From The Athletic...
The Chicago Bulls on Monday conducted one of their most significant workouts leading up to next week’s NBA Draft.
It was highlighted by projected top-10 pick Ron Holland and Chicago native Terrence Shannon Jr., a former Lincoln Park High School standout who went on to star at the University of Illinois after playing his first three college seasons at Texas Tech. Holland, a unanimous top-five recruit in the 2023 class, originally committed to play at the University of Texas before deciding to forgo college basketball to join the G League Ignite. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists for the Ignite last season.
Shannon was accused of sexually assaulting a woman while visiting Lawrence, Kan., for a Sept. 8 football game. He was charged on Dec. 5 and was found not guilty of charges of rape and aggravated sexual battery last week after deliberations by a Douglas County, Kan., jury.
The allegation and resulting legal case cost Shannon six games in his final season at Illinois and could negatively impact the projected first-round pick’s draft stock. The Bulls own the 11th selection in next Wednesday’s first round of the draft and need more size and versatility on the wing, as well as depth in the frontcourt.
Shannon, a 6-foot-6 wing, averaged 23 points while shooting 36.2 percent on a career-high 6.7 3-pointers per game last season at Illinois. On March 16, Shannon set a Big Ten Tournament record with 40 points in a win against Nebraska. Shannon’s scoring could be useful for the Bulls, particularly if the team parts ways with Zach LaVine via trade this summer.
The Bulls have a long history of acquiring locals. The team signed local product Jevon Carter last summer in free agency and drafted Chicago native Ayo Dosunmu from Illinois in the second round in 2021. In 2018, the Bulls signed Chicago native Jabari Parker. And in 2016, the franchise added Dwyane Wade. Of course, the Bulls also drafted Derrick Rose with the No. 1 pick in 2008. Monday’s pre-draft workout by the Bulls also included prospects Ryan Dunn, a 6-foot-8 wing out of Virginia, Villanova’s Justin Moore, a 6-foot-5 wing, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, a 7-foot center and UCLA’s Adem Bona, a 6-foot-10 post player.
Filipowski, a projected top-20 pick, could bolster the Bulls’ frontcourt depth behind Nikola Vučević. Reserve center Andre Drummond is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and the Bulls might be in the market for a quality option who can be groomed into Vučević’s replacement.
Bona is a projected second-round pick, while Moore’s range is the late second-round selection to undrafted.
However, Dunn could be the biggest sleeper of Monday’s group session, if not this year’s draft.
The forward was among college basketball’s best perimeter defenders. Dunn played for the same coach, Tony Bennett, and in the same lockdown defensive system that produced Atlanta Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter and Portland Trail Blazers guard Malcolm Brogdon.
“He’s the best wing defender I’ve evaluated in a long time,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie wrote in March.
Dunn, an ACC All-Defensive Team selection following his breakout sophomore season, averaged 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals in 27.5 minutes per game. With his length and defensive versatility, it’s easy to see Dunn fitting snugly on a roster led by Vučević, LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Coby White.
“He’s elite as a help defender with timely rotations and scramble instincts,” Vecenie wrote. “He’s disruptive with his hands and forces turnovers at an elite level. He’s strong and physical. He’s switchable athletically, capable of guarding one through five in college, and one through four in the NBA.”
Dunn’s prototype is in the mold of some of the league’s best defenders, such as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones and New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby. The knock on Dunn is his offensive game, particularly his shooting. He made only 12 of 51 3-pointers in his two seasons at Virginia and must prove he can be a consistent outside shooter to morph into a two-way threat.
“He’s a sharp cutter and offensive rebounder, but that’s it,” Vecenie wrote. “If a team thinks they can figure out their spacing around him, I would go for it.”
If Dunn had a proven perimeter stroke, he’d be a no-brainer top-10 pick. But the Bulls, sitting just outside the top 10, are in a prime position to pluck the top defender.
Chicago has built adequate infrastructure to transform a prospect like Dunn into a more well-rounded player. The Bulls hired respected shooting coach Peter Patton as their director of player development last summer. He’s already been credited with the improved shooting of Bulls players such as Dosunmu, Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips.
The Bulls, as they did with Patrick Williams in 2020, could take a slightly early swing on a player with obvious strengths. Or, if the Bulls get creative, a path exists to trade back and snag a player like Dunn slightly later in the first round while collecting additional assets from the team looking to move up.
Much of next week’s decision for the Bulls will depend on how the board shakes out in front of them. Dunn is an intriguing option who fits a need and will almost certainly be on the board at 11. At 21 years old, Dunn is ready to step in and supply quality defense from opening night.
But he naturally won’t be viewed as having the same upside as Holland, who is three weeks shy of his 19th birthday. But how long are the win-now Bulls willing to wait for another teenager to develop?
Chicago’s current roster and recent history of player acquisitions suggest the Bulls will be in the market for versatility. In addition to drafting Williams in 2020, Terry in 2022 and Phillips in 2023, the Bulls also have signed multifaceted forwards in free agency such as Derrick Jones Jr. and Torrey Craig.
There’s a good chance the Bulls met their next rangy wing in Monday’s workout.
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