Chicago Bulls: Zion Williamson or bust in 2019 NBA Draft Lottery

Tonight the Chicago Bulls and fans around the world will be watching little ping pong balls drop in hopes that the number one pick in the 2019 NBA Draft goes to their respective teams. Is it Zion Williamson or bust for the Bulls?

Everywhere you look or listen, teams with the chance to land the top pick are salivating at the chance to draft Zion Williamson. Of those teams, the Chicago Bulls have the fourth best chance at landing him. Williamson is the obvious choice to go number one overall. He is the top prospect coming out of college and should be an instant star in the NBA.

With the changes made to the NBA lottery system, the top three teams will have the same, 14 percent chance at drafting first in 2019. The top three teams include the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns. The Chicago Bulls have the fourth-best odds with 12.5 percent. The question though is what if they do not get the top pick?

Looking at this draft class, there are some solid options to be had towards the top of the draft. None are like Williamson and many think if you cannot land him, then the draft is a bust. Although that might be extreme, there will definitely be a great deal of disappointment once the lottery outcome is known and the Bulls are not picking first overall.

Williamson is a physical specimen. He is 6’6″ and 280lbs. He moves well for a big man and has a great deal of explosion to his game. There have been some NBA analysts trying to compare him to current and past NBA players, but that is hard to do given his physique and athleticism. They seem to find Williamson to be a Charles Barkley, Larry Johnson and Blake Griffin hybrid player.

Williamson is dominant while in the air. He plays above the room and is a dominant force against those much weaker than him. Micah Adams even went as far as comparing him to Shaquille O’Neal. This is why everyone is up in arms about the idea of landing Zion Williamson in Chicago. A wish that is justified. A wish that will hopefully come true.

Fans need to realize though, that the Bulls will still have options if they do not land one of the best NBA prospects to come into the league over the last 10 years. If the Chicago Bulls are able to land the second pick in the draft, they could look to draft Ja Morant.

In fact, Morant might be a better fit for the team’s current roster construction. They need point guard help because Kris Dunn and Justin Holiday were not cutting it for them last season. Other players like RJ Barrett and Darius Garland would also make solid additions to this team. They could even look at trading their pick and a package of players if they find themselves outside the top three or four draft picks.

I know that this organization has not shown they have the ability to turn this team around. In fact, one would be nuts to fully trust their decision-making ability at all. However, as fans, we must not abandon the Bulls because they are unable to lock-in Zion Williamson. They have the money to bring in a top-tier free agent and the addition of a top prospect could be all the team needs to turn a 22-60 season into a team competing for the eighth seed.