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A rare Bulls’ draft night is ahead this week

An NBA Draft week like this is pretty rare for the Bulls – and the reason is simple.

Barring a trade, the team doesn’t have a selection in either the first or second round on Thursday night.

Thanks to a pair of deals and an NBA punishment, Bulls executive VP Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley will be on the outside looking in at the selections.

So how often has that happened in team history? Not very much.

The only time the Bulls haven’t made a selection in the NBA Draft was 2005, which followed the first season they made the playoffs since the end of the Jordan era. The team traded away their first and second round picks and didn’t move back into the selections.

As of today, the Bulls join the Knicks and the Sixers as the only team in the league without a 2023 NBA Draft pick.

Karnisovas and Eversley don’t have a selection due to a deal they made, one they didn’t, and punishment from the NBA.

  • First Round – 11th Overall – The Bulls sent this pick to the Orlando Magic in the Nikola Vucevic trade in March 2021. This is the second first round pick the Bulls dealt as part of this trade.
  • Second Round – 42nd Overall – The pick was traded to the Wizards as part of a deal on February 6, 2019 which brought Otto Porter Jr. to Chicago in exchange for the second round selection, Bobby Portis, and Jabari Parker.
  • Second Round – Forfeited Pick – The Bulls lost a second round pick due to a tampering violation in the sign-and-trade with the Pelicans for Lonzo Ball in the summer of 2021. This selection was acquired in the three-way trade with the Cavaliers & Blazers that sent Lauri Markkanen to Cleveland in 2021.

With the lack of a draft pick this year, are the Bulls going to improve the team or stay the exact same way as last season?