(670 The Score) For the first time in their current rebuild, the Bulls experienced some luck in the NBA Draft lottery.
Chicago landed the No. 4 pick in the NBA Draft after a combination of four ping-pong balls went its way Thursday evening. After finishing the coronavirus-halted regular season with a 22-43 record that was the seventh-worst in the NBA, the Bulls had a 32% chance of landing one of the top four picks entering the evening. Their exact odds to land the No. 4 pick were 8.5%.
"How happy we are to move up, to break recent tradition," new Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said. "We know that moving up from seven to four, it was a huge deal for our organization and the city of Chicago and the fans of the Chicago Bulls."
The Timberwolves won the No. 1 pick, followed by the Warriors at No. 2 and the Hornets at No. 3. Like the Bulls, the Hornets jumped into the top four.
From the team's home base of the Advocate Center, Karnisovas represented the Bulls virtually on the ESPN telecast. The Bulls have already spent "a ton of time" watching video of prospects and interviewing some of them virtually as well, Karnisovas said.
As most teams and executives proclaim, the Bulls will select the "best available on the board," Karnisovas said. They'll always take calls from other teams to entertain trade offers, he added.
"I don't think you address needs at the No. 4," Karnisovas said. "You get the best talent. So that's what we're going to be looking for, with the highest-upside player."
The NBA Draft is scheduled to be held on Oct. 16, though there has been some speculation across the league that the date could be moved back as the league continues to assess the financial fallout of the pandemic and determines the salary cap and luxury tax figures.
The pandemic is also altering the traditional draft preparation for prospects and talent evaluators. The NBA Draft Combine is expected to be held virtually at regional sites in September.
Karnisovas likes to see all the prospects on his draft board play twice in person, but that might not happen this year.
"We'll see what the NBA is going to come up with in terms of virtual combine," he said. "There will be a combination of physicals and testing and again video interviews. Just going through the process, I think it's going to help us to get to the last week before the draft when we're going to come up with a consensus. We spend a ton of time with video and a lot of time interviewing prospects. A consensus is going to arrive. But it will probably be more clear with a week to go before the draft.
"I like live scouting. No matter what, you gotta go see them. It's going to be limited time now because you don't see them fresh. We haven't played basketball since March. So it's going to be a little more difficult."
Karnisovas acknowledged there could also be more guesswork involved and less of a consensus than usual on prospects.
"It will probably be difference of opinion from team to team, which creates opportunities," he said. "So that's the way I'm looking at it. I don't think it will be be better or worse. I think there are opportunities there, and we're going to take advantage of them. There's going to be variations of opinion. Some teams are going to look at that player at the 4. Some teams are going to look at him at 18. There's going to be difference of opinion."
The Bulls selected at the No. 7 slot in each of the past three years. They acquired that pick in 2017 by trading star Jimmy Butler to the Timberwolves and used it to select big man Lauri Markkanen. The Bulls landed the No. 7 selection in the lottery in 2018 and 2019, after which they drafted center Wendell Carter Jr. and guard Coby White, respectively.
The Bulls also own the No. 44 pick in the second round.
Cody Westerlund is a sports editor for 670TheScore.com and covers the Bulls. Follow him on Twitter @CodyWesterlund.
