The Chicago Bulls traded into the second spherical of the NBA draft Thursday to pick Julian Phillips with the No. 35 decide.
Get to know the Bulls’ newest draft decide earlier than he arrives in Chicago to organize for the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas subsequent month.
1. Where did Julian Phillips play in faculty?
Phillips performed one yr at Tennessee earlier than committing to the draft this spring. He averaged 8.3 factors, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists because the Volunteers went 25-11 within the common season earlier than making it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
A local of Killeen, Texas, Phillips began his highschool profession in Blythewood, S.C., earlier than transferring to Link Prep — a biblical preparatory academy in Branson, Mo., created in 2020 — as a senior. He performed within the 2022 McDonald’s All-American Game as a senior, incomes curiosity as a consensus five-star recruit and a top-20 participant in his class.
2. Why did the Bulls choose Phillips?
Physicality and protection have been the 2 defining traits that set Phillips aside for the Bulls entrance workplace. With a 6-foot-8 body and a 7-foot wingspan, Phillips impressed on the draft mix with a 43-inch vertical — the very best amongst attendees — which pairs properly along with his excessive defensive motor.
“He’s one of the best athletes in the draft,” government vp of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas mentioned. “He can step in right now, probably can defend on our level. He has a lot of things to improve but we’re looking forward to it. He’s very young and very talented.”
General supervisor Marc Eversley famous that Phillips additionally will assist to fill a niche within the roster left by ahead Derrick Jones Jr., a equally prolonged defensive specialist who declined his participant choice with the Bulls for subsequent season.
3. Where can he enhance?
Shooting would be the main level of focus for Phillips. Despite constant 41.1% taking pictures from the sphere, Phillips shot solely 23.9% from behind the arc in his one yr with the Volunteers.
The Bulls have to enhance their 3-point taking pictures after ending final within the league in makes an attempt (28.9) and makes (10.4) from 3-point vary final season. The entrance workplace is doubling down on this space after hiring former Mavericks taking pictures coach Peter Patton as their director of participant improvement — and Phillips might be a goal for that enchancment.
“When we both showed up here a few years ago, we talked a lot about player development and internal growth,” Eversley mentioned. “We recently hired a new director of player development to focus just on that — shooting and being shot-ready and being ready to shoot the ball when you’re open. It’s something that’s very important to us. We’ll continue to work on it every single day.”
4. Did the Bulls attempt to commerce increased within the draft?
The Bulls didn’t personal a decide within the draft after ceding first- and second-rounders in a pair of trades and forfeiting one other second-rounder due to a tampering violation within the acquisition of Lonzo Ball. Rather than miss out on their first draft since 2005, the Bulls traded into the second spherical in a cope with the Washington Wizards, which price a pair of future second-rounders, in line with Shams Charania.
Karnišovas mentioned the Bulls did measure a number of trades to maneuver into the primary spherical, however the entrance workplace felt “no urgency” to maneuver for a primary rounder.
“We had some looks in the first, but we thought that the best value we could get was at the position that we acquired,” Karnišovas mentioned. “It worked out very well.”
5. Will Phillips play recurrently for the Bulls this season?
This is a key query for any current draft decide on the Bulls roster. Ayo Dosunmu turned a reduction level guard after being chosen within the second spherical in 2021, and different current picks comparable to Coby White (2019) and Patrick Williams (2020) have moved out and in of the beginning rotation. But 2022 first-rounder Dalen Terry averaged fewer than six minutes final season, whereas 2020 decide Marko Simonović has spent the majority of his time with the Windy City Bulls.
Phillips’ size and athleticism might assist him see the court docket faster than Terry, however the Bulls nonetheless haven’t established a constant sample of integrating their draft picks into rotations.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com