Welcome to the tenth installment of 
30 Teams, 30 Years, 30 Drafts featuring the Chicago Bulls. This series takes you through each of the teams’ draft picks from 1978-2008 and evaluates how they fared. The Bulls have had many good drafts over the years, but some of those seemed to be cancelled out by how badly they missed at the end of the first round in many of the years they played too well to have a lottery pick. Its hard to complain when you end up with guys like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Derrick Rose on your resume though.
Total Score: 2.93
View the previous teams and their scores here:
Boston Celtics – 3.885
Philadelphia 76ers – 2.561
Toronto Raptors – 2.659
Orlando Magic – 2.861
Charlotte Bobcats – 2.225
New York Knicks – 2.471
New Jersey Nets – 2.49
Atlanta Hawks – 1.258
Miami Heat – 2.743
Milwaukee Bucks – 3.616
Let us know in the comments below who you think their best and worst draft picks were.
To see how the score was calculated, check out the intro post here.
[table id=109 /]
1- David was drafted ahead of Cartwright and Moncrief.
2- Sam would go on to become the coach of the Generals (yes, those Generals). He would partake in the dastardly deeds that the Generals coach would do in a futile attempt to try and get the better of the Globetrotters. After most games he would “lose a bet” that would force him to wear a pink tutu and a tiara on his way off the court. I’m willing to bet that if on draft night you told young Sam Worthen that he would be wearing a tutu and tiara on the basketball court, you may have been in for a fight.
3- While Orlando was drafted before three All Stars while not getting an All Star nod himself, I cannot in good conscience consider him a “marginal” player. He did average our benchmark of 16ppg over his entire 15 year career. Orlando easily could have made the ASG in several of those years, but was overlooked. So we will not take away from him. He was also the cousin of Hall of Famer Willis Reed. This has nothing to do with his score, as a Knicks fan I just found it interesting.
4- The Bulls successfully became the first team to draft two players named Sidney in the same draft.
5- In 2011 Oak filed a lawsuit against a Las Vegas Casino claiming assault by 5 security guards. In the Casino’s defense, it would have taken at least 5 mere mortal men to do any harm to the force that is Oak.
6- We live in a world in which Will Purdue has four NBA Championship rings.
7- Stacey is currently the color commentator for Bulls game. If you go to his wikipedia page you can find some of his catch phrases. Most of these are painfully bad, but some were legitimately clever and entertaining. My favorites were; “Asik and destroy”(Omar Asik) and “Who is this masked man?”(Rip Hamilton)
8- In 2008 Corie was arrested for possession of 29 pounds of marijuana. When on trial, he told the judge that it was all for personal use. Now from my college days I can assure you that 1/8 an ounce of weed would be an incredible amount of weed for one person to smoke by themselves in one day. At this pace it would take one 10 years 60 days (I accounted for two leap years) to smoke that much weed. I’m going to guess that Corie’s weed would be a little dried out and nasty by the end of that stretch. So Corie, I’m throwing the challenge flag on this one. Also take this time to make any jokes you feel on the fact that his last name is Blount.
9- Travis holds the record for quickest player to foul out of playoff game. He managed to get fouled out in only 6 minutes of court time in a 1999 Western Conference semifinals game.
10- No wonder the Bulls were so bad in the time immediately following the Jordan/Pippen era. From 1991-1998 they had 17 draft picks who combined for a total score of 13.5.
11- As a lover of St. John’s basketball I’ve always held of soft spot for Ron Artest (I will never call him Metta World Peace). So much so that in moments of insanity I have argued that if the Knicks had drafted him like they should have, maybe being close to home would have stopped him from going all out crazy. This flies in the face of one of my underlying life theories, “Crazy is crazy.”.
12- Sadly enough Jamal Crawford may have been the 2nd best player in the top 10 in the 2000 draft.
13- I’m not going to presumptuous enough to speak for all Knicks fans, but I have to believe we all have a similar prospective on this; There may not be anything in the NBA right now that burns me more than Eddy Curry: NBA Champion.
14- The fact that Trenton mentioned to have an NBA career that spanned 9 seasons and over 400 starts baffles my mind. The man never averaged more than 10 ppg, 3 apg or 4 rpg, yet managed to play over 20 mpg in 8 NBA seasons. Amazing.
15- I want to give Jay Williams points for something, I really do. His motorcycle accident deprived us of countless youtube tribute videos. He more than likely would have played on countless All Star Teams, as fans would have loved to vote him in and may have made a 2nd or even as he matured a 1st team All NBA. But alas, we are stuck here. One season, in which he showed flashes of brilliance and all of us, especially Bulls fans, wondering “what if?”
16- While Roger Mason does have 88 starts and is still chugging along, 71 of those starts were in one season, and none in the last two years while playing with the abysmal Wizards and the below average Knicks. So it would be a stretch to give him credit for those 12.
17- Crazy that the Bulls drafted two players with English ties within 4 picks of each other. I’m willing to bet that this has never happened before or since in the history of the NBA draft.
18- The Bulls originally drafted LaMarcus Aldridge with the 2nd pick, then traded him for Tyrus Thomas. While this is not officially in the introductory rules, I have decided to pull the “It’s my series” card and subtract two points for this, especially since the two of them play the same position and the Bulls would have been much better off with LaMarcus.
19- You may want to tell me that it is too early to pencil Rose in for the HOF, and you are probably right, especially given the seriousness of his injury. However, I am going based on one fact here. Every player who is eligible, that has won the MVP has gone on to make the Hall of Fame. Those who aren’t yet eligible (Shaq, Iverson, Nash, Kobe, LeBron and Duncan) are going the second they are. So it may end up being close, but I will bet that he gets there. Much like Wes Unseld who won an MVP, had a special first five years and then fell off the earth stat wise, the beginning of his career was special enough, even if he does not return to the same level he was at.
20 – Omer only has two seasons in the NBA and his limited action in that time makes it impossible for me to make any realistic assessment. He as a lot of potential and has note yet had enough time to prove what he can do with it.
