Chicago Bulls: 3 picks from the 2010s we wish would’ve worked out

&#xA0;Bulls</a> were one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and were going head to head with the Miami Heat for a trip to the NBA Finals.</p> <p>However, after the devastating injury to <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rosede01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Derrick Rose</a>, the team began to take a turn for the worse. Today, they now are frequent members of the lottery and nearing playoff contention in the East.</p> <p>Despite having relatively high picks in a handful of drafts in the 2010s, the Bulls had their fair share of missed opportunities on picks. This has led to there being a plethora of picks that did not work out for the team.</p> <h2>The Chicago Bulls have had a rough drafting track record in recent history. There are three picks from the 2010s we wish would have worked out.</h2> <p>Whether it be players who wound up being busts, did not reach their full potential, or succeeded on other rosters, there are three players from the 2010s that we wish would have worked out for the Chicago Bulls.</p> <p>With the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/13/chicago-bulls-trade-ben-simmons/">2021 NBA draft coming up</a>, it makes for the perfect time to take a trip down memory lane and highlight some picks that did not work out for the Bulls that we wish would have.</p> <p>It is still far too early to judge <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/willipa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Patrick Williams</a> and the impact he will have on the Bulls as a franchise. As a result of this, we will only be looking at drafts beginning with the 2010 draft and ending with the 2019 NBA draft.</p> <p>Lastly, the list is in chronological order by draft year.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;Jimmy Butler </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432872" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-432872" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F673564906.jpeg" alt="Chicago Bulls" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/673564906.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/673564906-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Chicago Bulls (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2><strong>Chicago Bulls draft picks we wish had worked out: 1. Jimmy Butler</strong></h2> <p><a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/butleji01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Jimmy Butler</a> was the steal of the 2011 draft after the Chicago Bulls snagged him with the very last pick of the first round.</p> <p>Coming into the draft, there were not too many teams that high on Butler. He was seen as a solid prospect who did not have any real weakness, however, he also did not have any strengths that stuck out.</p> <p>Butler was a jack of all trades but a master of none. However, as a result of his nearly unmatched work ethic, Butler has become one of the top players in the entire league.</p> <p>At the moment, Butler leads his draft class in win shares. This puts him in front of players like Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard.</p> <p>He began to show this potential and had his come-up while with the Bulls. After <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rosede01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Derrick Rose</a> had his fall from grace due to injuries, Butler stepped up and kept the Bulls afloat.</p> <p>He worked his way up from barely seeing minutes in his rookie and sophomore season to being an All-Star and playing a career-high 38.7 minutes per game in his fourth year on the team.</p> <p>However, after four consecutive All-Star seasons with the Bulls, it was clear that the front office was incapable of putting a team around him that could contend for championships or even deep playoff runs.</p> <p>Along with this, around the time of his departure from the team, he began to get the stigma of being a locker room cancer. This is something that unfairly followed him around until he finally put an end to those rumors with the Miami Heat.</p> <p>Ready to go into full tank mode, the Bulls moved Butler and a pick that became Justin Patton to the Minnesota Timberwolves in return for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the pick that became Lauri Markkanen.</p> <p>While LaVine has elevated his game to new heights with the Bulls, it would have been nice to see how Butler’s career would have played out with the Bulls.</p> <p>Along with this, it would have been interesting to see if the team would have had more success if they kept Butler on the team and the pick would have worked out.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Jusuf Nurkic </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432817" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-432817" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1144,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1294758820.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1144" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1294758820.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1294758820-768x549.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Chicago Bulls (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Chicago Bulls draft picks we wish had worked out: 2. Jusuf Nurkic</h2> <p>The Chicago Bulls selected <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nurkiju01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Jusuf Nurkic</a> with the 16th overall pick of the 2014 NBA draft. However, he was shortly traded from the Bulls to the Denver Nuggets.</p> <p>The Bulls sent Nurkic and Michigan State guard Gary Harris to the Nuggets in return for Creighton shooting guard Doug McDermott.</p> <p>At the time, it was thought that McDermott would be the next big thing in the league. He was one of the best scorers that college basketball had ever seen and it was expected that he would carry this over to the NBA.</p> <p>Obviously, this is not what happened and the Bulls were fleeced in this deal and left with a giant what-if in terms of what Nurkic could have been on the Bulls.</p> <p>At the time he was drafted, he would have been able to learn from <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/noahjo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">Joakim Noah</a> who was coming off of his Defensive Player of the Year season.</p> <p>Without the guidance of a player like Noah, Nurkic has evolved into a very talented defensive-oriented center. If he would have remained on the Bulls, the team could have had a very elite center rotation for years to come. Along with this, Chicago would have had a worthy successor at center once they moved on from Noah.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Denzel Valentine </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_432820" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/07/21/chicago-bulls-3-picks-2010s-worked/"https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2018/08/15948195.jpeg"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span>&nbsp;NBA: Playing smoke or fire with superstar trades </a> </div> </div><!—pageview_candidate—>">