The Anthony Davis trade changes how the Bulls should attack the 2019 NBA Draft

While there is much speculation over the Bulls moving up, they no longer need such an aggressive approach

Soooooo let’s all take a collective deep breath. The New Orleans Pelicans traded mega-disgruntled, mega-superstar Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that did not involve the Chicago Bulls.

The New Orleans Pelicans — now equipped with the №1 and №4 picks — are in the driver’s seat of the 2019 NBA Draft. While there are reports of the Pelicans being interested in moving the №4 pick, everything seems to indicate that Lonzo Ball is the franchise point guard in New Orleans, making it highly unlikely they take top point guard prospects Darius Garland or Coby White. I haven’t made a second edition of my mock draft, and may not release one ahead of June 20, but below is a quick snapshot of how I expect things to go leading up to the Bulls’ pick.

New Orleans Pelicans: Zion Williamson, Duke [Editor’s note: Duh] Memphis Grizzlies: Ja Morant, Murray State New York Knicks: RJ Barrett, Duke New Orleans Pelicans: Jarrett Culver, Texas Tech Cleveland Cavaliers: De’Andre Hunter, Virginia Phoenix Suns: Coby White, North Carolina Chicago Bulls: Darius Garland, Vanderbilt

As you can see above, I didn’t make any bold predictions here and the Bulls end up with the player I and many others have ranked as the clear-cut second best point guard prospect in the class. Usually when the Bulls “play it safe” as they did with the Wendell Carter Jr. selection, it leads to a collective groan from the fanbase — of which I am guilty of during the 2018 NBA Draft as an admitted MPJ stan — but this year will be different.

Finally, “playing it safe” and selecting the prospect most coveted by #BullsNation will intersect.

Williamson, Morant and Barrett as the first three picks is pretty much set in stone. The draft really starts with the Pelicans and their executive vice president of basketball operations, David Griffin. I expect Griffin to due his due diligence and explore finding a player who can help the Pelicans be a playoff team in the 2019–20 season. But I believe the point guard-needy Phoenix Suns will take the same approach as the Bulls in waiting to see who falls. This will lead to the Pels taking Culver, whose defensive intensity, shot creation skills and attitude make him an amazing fit next to Zion, Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday specifically.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are ushering in a new era with John Beilein as the head coach, and the longtime University of Michigan head coach is reportedly a fan of De’Andre Hunter, according to Sam Vecenie of The Athletic. And on top of Vecenie’s note, Beilein was excellent in getting the Wolverines to develop into one of the top defenses in the nation. It is easy to see how Beilein and the rest of the Cavaliers organization could buy into the idea of Hunter and Collin Sexton leading the charge for a physical, defense-first. It takes a ton of projection but considering how high they seem on Sexton, Hunter’s stability would be a boon.

Finally we get to the Bulls main offseason rival in terms of all things point guard related: the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns will no doubt be very active leading up to June 20, trying to figure out a way to move up and land whichever point guard prospect is higher on their big board. Without knowing exactly what the other franchise is thinking, I expect both the Suns and Bulls to stand pat leading up to the draft.

I believe the Suns will take Coby White for the simple reason that I believe there was some smoke to the fire that was Woj’s reports of the Suns not taking college scouting seriously in the past. This is not to say that I believe the Suns don’t scout prospects, just that I believe that they definitely pay more attention to production (statistics) rather than what they see on film.

With that being said, I see the Suns — who want to win now [Editor’s note: I know…] — taking White’s 562 points over 35 games and Sweet 16 run with North Carolina, over Garland’s deeper Team USA background and elite ball handing ability.

And that’s how the Bulls end up with their point guard of the future. By waiting.

In the event that the Suns take Garland — the smarter move for them in my humble opinion — the Bulls would be able to take White, whose elite off-the-catch 3-point shooting would open even more driving lanes for Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen.

Now I know what you’re thinking: “But Michael, what if Garland AND White are off the board by 7?”

Well in that case, that means one of these talented wings will fall into the Bulls’ lap: Jarrett Culver, Cam Reddish or De’Andre Hunter. Each one of those wings would be a gigantic upgrade over the situation on the wing on last year’s bench unit. Players like Reddish and Hunter have specific value to the players who could scale up a position and play power forward in lineups where Markkanen is playing center, something the Bulls want to do more of this year.

The point of this post is this: the Bulls are in a better position heading into the 2019 NBA Draft than they were the day before, and they have the Anthony Davis trade to thank.

[Editor’s note: If the Bulls take Jaxson Hayes, I will be so damn angry]