Chicago Bulls waste no time scouting Duke freshman R.J. Barrett

If the Chicago Bulls were to tank the season away and end up with a top-3 pick, Duke freshman R.J. Barrett would fit perfectly.

Tuesday night, college basketball fans thought they were in for quite the treat when no. 2 Kentucky took on no. 4 Duke in their opening game of the 2018-2019 season. Well, I suppose if you are a Duke fan, it was definitely a treat. Kentucky fans, on the other hand, weren’t so lucky. Either way, the Chicago Bulls were paying attention.

It was the biggest loss of the John Calipari era. Duke went on to win by a score of 118-84. The story of the night was without a doubt the freshman Blue Devils — specifically big man Zion Williamson and small forward R.J. Barrett.

Both Williamson and Barrett cemented the fact that they will undoubtedly be suiting up for an NBA team next year, and doing it after being selected early in the 2019 NBA Draft.

The question is, where will the Bulls be picking? No matter, they were in attendance Tuesday night.

Bulls general manager Gar Forman and his associate general manager Brian Hagen were in attendance, along with plenty of other NBA personnel, I’m sure. After all, this could end up being the one game with the most future NBA talent on the same court all season long.

For the Bulls, who are set to get three of their most important players back from injury in the near future, the rest of this season is up in the air. They have been competitive in most games thus far, even without Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn and Bobby Portis on the court for the majority of those games.

When those three return, I would assume the Bulls are in line to win a few more games. Will they be in the playoff race? That’s a great question. It all depends on the strategy of head coach Fred Hoiberg.

Will Hoiberg try and play it cool while tanking yet another season away? Last year, he wasn’t all that subtle about doing so. I’m not opposed to another high draft pick, though, especially if it’s Barrett.

A 6-foot-7 forward who can score in nearly any way he wants, Barrett would be a perfect fit for these Bulls. Sure, they drafted Chandler Hutchison this year in the first round, but he’s looking like he’ll be more of a staple on the bench — and that’s fine. He’s flashed several times this season, looking like one of those glue guys who will be a valuable reserve.

Barrett, though, poured in 33 points in his Duke debut, against the no. 2 ranked team in the nation in Kentucky. He shot a straight 50 percent from the floor, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

The fun thing about Barrett, among many traits, is the fact that he can play more of a point forward if need be. Remember, that’s what the Bulls were trying to get Jabari Parker to play, coming off the bench.

Barrett dished out six assists against Kentucky, and it almost went unnoticed because of his big scoring night. He’s the perfect size, though, to run that type of position. He’s lethal with the ball in his hands and for multiple reasons. Right now, many are already saying he’s going to be the top overall pick in the draft.

It’s a long season, and much could change, but the Bulls would have to do some serious losing in order to have a shot at Barrett. Hey, anything can happen. What I do know, though, is that Barrett would put them into the playoff picture immediately. The young core that Chicago would have going forward could end up being quite the force to be reckoned with for years to come.