It’s the Chicago Bulls Podcast 37 hosted by Marcus Couch and Wyse Black. We’ve got NBA Draft pick reactions and evaluations for Bulls picks Coby White and Daniel Gafford, plus a preview of Free Agents for the Bulls to target going forward.
Welcome to the Bulls Podcast, coming to you from BullsPodcast.com. This is where we bring you the latest news, reviews, rants, rumors and opinions on the players, coaches and front office of the Chicago Bulls.
We’ve got several topics for this episode. Including:
NBA Draft Reactions
Free Agent Prospects and Targets Going Forward
All season long we have urged you to embrace the tank! Was it worth it? We’ll be right back after this quick time-out to find out!
NBA DRAFT REACTION
After a feverish amount of trades with Atlanta, Phoenix, New Orleans and of course, the blockbuster AD trade to the Lakers, the Bulls decided to sit this one out and made no trades prior to the 7th pick
Even before the draft, on social media the opinions were flying early and often regarding who the Bulls should pick, and even polls on if the Bulls would get it right concerning their own draft performance. Waddle & Silvy’s poll asking that very question resulted in an astounding 83% voting that the Bulls would screw it up.
In the end, The Bulls selected Coby White as their 7th pick. And we’ve got reactions and possibly a rant about this particular choice and what it does to our lineup with the Bulls.
He averaged 16.1 points and 4.1 assists as a freshman for the Tar Heels.
Obviously, drafting North Carolina’s Coby White means that the Bulls are going to try and pick up the pace in the offense. Coby is as fast as they come in Point Guards. We’re talking Derrick Rose level speed. He doesn’t have quite the shot, but he can dish it out to Zach, Lauri, Otto and WCJ with a quickness, so let’s see what this gets us.
Personally I was open to seeing the Bulls draft Cam Reddish, but I can understand why they went for a point guard of the future in this year’s draft. Reddish actually slipped down to the Number #10 pick by the Atlanta Hawks. One could have made an argument that Reddish was the better pick. Some may have even argued Doumbouya. But, when you take everything into consideration, White was the correct pick for the current state of the franchise.
Wendell Carter Jr was actually present at the draft and personally welcomed Coby White to the Bulls Family on nationwide TV. We’re looking forward to becoming Coby White fans over the next few years as well.
In the second round, Chicago selected Daniel Gafford from Arkansas at no. 38 overall. It was not necessarily a flashy pick, but one which the Bulls can utilize almost immediately. He’s a 6-foot-11 big man with a defensive tenacity matched by few. Gafford comes out of the University of Arkansas after earning First Team All SEC this past season, as well as making the SEC All Defensive Team in both of his seasons with the Razorbacks.
Like our last Arkansas pick, Bobby Portis, Gafford is a long, high-energy big man who produced strong numbers in his final year at Arkansas. In fact, the numbers are eerily similar. Take a look at their final seasons with the team:
Portis: 17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 96.9 DEF Rating
Gafford: 16.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 95.7 DEF Rating
The points and rebounds are almost identical, but Gafford blocked more shots than Portis did in his final season.
Another aspect which Gafford has Portis beat is straight-up field goal percentage. Last year, Gafford shot 66.0 percent from the field. In Portis’ final year with the Razorbacks, he shot 53.6 percent.
Now, the one area which Gafford does not compare to Portis is from beyond the arc. In today’s NBA, it certainly helps to have some range as a big man. Gafford has zero outside shot, while Portis has developed his even more as a pro.
You won’t find Gafford scoring much outside the paint, but when he does, he likes to do it with authority. He is also a phenomenal defender, which is something the Bulls have been missing off the bench within their front court.
If you look at his highlight reel on YouTube, the guy will dunk it 90% of the time. Crazy windmill dunks too. This guy will be a fan favorite with Bulls Fans everywhere. Let’s hope his game evolves and he develops an outside shot.
Other Draft Notes
Beyond Reddish falling to 10, were there any other shockers in the draft? Beyond some of the horse trading that went on with Atlanta, New Orleans Phoenix and the Lakers. Minnesota got themselves a move up in the draft to #6 with the trade to Phoenix and picked Jarettt Culver in the draft. Bol Bol fell to #44, so it looks like every team in the league passed on the chance to take him in the first round as we all suspected.
Someone that I picked as an amazing pickup at #38, last week we talked about Dylan Windler. The guy actually went in the first round at #26 to Cleveland. He must have impressed the Cavs front office a lot. He’s going to be tough to handle right in our own division.
Bulls Plan going forward:
Now that the draft is out of the way, the next phase of the Bulls is to get the Summer team ready in Las Vegas and focus on bringing in quality Free Agents.
What do we need? Who’s Left? And Who do you want?
Here’s where we are with the current lineup:
Coby White/Kris Dunn
LaVine/Valentine
Otto/Hutch
Lauri/??
WCJ/Gafford
Then we round it out with the bench players:
Antonio Blakeney
Cristiano Felicio
Shaq Harrison
Walter Lemon, Jr.
So who’s left in free agency that we want to pick up?
Derrick Rose rumor mill is heating up quickly. Even Bleacher Report is saying the homecoming is long overdue. Adidas is pushing it hard as well.
Patrick Beverley is still on the radar for the Bulls. He seems very open to it.
There is talk of the Bulls throwing down a 4 year $80 Million offer to Bucks Malcom Brogdon.
Joakim Noah or Taj Gibson?
Wyse Social Links:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/radical_creator
Instagram: http://instagram.com/radical_creator
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6vBYCVNxRnzuxvdQVkWfgg
Marcus Social Links
Twitter: http://twitter.com/marcuscouch
Instagram: http://instagram.com/marcuscouch
Everything show related you can find @bullspodcast. Please make sure you are connected with us everywhere we are.
Also remember to check out our compilation website where you can get all of the Bulls Podcasts from every single Chicago Bulls show out there over at http://bulls.fm
If you can’t remember any of these, you can check out our show notes for this show over at our website, which is BullsPodcast.com where we have all the links we mentioned in today’s show.
Until next time, Thank you for listening everyone, Go Bulls!