2017 NBA Draft: 5 worst Chicago Bulls draft picks in franchise history

Brad Sellers — 1986, 9th overall pick

Sellers was a player ahead of his time. He measured at 7 feet, and he had a pretty sweet jump shot. He was too skinny, though, to play in the trenches with the big guys.

Had Sellers been in today’s NBA, he might be a star. Today’s big men have the ability take their man out by shooting well. Sellers compares to Chris Bosh.

This was the 1980’s NBA, however, and 7-foot players shooting jumpers from the outside wasn’t something coaches wanted. They wanted their big men to bang bodies with other big men. Fight for rebounds and get some put-backs. They wanted their guards to shoot and their bigs to clean up when they missed.

Sellers’ entrance to the NBA was a rough one. Michael Jordan, the greatest Chicago Bull of all time, publicly expressed his desire for the Bulls to draft Johnny Dawkins out of Duke. When Jordan says he wants something, the fans want it as well. General manager Jerry Krause loved Sellers’ jump shot so he went against Jordan and company. This was a very unpopular choice.

Sellers played three seasons for the Bulls. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.8 blocks per game. He had a true shooting percentage of 51 percent. He became more well-known for coming up with the idea of wearing black shoes for the playoffs in 1989,  something the players have done ever since.

Since November of 2011, Sellers serves as the mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio. He credits his time as a player as good preparation for politics.

It’s good to see Sellers do well, even if it wasn’t on the basketball court. If he was born a decade later, however…