backup SF like Summers at 26. (assuming Blair is gone by 16)

Hansbrough – 34 Max Vertical – 18 Reps of 185 – 11.12 Lane Agility – 3.27 3/4 Court Sprint

do you guys think ellington is going to be there at #26?

I HATED Hansbrough in college (also hate Joakim Noah). But after seeing he measured out at 6’ 10" in shoes, GIVE ME HANSBROUGH AT 16 UNLESS THERE IS SOMEBODY WE CANNOT PASS ON!!! I always thought he was closer to 6’7" than 6’10". But if indeed he is that big then I could live with him at 16.

Instant toughness at the 4. You need guys like him to win. He is an absolute Bull (literally) and would be an animal on the glass. Not going to be an offensive star or anything but at his size he could be somebody that defenses have to pay attention to.

Hansbrough wouldn’t be a good fit for this team. We got guys who shoot mid range jumpers in Tyrus Thomas, Brad Miller, Luol Deng and John Salmons. We don’t need this guy. We need a 7’0 who can dominate inside, not this guy. We need to add bench players. Find good solid bench players in this draft who can bring good play off our bench and who will sign cheap and then in ‘10 we sign Chris Bosh. We don’t need Hansbrough. He never faced big guys like there are in the NBA. Howard, KG, Yao, Bynum, Gasol and Bosh will all beat this guy up inside. He can barely dunk and he’s not the greatest shooter. I say no to Hansbrough.