Valentine’s upside may not be that of other players, but you know the Bulls front office thinks they are closer to contending than not and would thus be more inclined to look for a prospect that can contribute at a moderately high level right from Game 1 in their career. That’s what the MSU star should be able to do and that’s why I have him rounding out the lottery portion of this NBA Mock Draft
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14
Denzel Valentine
SG, Michgian State
When you look at most mocks, they have Michigan State star guard Denzel Valentine falling out of the lottery. However, that just feels so unlikely to me given everything that we know about the draft, the NBA, and how some teams operate. One such team that fits that bill would be the Chicago Bulls and, even if they already have Jimmy Butler as their star player at shooting guard, I have visions of them taking a proven and developed player like Valentine with the last pick of the lottery.
Make no mistake, this wouldn’t be the worst pick for the Bulls by any stretch. Though they have Butler, they have a ridiculous amount of depth in their frontcourt even with Pau Gasol potentially leaving this offseason. The area where they were most deficient this past season, though, was in getting production from their secondary players on the wings. The stretches when Butler was out of the lineup due to injuries were absolutely brutal because of this.
Valentine’s upside may not be that of other players, but you know the Bulls front office thinks they are closer to contending than not and would thus be more inclined to look for a prospect that can contribute at a moderately high level right from Game 1 in their career. That’s what the MSU star should be able to do and that’s why I have him rounding out the lottery portion of this NBA Mock Draft
Next: No. 15-16, Nuggets-Celtics