Building the Bulls: A Look at Chicago's Best (and Worst) Draft Picks

The Chicago Bulls and the NBA Draft are like that girl you dated sophomore year. You had some great times together, but for the most part, you're happy you don't talk much anymore.

Dating metaphors not withstanding, the Bulls have had unbelievable highs and some ridiculous lows on Draft day, and I'm here to point them out for you. Go grab an adult beverage and let's get this thing cracking, shall we?

Good Pick: Reggie Theus

Year: 1978
Pick No. 9
School: UNLV

Reggie Theus was an amazing pick in a pretty bad draft. Besides Theus, only Mo Cheeks and some guy named Bird made a huge impact.

Why was this good: The franchise got an All-Star shooting guard. Kids growing up in the 90s got an actor. (Like you don't remember "Hang Time"?)

Bad Pick: Corie Blount

Year Drafted: 1993
Pick No. 25
School: Cincinnati

Yeesh. To be fair, by the time the Bulls were up to pick, there wasn't much there.

Felony charges for having 18 pounds of weed though? NOT a good look.

Good Pick: 1987

Arguably the best draft Jerry Krause—Ol' Turkey Neck—took part in.

The Bulls traded the rights for the No. 8 pick (Olden Polynice) for Seattle's No. 5 pick (Scottie Pippen).

He also picked up a goggled gentleman named Horace Grant at No. 10.

Why this was a good pick: Six rings in eight years work for you?

Bad Pick: Every Draft from 1994 - 1998.

Let's see:
Dickey Simpkins, Jason Caffey, Travis Knight, Keith Booth, Corey Benjamin.

These are some of the shining beacons of basketball royalty that the Bulls spent draft picks on.

Loss.

Good Pick: 1999

The Bulls—thanks to Tim Floyd and the aforementioned draft picks—ended up with the No. 1 pick in '99. They chose Elton Brand over picks like Lamar Odom, Baron Davis, Steve Francis, and Rip Hamilton.

They also selected a scrappy young fellow named Ron Artest and Michael Ruffin, a utility player. While some can argue that they missed out on several All-Stars, the Bulls gained two players that helped them start the move out of the basement that was the Tim Floyd regime.

Bad Pick: Marcus Fizer

Year Drafted: 2000
Pick No. 4
School: Iowa State

Sigh. After a big draft in '99, the 2000 class was ugly. The Bulls took Mr. Fizer and four other scrubs in this draft. None of them remain on the roster today.

Good Pick: Everyone in 2004

The gents drafted in 2004 (Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Chris Duhon) marked the official return of the Bulls to prominence in the NBA.

Combined with Hinrich and the free agent signing of Andreas Nocioni, the guys started to make some noise and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1998.

Also: Ben Gordon won Sixth Man of the Year, and (if you ask me) should have won Rookie of the Year too.

Bad Pick/Day in General: 2001

The Bulls were on the road to making noise in the league again, and Ol' Turkey Neck pulls one of the craziest draft day moves in recent history.

He trades Elton Brand (remember him) to the Clips for the No. 2 pick in the draft, Mr. Tyson Chandler.

After this, he picks high-school player Eddy Curry with the No. 4 pick. With the two high-schoolers, the Baby Bulls nickname is born. So is a lot of terrible hoops.

Good Pick: Derrick Rose

Year Drafted: 2008
Pick No. 1
School: Memphis

It's still unbelievable.

Hometown kid gets drafted by his hometown team, which logistically had NO chance at drafting him?

Amazing stuff from Rose so far, having sewn up Rookie of the Year, as well as giving us Bulls fans one of the best playoff series EVER. Sky's the Limit for this kid.

You know who's coming next, right?

Michael Jordan. 'Nuff Said

Year Drafted: 1984
No. 3 (Thank you, Portland!)
School: North Carolina

Come on man.

Even blind guys can see why this is the best Bulls pick off all time. Besides being ALL-EVERYTHING, he went ahead and changed basketball forever. Not too bad, right?

Don't sleep, though. The 1984 draft is the best draft ever, to me. Other than MJ, you saw Olajuwon, Barkley, Stockton, Kevin Willis, and Alvin Robertson taken that year.

No question though, this was the best thing that ever happened to Chicago sports.

I hope you enjoyed this look at Chicago's hits and misses on draft day. The guys have No. 16 and No. 26 this year, and I'll be watching to see who gets the nod. Thanks for your time!