The Fastbreak: Bulls draft intel, evaluating Karnisovas’ first 5 drafts, Buzelis’ offseason

The Fastbreak: Bulls draft intel, evaluating Karnisovas’ first 5 drafts, Buzelis’ offseason

Welcome in everybody to another edition of the fast break. I am Casey Johnson. We are in the off season taping this shortly after Memorial Day. And as usual, we like to look forward, but to this week’s we’re going to look back first. Believe it or not, this is Arturus Carnish and his staff’s sixth NBA draft. Can you believe that? So, we thought we’d start this episode with a look back at his first five overall drafts. Most scouts will tell you you need about three to five years to analyze drafts. So, we can clearly analyze that first draft 2020. You remember it. First round pick of Patrick Williams, second round pick of Marco Simonovich, who is no longer in the NBA. Uh I actually remember back then I was working for a different television station. I remember actually writing a blog potentially comparing Marco Simonovich to Nicole Joic. Silly me. But yeah, you know, they played for the same team and overseas and both were second round picks and you were hoping uh that Arturus would hit on another second round pick, but alas that did not happen to Marco who I believe is still playing overseas. And as far as Patrick Williams, look, the fact we’re entering uh the sixth year of his career and there’s still question marks about his consistency, his ability to stay healthy, little troublesome. That draft in 2020 is proving to be overall not a great one. So, I always have been less hung up on the fourth overall selection for Patrick Williams and more on the fact that he projected to be an ideal 3 and D two-way player. And there are still question marks about his consistency. And should we mention that Tyrese Hallebertton was in that draft is playing in the conference finals. All right. So, overall 2020 not the best start for this regime. 2021 that first round pick went to the Orlando Magic in the form of Fran Vagner as part of that Nicolola trade. Second round pick IO Dumu. I think we can all agree that they hit on that pick. The Illinois product was not expected to be there dropped to 38 and the Bulls snatched him up and he has become a very solid player for the Bulls. obviously experiencing some injury issues now, but if anybody knows I Dumu is going to attack rehab and be back ready to go for next season. Let’s call 2021 a win. 2022 Bulls only had a first round pick. It was Dalon Terry. I will say this about Dalon Terry. This is my personal opinion. He actually won me over a little bit last year. I was very skeptical of Dalon Terry and it’s really still hard to project him. He is such a young and raw prospect. I do have scouts ask me all the time like what is one NBA thing he does extremely well. And really the only answer to that to this point is plays hard. Now that believe it or not is an NBA skill. He did show signs of improvement with his shooting last season. That said, I mean he does not project to be a frontline starter at this point of his career. Uh again, his development story is not fully written, but um he does potentially project to be a solid rotation player. So, we’re going to give this one an incomplete. I’m still not ready to fully judge Dalen Terry, but I do think he showed some nice progress last season. 2023, the Noolic trade books finally close with the first round pick conveying to the Orlando Magic in the form of Jet Howard. And technically not a draft pick. The Bulls did trade for the draft rights to Julian Phillips in the second round, but let’s for the potential this for the uh purpose of this exercise call it a draft pick. And I think we can agree on this second round picks. Yes, they might have missed Marco Simonovich, but I sumu and Julian Phillips to me both project to be solid rotational players wherever they are. You know, Julian Phillips is never going to be probably a frontline starter, but to get a solid rotation piece, two-way potential, improved his shot of last season, a lot last season in the second round is overall a win to me. So, let’s uh give a, you know, solid passable grade to the 2023 uh overall draft selection. And then 2024, Bulls only had a first round pick. It was Modest Buselis, and he is the hype and the hope for the future. So there is Arturnis carnish, excuse me, and his staff’s work through these first five NBA drafts. Why is this important? Well, we’re going to lead into some draft intel for 2025. But as I mentioned many times with the Bulls reacquiring that first round pick in the Zack Lavine trade and having all their first round picks lined up for the future and our tourists asking fans for patience, draft picks are going to be the way out of this mess. they need to hit on these draft picks. So that’s why it’s instructive to look at their history before we look ahead. Now, as far as the 2025 draft, the draft workouts at the Advocate Center are ongoing. There’s, in fact, one going on today while we’re taping this. Some teams open up these draft workouts to the public or the media. I’m I’m not sorry, not the public, the media. The Bulls have chosen not to under this regime. Um, so look, draft workouts are one data point. Um, it’s not the beall end all, but it is nice to obviously get people into your building, put them through your workouts. You’ve obviously also interviewed some of these prospects at the combine. So, the draft workout work has begun and the mock drafts continue to be all over the place for the Chicago Bulls, but there is some common intel uh emerging uh from the combine to now. The first is that Derek Queen’s poor athletic testing of the combine has left open some questions about whether or not he might be a draft night slide. Now again, this is all speculation. It’s way too early and with the Bulls picking 12th, they are not driving the draft board. You don’t know what’s going to unfold in front of them. That said, let’s project and speculate if Derek Queen falls to 12, would he be a fit with the Bulls? He’s obviously a very skilled player. They do need some front court help. I will tell you this, one thing I have heard consistently about the Bulls is they are very focused on stylistically how whoever they pick in the first round will fit with their new philosophy. They obviously are trying to emulate the Indiana Pacers. Get deep, play fast, have two-way players, depth at the wing, depth in the front court. Would Derek Queen fit into that? There are some question marks. This is not again nothing is definitive here and we’re obviously even speculating that Derrick Queen could fall to 12. Um there is some you know different discussions on that but one thing to keep in mind is that fit with the Bulls new uh offensive style will be crucial to this draft pick. Along those lines, Colin Murray Bole, another name you’ve heard mocked and linked to the Bulls. He did meet with them at the combine. great athlete, possibly the best defensive player in the draft, at least defensive prospect in the draft. Uh there are a lot of questions about his shooting ability. Now, can the Bulls, if he’s there at 12, pick him and mold him into a better shooter? They’ve had a lot of success improving some uh recent players shooting performances. That was when Peter Patton was an employee of the team. He no longer is an employee of the team. So, they’ve obviously got to find somebody to, you know, pick up where Peter Patton left off. Um, but Colin Murray Bole is another name you’ve heard mocked and linked to the draft to the Bulls in some mock drafts. And a consistent theme that I’ve heard from the scouts I’ve talked to are question marks about his shooting. So, again, you got to ask yourself if you’re the Bulls, does he fit with the way that we want to play offensively stylistically moving forward? Uh, here’s some new intel. I have heard, you know, we’ve been we’ve been speculating that the Bulls have enough guards on their roster and you’d like to see them maybe use this uh number 12 pick on a front court player. I’ve always said most front offices will tell you you take the best player available. That is always the best philosophy in the draft. So, you get to the draft board, whoever’s there lines up on your pick, you take him, right? What I’ve heard is the Bulls are obviously mindful of the front court need, but they are not hung up on position. They will take the best talent available. And that is why you’ve seen guys like Jace Richardson potentially mocked to the Bulls. He’s obviously a guard on Michigan State. Father had a great NBA career. And uh one name you’ve heard rising um uh the Real Madrid BYU prospect, Jaor Deon. He’s getting a lot of buzz and he’s obviously a guard that really fits with an ump temple style of play. Uh you’ve heard actually some people comp him to Josh Giddy with his ability to push pace. Uh see great court vision, positional size. So uh he’s rising in a lot of mock drafts. I mean is he potentially a fit for the Bulls at number 12? And the reason why this guard thing actually does make some sense even though we joke about how many guards the Bulls always have on their roster is think about this. I mean, Javon Carter, assuming he picks up his player option, will be expired after next year. Lonzo Ball is essentially on a one-year deal. He’s he’ll be expiring after next year. Dalon Terry, who’s actually more of a guard forward, kind of a wing, they face a contract decision on him. So, really, the only players that project long-term for the Bulls future in the back court are Josh Giddy. I’m just fully assuming he’s going to be resigning here with the Bulls. Kobe White, who is up for restricted free agency. I’m sorry. Yeah, restricted free agency this year, unrestricted free agency in 2026. Um maybe Kevin Herder, he’s expiring after next year. I can see a fit where he’s signed resigned long-term. And then I Dumu, although you might have to face a choice between Iodumu and Kobe White. So the guard picture does thin out after the 2526 season and that is when the Bulls project to have ample salary cap space. So, you can see the Bulls may be selecting a guard in this draft and fitting him in with their young core. Uh the the overall takeaway here is that the Bulls are not hung up on position. They will draft the best talent available. And when you’re picking 12, you don’t know what that’s going to be, but there’s a lot of potential excitement and potential possibilities there. All right, storyline number three. Who’s watching these NBA playoffs as closely as me? I know it’s been fantastic basketball and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. I always said that first round to me was fantastic. We are in the conference finals now and what is one theme that is playing out. It’s clear the importance of two-way players and three and D guys is paramount. I mean these final four teams are loaded with them. Every time you look up OKC or Indiana, there seems like there’s another wing coming in who can lock down somebody defensively and hit a three-point shot. The Bulls are lacking in both these departments. Modis Bisellis obviously has the best potential here for a 3 and D guy. Um Io Duma and Lonzo Ball are both two-way players, but for the current roster construction project to be reserves, and Lonzo Ball may or may not be a long-term fit with Chicago. Um Kevin Herder has some potential as a two-way player, but again, his contracts up after next season and really isn’t a lead guy. He’s more of a complimentary guy. Um, this is where Patrick Williams inconsistency has really impacted the Bulls plans from my perspective. I mean, he was drafted as the prototypical 3 and D guy, but he’s just battled injuries and inconsistency to the point where you still have question marks about what you’re going to get from him on a nightly basis entering year six. So, if the Bulls want to be the Indiana Pacers, which is, you know, the generous takeaway of what you heard from our tourist carnish postseason press conference, the gap is significant and they’ve got to obviously hit on these two-way players, 3 and D type players in with their draft picks moving forward, with their free agency acquisitions moving forward, with any potential trades that they make moving forward. That’s got to be the emphasis because right now the Bulls are lacking in a department that is to me critical to playoff success. All right, our last topic for this edition of the fast break is going to be none other than our guy Modis Bzelis. I mean he, as I mentioned before, represents the hype and the hope for the future. I was actually listening back to some interviews I did with Modis late in the season. Listen to some of these quotes. He said, “I’m not scared of failure, and I’m not really scared of anything.” That’s one quote. Here’s another quote. “I’m always going to be working, getting better. I’m always learning and trying to get better as a player and as a person.” And when I asked him about his favorite thing from his rookie season, he said, “Guarding the best players in the league.” Remember that stretch where he guarded like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and uh Giannis in like a oneweek stretch? It was on the West Coast strip. I actually jokingly asked him in Denver if he was going to be guarding Nicole Joic that night, but uh Joic didn’t play that night. Anyway, the point is this guy is primed for a huge off season. He told me his main emphasis is to be getting stronger. Obviously, that will help in his two-way endeavors. You saw the defensive potential that he flashed last season, particularly with his ability to block shots, create havoc from the weak side. that will only get better as he gets stronger, which I fully expect Modis to do. His dad is a physical therapist, little known fact. Now, I know that’s not weight training, but he’s got all the tick tricks, the trade that will be uh headed Modis’ way, and this is a guy that is just hungry and eager to get better and improve his standing with the Chicago Bulls. I’m excited to see where he goes this off season. Still no word definitively on if he’ll play summer league. There’s always like the, you know, argument for or against. Obviously, he is a frontline starter already after a rookie season. Typically, those guys sit out. I know Modis, he loves to play basketball. He’ll probably want to be there. When we get word on that, we will have it for you here on a future edition of the Fast Break. We certainly appreciate you checking out this episode and we’ll be back with you some with some more information soon. Thanks for watching.

K.C. Johnson returns to the desk to provide the latest intel on the 2025 NBA Draft including the strategy for the Chicago Bulls at No. 12 overall. With another lottery pick in 2025, K.C. looks back at the previous five drafts in the Karnisovas regime and examines what picks were hits and misses.

Stay locked in to CHSN for more episodes of ‘The Fastbreak with K.C. Johnson’ ahead of the June 25th NBA Draft!

#chicagobulls #nbadraft #matasbuzelis

✅: 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 – https://www.youtube.com/@CHSN_Media

📱: 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽
▪️ https://2ly.link/243X4

🖥️ : 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 – bit.ly/3D4PDaR

📱: 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀
▪️ Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CHSN
▪️ Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CHSN
▪️ Follow on X: https://twitter.com/CHSN__
▪️ Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chsn