Chicago Bulls Draft 2015: Jerian Grant

With the draft just a day away, the Chicago Bulls draft plan may include their past glory days.

Jerian Grant

, nephew of

Horace Grant

, could be a good pick in the first round.

Chicago Bulls /

Chicago Bulls

Well, it’s almost time. The 2015 NBA Draft will be upon us tomorrow. The prospects are ready to try their hand in the NBA, but they need to know exactly where their careers will start.

The Chicago Bulls choose at 22. There are a number of ways they could go. They need post help so that may be one way to go. They need depth at small forward/shooting guard so that may be another way. They may also be looking at the post-Derrick Rose era and go for a point guard.

They could tap into their past to help their future.

A possible player who could eventually replace Rose is Jerian Grant out of Notre Dame. Grant is 6-foot-5 and weighs 198 pounds.

If the last name is familiar, you are right. Grant is the nephew of former Bulls great Horace Grant. He is the son of Horace’s twin brother, Harvey Grant.

I’m not sure Grant’s familial ties to the Bulls will help him get to Chicago, but it’s a nice trivia answer if he is drafted by Chicago.

Grant is expected to go anywhere from the late teens to the early twenties, so he may be on the board for the Bulls at 22.

The Bulls may need to start looking at not having Rose on the roster anymore. He has two more years left on his contract, and a big decision needs to be made. Depending on how he plays those two years, it may be conceivable that he may wear a different uniform when his Bulls contract is up.

It is important that the Bulls at least have a point guard that can provide depth behind Rose, or take over if Rose does leave.

Grant has excellent size for his position. He is tall enough to look over the top of defenses and get his shot off. He is not a superlative athlete, but he does have a very good first step and can change speeds well.

Grant is an excellent playmaker. He has a high basketball IQ and usually makes the correct play. He has a good feel for the open man and can make any pass. He averaged 7.3 assists per 40-minutes which ranks him fourth among the top-100 prospects.

Grant also protects the ball as well. He turned the ball over just 14 percent of his possessions.

Grant is effective in transition and creating his shot in isolation situations. He averaged 18 points per-40 minutes with the Fighting Irish. He had a solid 60 percent true shooting percentage as well.

Being a big guard, Grant can hit some threes. He averaged 1.5 threes per game and shot 34.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Getting tips from his uncle and his father, Grant is confident in what he can do. “I’m extremely confident. I definitely still have a lot of work to put in, but at this point I definitely have the confidence on my side.”

Grant will have to bulk up a little. He has trouble finishing at the rim when he is contested, so he needs to be stronger to try to finish his shots and take the pounding of the NBA.

That need to bulk up also manifests itself on the defensive end. He struggles to fight through screens. He relies too heavily on his instincts and anticipation skills on the defensive end. He needs to use better technique on that end.

He does show flashes of good defense, however. He averaged 1.7 steals per-40 minutes, but, again, in terms of his strength, he averaged just 3.3 rebounds per-40, which should be higher with his height advantage.

Grant is 22, but he has five years of experience in college. He entered Notre Dame a year early and red shirted. He then played four seasons. This is something that may turn off some teams, who are looking for young prospects, but it is something the Bulls prefer. They like the older prospects, and feel they can step in and help early on.

Once he bulks up and fixes some of his fundamentals, Jerian Grant can have a solid NBA career. It would be interesting to see how a coach like Fred Hoiberg can offensively develop a big guard like him.

Even if Rose sticks around, having Grant on the team would still be beneficial. He can add depth to point guard, or if the other guard, Jimmy Butler, decides to leave (shh, it won’t happen), Grant can move to shooting guard as well.

Let’s see if the Bulls feel another Grant can help them win another championship.

Next: Chicago Bulls Draft 2015: Rakeem Christmas

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