I was looking over a couple of guys at #16 who would help out the Bulls. The first is Roby out of Colorado. He is a 6-6 guard who can score from the outside. I'm not really sure how his defense is but his dimensions seem to fit the bill for what the Bulls are looking for (given that Roy will undoubtedly be gone before 16).

The other guy I was thinking of was Hilton Armstron. He is a center who progressed from bench afterthought to legitimate 1st rounder in 4 years at UConn. He works hard and is a superior defensive player. I don't think he will be a dominant offensive player but he got better on O as he aged. I saw him a lot this year and was always impressed with his consistent play. He will never be the focal point of a team but he will be an excellent complimentary player.

I wouldn't be opposed to Armstrong, he's a low risk conservative pick, which is fine in the middle of the draft. But, I don't like Roby at all. Perimeter scoring is the least of the Bulls' worries, and unless the kid goes bonkers during the next 2 weeks' workouts, I've yet to read a scouting report complimenting his defense. More often than not, I've seen him ripped for his D being mediocre to soft.

The 16 pick doesn't excite me much at all. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will slip. The draft is decent at 2, 3, & 4. The 1's and the 5's are really thin, though. Hopefully a couple of teams picking between 10-15 will reach for a PG or a C. That could make a world of difference for the Bulls. Two teams I'll be watching closely are Philadelphia and New Orleans. Philly really needs a legitimate PG. Rolling the dice on one with the 13th pick would help us. New Orleans will be looking at bigs and they own the 12th & the 15th pick. If they reach for a big with one of those picks, that just might be enough for one of the draft's decent GF's to still be around. I'm not holding my breath on Carney or Brewer falling to 16, but if things fell into place perfectly, it's not out of the question.

The problem is Orlando (11), Utah (14), and New Orleans (12 & 15) will all be looking for help on the wing as well. I'm bracing myself for the Bulls to get fucked. Frankly, I'm expecting Pax to take someone at 16 that I wasn't all that interested in prior to the draft. Then I'll have to just trust him based on his past results and see for myself when October rolls around.

What I'd love:

#2 FC LaMarcus Aldridge (Texas)
#16 GF Ronnie Brewer (Arkansas)

What I'm bracing myself for:

#2 F Tyrus Thomas (LSU)
#16 Mardy Collins (Temple)

I think Brewer is one of those guys that will be picked much earlier than expected.

A guy I brought up in an earlier post at #16 might be Leon Powe. The injuries should scare off anyone picking in the lottery.

I don’t expect Brewer to be there either, Dolphin. But, in every draft – NBA, NFL, MLB, etc – guys slip. So I’m hoping he or maybe Carney falls a few slots. Wishful thinking. As far as Powe goes, I don’t think there’s a chance in hell he goes in the lottery. He may not go in the first round. He’s really fallen off the map with all the knee problems he’s had. A tremendous talent, but with 2 bad knees at his age, he may be waiting quite a while to hear his name called on draft night. If we were in good shape at the PF position, I’d be in favor of rolling the dice. He might pay off bigtime if he can stay healthy. But, being very thin in the post, I can’t say I’d recommend picking up a kid like that if you really had to count on him. That’s like the Cubs continuing to rely on Kerry Wood or the Bears (until this year) continuing to bank on not needing a backup QB. You’d be setting yourself up to get kicked in the sac, and you’d have nobody to blame but yourself when it went wrong.