3 Best Chicago Bulls Draft Picks

The Chicago Bulls are the fourth-winningest NBA franchise in the history of the league, with six championships in six trips to the NBA Finals. Aside from that, they are one of the most valuable franchises, and the Eastern Conference powerhouse’s success is due to their ability to select great talent in the draft, which boosted their NBA championship odds.

A few of the memorable names that Chicago was able to draft include Tyson Chandler, Jamal Crawford, Luol Deng, Metta World Peace, Eddy Curry, Joakim Noah, and Jimmy Butler. However, three outstanding players made the most contributions to the franchise, either by helping them win multiple championships or reviving the excitement of the fanbase.

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and Chicago selected him as the third overall pick in 1984. Jordan became the first global basketball superstar through his unbelievable style of play on both ends of the floor. Because of this, he racked up a mountain of accolades, beginning with the Rookie of the Year award in 1985 after averaging 28.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists.

Michael Jordan made All-NBA 2ND TEAM & won Rookie Of The Year after leading the NBA in total PTS & the Bulls in PTS, REB, AST & 2nd in BLKS!

These highlights are just from his rookie season 🐐

pic.twitter.com/9fqSpYg4tK

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) September 12, 2022

Since then, “Air Jordan” became a 12-time NBA All-Star, selected to the All-NBA 1st Team 10 times, won a Defensive Player of the Year award, and five league MVP honors. To top all of these, he led the Bulls to six NBA titles, where he also secured all the NBA Finals MVP trophies. In his 13 seasons with the franchise, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard racked up an average of 31.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 930 games.

Toni Kukoc

In 1990, Chicago found a gem in the late stages of the draft when they drafted Toni Kukoc from Croatia as the 29th pick in the second round. The 6-foot-11 forward didn’t immediately play for the team until the 1993-94 season when Jordan had a two-year sabbatical from basketball. Kukoc became a spark plug off the bench for the Bulls and developed into a reliable two-year player who can score and play defense.

Toni Kukoc is headed to the Hall of Fame!#21HoopClass pic.twitter.com/ZvHdZyMlaZ

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) May 16, 2021

The sweet-shooting forward stayed with the team until 2000 and fully embraced his role as the team’s sixth man. After accepting this role, Kukoc secured the Sixth Man of the Year award in 1996. He also played an important part in Chicago’s second three-peat in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Before being traded to the Sixers, Kukoc amassed an average of 14.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 436 games.

Derrick Rose

After the Michael Jordan era in Chicago, no player on the team stood out to become a bona fide superstar until Derrick Rose. The Bulls selected the 6-foot-3 guard out of Memphis as the first overall pick in 2008. Rose steadily established himself as the new face of the franchise and one of the league’s premier players through his freakish athleticism that saw him win the Rookie of the Year award with averages of 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds.

Two years into the league, “D-Rose” took home the league MVP at age 22 which set the record for the youngest player to do so. He represented Chicago in three NBA All-Star Games and was included on the All-NBA 1st Team in 2011. A devastating injury he suffered during the 2012 playoffs has drastically changed his career trajectory downwards as he was only a shell of himself since. In 406 games, Rose produced an average of 19.7 points, 6.2 assists, and 3.7 rebounds for Chicago.