Are Chicago Bulls hiding true intentions for No. 7 pick?

Is it possible the Chicago Bulls are masking their true intentions with the No. 7 overall pick?

Look, I may be giving the Chicago Bulls and their front office — specifically John Paxson and Gar Forman — way too much credit here but is it possible that they are actually doing a good job of hiding their pre-draft intentions?

Granted, there was a recent report that the Bulls had already made a promise to draft Coby White with the seventh pick. What lends some credibility to the report is that Bulls did that exact same thing last year when they made a promise to draft Chandler Hutchison.

However, that was for the No. 22 overall pick, whereas there were apparently no such promises regarding the No. 7 pick last year when they selected Wendell Carter Jr. Moreover, this season there have been reports linking the Bulls to other players like Darius Garland, another point guard, out of Vanderbilt University.

It would seem the Bulls are interested in a point guard in this year’s draft. However, there was also an old report (prior to the NBA Draft Lottery) that suggested if the Bulls landed in the 3-6 range, they could check in on Lonzo Ball. Well, there was also a more recent report that the Bulls are offering their pick this year for Ball. There was also a recent report that the Bulls had checked in with the Houston Rockets on the availability of Chris Paul.

While neither of those deals has come to fruition, it could suggest that the team is not enamored with the point guards that are likely to be available at No. 7 — namely Garland and White. It could also simply mean that the team is really high on both, and simply doing their due diligence, as nothing is guaranteed in the draft, and while unlikely, both Garland and White could be gone at before the Bulls pick.

However, when you take the reports about Ball and Paul and think about them in the context of the “leaked” news that they have promised to take White at No. 7, there is a possibility that this is all one giant case of misdirection by the Bulls and their front office. Perhaps they have their eyes set on a free agent point guard like Patrick Beverly  (see below) or Malcolm Brogdon and are really targeting a player like Jarrett Culver or Cam Reddish in the upcoming draft.

Yes, I realize this is all wild speculation and reading the tea leaves, but after all, that’s half the fun of the lead-up to the NBA Draft — a time full of misinformation and smoke and mirrors.