Grading the Bulls draft, the Bulls in 2014, and some other doodads (or Why I'm In Love With A Yugoslavian).

I am completely relieved that the Bulls did not draft Marshon Brooks. Marshon's offensive numbers are derived from volume shooting. A lot of volume shooting. All his efficiency numbers are pretty unpretty. And he has no range to speak of. Do you really want to put a perceived black hole with no range next to Derrick Rose? I don't even know if he plays defense, but I've read that he's pretty apathetic on that end of the court. A nonchalant defensive player on a Tom Thibodeau team? HAH.

What we need next to Derrick Rose was not in the draft, at least not in the latter half of the draft. The only type of guard that would have been a positive for out team is either a Norris Cole or Charles Jenkins type. The former as a better back up for D.Rose than C.J. Watson and a stabilizer for the second unit and the latter as a Ben Gordon/Jamal Crawford/Jason Terry lightening in a bottle, offensive type. 

Even with all of that, I have no problem with Butler. He actually makes a lot of sense. As it stands, our roster has no option at the 3 outside of Luol, at least not one that plays enough D to warrant time in Thibs rotation. Korver doesn't really count because we used him at the 2 much more than the 3 last season. Thats why Luol played nearly 42 minutes a game. And he can't do that again. We saw why when Lebron went nuts on us in the ECF. It also doesn't bode well for future health and we know enough about Luol's past that it should concern us some. And I believe he intends to play full minutes for England's national team. That's a whole lot of basketball. Butler is the best pick for us from this draft in the 30 spot because he will get more minutes than any other option. And his attitude/versatility on defense is what's going to get him in Thibs rotation. [Grade - A-]

And by the by, the Mirotic pick was genius. Absolutely loved it. We weren't going to able to commit to three more rookie contracts. Picking Mirotic gave us some financial wiggle room for the present in order to land a more immediate impact at the 2 and a tantalizing talent for the future. Everything I've read about Mirotic says that based on talent, he was a top 10 pick. Even more importantly, his skills seem to fit perfectly between D.Rose and Noah. If you want more detailed analysis, go to espn, draftexpress, or any number of other websites but basically, Mirotic has range out to 3, can handle, plays solid if not spectacular defense, and is 6'10". He's biggest negative is strength, which can be remedied relatively easily, and rebounding, which is offset by being surrounded by Luol Deng, Taj Gibson/Omer Asik, Carlos Boozer, and Joakim Noah who are all above average to elite rebounders for their position (for those who do not realize, Carlos is an elite level defensive rebounder based on advanced and standard metrics). [Grade - A]

Our vacancy at the two is best filled via either option A, the trade or option B, the market. Ideally, I would love to trade for OJ Mayo or sign Aaron Afflalo. However, Afflalo is a RFA (and it seems Denver is going to match any offer for him). Therefore, I believe that trading for OJ is going to be the best way to get the most out of our off guard position. He fits perfectly. He can handle some, doesn't need to penetrate for his offense, has range out to the 3, is athletic enough to be a good (not great) defender, and, quite importanlty, he's young. When we become close to shedding Boozer's albatross our starting five could quite conceivably be Rose, Mayo, Deng, Mirotic, and Noah. Rose would be ~25, Mayo ~26, Deng ~29, Mirotic ~23, and Noah ~29.  And this on top of whatever we would have on our bench like Asik and/or Gibson (more on this later). That sounds f'in good to me. Now all of this depends on what the new CBA will be and if Mirotic is as good as they say he is (i.e. draftexpress.com), but it's very, very promising. This along with that Charlotte pick finally free as a bird... I would be simply f'in overwhelmed by the possibilities. 

::I mentioned the 'Asik and/or Gibson' comment because well, we're going to have to trade one of them, if we want to get OJ Mayo, plus some future first rounders (however, in my scenario keeping that Charlotte pick would be very beneficial because thats probably when we're going to see it after all those lottery protections on it run out). So the trade would look something like this: Gibson or Asik, future unprotected 1st (not Charlotte's), Ronnie Brewer, and future second for OJ Mayo and whatever is needed to make the money work OR 2 future first rounders (including Charlotte's pick), Brewer, Jimmy Butler (persuade Memphis that he can be a solid backup/damage control for Rudy Gay), and a future second for OJ Mayo and whatever is needed for money purposes. Obviously that second choice is going to be a hard sell. That's why I believe it will be most likely Asik or Gibson in our future. Gibson would be more useful for the present because of his value as Boozer's defensive Mr. Hyde but Asik is better for our future because he's young and well, he's big. There's a reason why most NBA draft flops tend to be big (i.e. Olowakandi, Darko, Bowie, Oden?, etc.). NBA teams realize the value of size, the rarity of that size, and the need to take risks in order to acquire them. Asik has proven that he can anchor any defense. In essence,with Noah and Asik, we won't need to look for another player at arguably the hardest position to fill for the next 5-7 years. But then again, I'd be fine with Gibson too. Flip a coin.::

All in all, this has been the third happiest I've ever been with a Bulls draft (1. MJ 2. D.Rose) relative to where we were picking, the value we received from those picks, and the potential it brings for the future.