The Chicago Bulls will have a lottery pick in 2025. Can they afford to draft for fit?
Having offloaded a swath of win-now players over the last year, it seems the Chicago Bulls are finally determined to get out of the middle-ground of the NBA.
For a decade now, the Bulls have found themselves in NBA no man’s land, not quite in true contention, but not nabbing the top picks at the draft either. Even this season — sans Alex Caruso, and later DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine — the team managed to win 39 games in total, earning the twelfth-best lottery odds.
The team has enticing young prospects. Forward Matas Buzelis comes to front of mind first, having been drafted in 2024 and already showing sigs of two-way prowess. Point guard Josh Giddey — acquired one-for-one in the Caruso trade — also had a solid season. And Coby White has seen a scoring surge in recent years.
With Chicago having an essential “Core Three” of youth, it begs the question: should they draft for fit at the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft?
The answer is resoundingly no.
Despite its best players currently being guards, the Bulls shouldn’t shy away from swinging on high-ceiling guard prospects in 2025’s late-lottery. While Giddey and White have been impressive at various points, Chicago needs to add talent in general, be it at guard, forward or center.
Should they feel a center like Khaman Maluach or Derik Queen is the best available player, so be it. But passing on high-ceiling guards like Kasparas Jakucionis or Jeremiah Fears — especially if they truly believe in their skillsets — certainly isn’t the answer.
Chicago won’t be looking to simply re-tool around existing pieces. But instead is likely looking at landing a truly franchise-changing player the 2026 NBA Draft, which should have plenty. But first, they’ll need to swing on another developmental talent in ’25 to play alongside Buzelis, who is currently the only mainstay on this roster moving forward.