Draft lottery leaves Chicago Bulls at No. 12
Back in 2008, the Chicago Bulls had a slim 1.7% chance of winning the NBA Draft lottery, and lucked into picking Derrick Rose at No. 1 overall.
Facing the exact same long odds this year, with the lottery once again taking place in the Bulls' backyard at McCormick Place, President of Basketball Operations Artūras Karnišovas was hoping lightning would strike twice — with the Bulls slotted 12th in the sweepstakes for likely No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg of Duke.
But lightning did not strike twice. The Bulls are staying at No. 12.
Last year's Bulls pick, Matas Buzelis, thinks the Bulls can still draft a quality player at No. 12.
"I know a lot of these guys just from watching basketball, playing basketball — I'm a hoop junkie — so I know most of them, so we'll see what happens," Buzelis said. "These guys are extremely talented, and you know, we'll see what happens."
Meanwhile, Illini early entries Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley were in attendance at the lottery proceedings Monday night.
The Dallas Mavericks won the draft lottery, giving them the No. 1 pick. The Mavs are thus going from dumping superstar Luka Dončić, who was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, to likely getting the Duke phenom Flagg.
The Bulls lost a tiebreaking coin flip to Dallas.
The NBA Draft is set for Wednesday, June 25.