2011 NBA Draft Results: Grading How the Chicago Bulls Did During the Draft

As you likely know, the 2011 NBA Draft occurred at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Thursday. The draft only had a few trades, but the Chicago Bulls were one of the teams who made a trade, trading their No. 28 and 43 picks for the No. 23 pick in the first round. 

Nikola Mirotic

With the 23rd pick, the Bulls opted to go international with Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic is a 20-year-old 6'10" forward from Montenegro, and plays for Real Madrid in the Spanish league. He was awarded the Euroleague Rising Star award. Previous winners of the award that went on to play in the NBA include Andrea Bargnani, Ricky Rubio, Danilo Gallinari and more.

Mirotic, per 36 minutes, averaged about 16 points and eight rebounds in the Euroleague. He also shot 55 percent from two and 38 percent from three. 

Mirotic has the abilities of both forward positions, but in a good way. He has a very pure jump shot that he can hit both from spotting up and off the dribble. He also has the ability to back down smaller players into the post and finish over them.

Physically, Mirotic is a big guy with pretty decent length. He's not going to tear down any rims with his athleticism but his length makes up for much of that. He could be a player in time that could run the floor with players like Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Mirotic also possesses a very high basketball I.Q. He makes cuts well and does not typically take ill-advised shots. 

The biggest knock on Mirotic is that he is weak. For a 6'10" forward, he is only 225 pounds. He may possess the length and quickness to play and guard the small forward position, but he still needs to bulk up.

Defensively, he doesn't really have a great spot. He plays great fundamental defense but is often overpowered. While he's a pretty good ballhandler for a power forward, he's a little bit under average for a small forward. However he could be a great off the ball player like Luol Deng. 

Overall, this is a solid pick by Bulls management, especially in a bad draft. While Mirotic might not exactly turn into Tony Kukoc, he has the potential to come in whenever he arrives in the NBA and be an instant contributor in a couple different ways.

Additionally, he doesn't take up a roster spot right now and will continue to develop, so this is probably the right pick for the time being. Perhaps in three or four years, Mirotic could come in and replace Carlos Boozer in a very different role. 

Grade: B+

Jimmy Butler

With the last pick in the first round, the Bulls picked Jimmy Butler, a 6'8" forward from Marquette. Butler made headlines as draft time neared because of his story. Butler was homeless as a 14-year-old until a family took him in. The ESPN draft coverage team said that Butler faxed his letter of intent to play at Marquette from a McDonald's. 

Butler plays exactly how you want guys to play. Overall he's just a hardworking basketball player. He made a living at Marquette off of playing tenacious defense and doing the right things on offense. He plays off of his teammates and is an extremely unselfish basketball player. Butler has decent footspeed and enough length to guard the small forward position effectively. 

The big problem that I have with Butler is that he doesn't have much range on his jumper, which makes him a questionable fit next to Derrick Rose. Of course, the Bulls possess a solid small forward in Luol Deng, but you'd like to see a guy who could aid your superstar.

That said, there's no reason he couldn't develop a shot now. He developed a decent mid-range game during his time at Butler in fact. However, until he does that, he will only be a role player, and perhaps he always will be. Of course, there's nothing wrong with getting a solid role player with the 30th pick in a weak draft.

Jimmy Butler is not the Bulls' attempt to answer the shooting guard question. Let's get that out of the way. They knew they were not getting what they were looking for early, and didn't waste picks trying to find temporary solutions. Butler can come in and spell Luol Deng for a while, as well as play a little bit of time at the power forward spot.

He might actually get some burn since he's a Tom Thibodeau kind of player: defensive minded, hardworking, unselfish, and team oriented. Even though he's not a shooting guard answer, he still will likely be a fan favorite in Chicago because of his tenacity and story. 

Grade: B+

Final Thoughts

The Bulls did not even try to address their shooting guard woes through the draft, and that may leave many Chicago fans unhappy. However, if they did not think that Marshon Brooks would be a smart pick for them, then more power to them for using their pick in a way they thought would be more useful.

Overall, even though there wasn't a big splash like we had hoped, the Bulls drafted a player who could fill a hole at the backup small forward position and then drafted a player who could help them out in the future if they needed help. I think both of those are solid decisions.

Final Draft Grade: B+