The Bulls enjoyed some lottery luck on Sunday, jumping from the No. 9 slot to No. 4. Their new head of basketball operations, Bryson Graham, couldn’t contain his enthusiasm about the team’s good fortune, according to The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg.
“It’s exciting, man,” he said. “I can’t believe it. I just got the job and I got the fourth pick. It’s crazy, man!”
However, Graham also knows that getting that No. 4 pick, potentially either Caleb Wilson or Cameron Boozer, won’t turn the franchise into an instant contender.
“Let’s not sit here and say because we have the fourth pick and all of a sudden this franchise is back, you know what I mean?” Graham said. “But this is just a good opportunity to add high-level talent to our group and build this, and like I keep saying, layer it appropriately. So it’s exciting, man.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- On the flip side, the Pacers not only didn’t get a top four pick, they had to convey the No. 5 pick to the Clippers, courtesy of the Ivica Zubac trade. President of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard issued an apology to the team’s fans over the loss of the pick. He provided more insight to the media why he didn’t get greater protections on the pick. “Everybody says, ‘Why didn’t you protect it a lot deeper?'” Pritchard said, per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to. That was the vig for us to get Zu. You look at a lot of these big trades that are out there. You see four and five and six (first-round picks) and (first-round pick) swaps around a star with potential. We think Zu is a great fit for us. At the end of the day, this is what is really important. I felt like, for a championship team, we needed a starting center. That was priority one. They’ve earned the right to try to get a championship. That was not doable protecting this to eight or nine or 10 or wherever.” Pritchard added the Clippers would not budge from their demand that the pick only have top-four protection. “It was negotiated,” hehard said. “And we fought like heck. They’re very good negotiators. We would not have gotten Zu if we didn’t protect it to four. That’s just it.”
- Prior to the lottery, Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said that regardless of what happened in the ltotery he would be seeking help on the free agent and trade markets, Tony East of Forbes.com writes. “I think one thing this season revealed for us is the need for some scoring off our bench… Probably from the wing position,” he said. “Losing (Bennedict Mathurin), you lose some of that. But I think this team, we have some depth. We still have some holes to fill,” Buchanan said. An upgrade at backup center could also be on his agenda.
- James Harden made several clutch baskets to lift the Cavaliers to a Game 3 victory over Detroit on Saturday. According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, coach Kenny Atkinson gave Harden a de facto pep talk during a phone conversation after Game 2. “It started (Friday). I just doubled down with him in our conversation. I told him, ‘You’re our guy.’ In between games, I think that’s when you really coach,” Atkinson said. “I think that’s where you make your money in this league. You have to have those conversations. Pick guys up when it’s not going perfect. Reaffirm your belief in them. Just double down on the trust you have in them. I was just like, ‘Man, we are good, you are good, you are making the right plays, you are doing the right things, you are helping us, you have done everything we have asked in terms of buying in.’ I told him, ‘Just keep playing to win. I trust you implicitly.’”