Do Chicago Bulls need to trade up in 2018 NBA Draft?

True difference-makers will be gone by No. 7

The object of all this tanking was to increase their chances to get a true franchise-altering player. And though they didn’t move up in the draft, that quest isn’t yet ended if they can swing a deal.

If they can’t, let’s be honest with ourselves: there probably won’t be any generational players at No. 7.

Now, people will of course point to Lauri Markkanen and say that, since last year worked out just fine for the Bulls at that draft spot, the team will naturally grab another sensational rookie at No. 7.

The gambler’s fallacy at its finest.

For one thing, as much as I like Lauri, can he be the best player on a championship team? We really don’t know that yet, and I’m not wholly convinced the answer’s “yes”, anyway. So let’s hold on in even thinking that the Bulls should be totally satisfied with picking at No. 7 when they clearly want/need more talent than that.

And for every Markkanen or Donovan Mitchell that falls to No. 13, there are hundreds of players picked in the late top-10 range and early teens that you’ve never heard of. Why? Because they’re not that good at basketball.

If the Bulls really want to turn this around, they need more talent. And chances are that that means they need to pick higher in the draft.

If they don’t trade up to try and get a bigger talent this year, that probably means that they’ll just need to tank again next year and repeat this cycle to really get a meaningful player.

I think we all really like Mikal Bridges around here, but he’s a good prospect, not a great one. And unless he ends up way better than we expect, he’s probably not the guy the Chicago Bulls need to turn this ship around.

And Trae Young? Well, he sure could score in college. I’m just not convinced about it on the NBA level.

You like what the Boston Celtics are doing in the playoffs right now? Well, let me remind you all that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are both No. 3 picks. If you could tell me that type of player could still be waiting at No. 7, I’d be all over that. But at this point, I don’t think you can.