4 Prospects the Chicago Bulls Could Target In the 2025 NBA Draft
After a disappearing act in the Play-In, the Bulls have the 12th-best odds of landing the upcoming draft's top pick. What should they do at the bottom of the lottery?
ONE-POINT-SEVEN-PERCENT.
Those are the Chicago Bulls’ chances of winning May 12’s NBA Draft Lottery.
Those are the Chicago Bulls’ chances of getting a shot at grabbing Duke’s generational guard/forward/center/popcorn vendor Cooper Flagg.
Meaning there’s a 99.3% chance — give or take a few percentage points — that the Chicago Bulls will be the proud owners of the 12th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft. Woo-hoo.
For what it’s worth, here all the #12 picks from the last 20 years:
2023 – Dereck Lively II, Dallas Mavericks, C, Duke
2022 – Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder, G/F, Santa Clara
2021 – Joshua Primo, San Antonio Spurs, G, Alabama
2020 – Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings, G, Iowa State
2019 – P.J. Washington, Charlotte Hornets, F, Kentucky
2018 – Miles Bridges, Los Angeles Clippers (traded to Charlotte), F, Michigan State
2017 – Luke Kennard, Detroit Pistons, G, Duke
2016 – Taurean Prince, Utah Jazz (traded to Atlanta Hawks), F, Baylor
2015 – Trey Lyles, Utah Jazz, F, Kentucky
2014 – Dario Šarić, Orlando Magic (traded to Philadelphia), F, Croatia
2013 – Steven Adams, Oklahoma City Thunder, C, Pittsburgh
2012 – Jeremy Lamb, Houston Rockets, G, UConn
2011 – Alec Burks, Utah Jazz, G, Colorado
2010 – Xavier Henry, Memphis Grizzlies, G/F, Kansas
2009 – Gerald Henderson, Charlotte Bobcats, G/F, Duke
2008 – Jason Thompson, Sacramento Kings, F/C, Rider
2007 – Thaddeus Young, Philadelphia 76ers, F, Georgia Tech
2006 – Hilton Armstrong, New Orleans Hornets, C, UConn
2005 – Yaroslav Korolev, Los Angeles Clippers, F, Russia
2004 – Robert Swift, Seattle SuperSonics, C, High School (Bakersfield)
About what you’d expect from the bottom of the lottery: Two studs (Haliburton, Williams), four busts (Primo, Henry, Thompson, Korolev), and a bunch of role players (everybody else).
Based on this hefty sample size, the Chicago Sports Stuff abacus tells us the Bulls will have a 10% shot of nabbing an All-Star, a 20% shot of nabbing a G-Leaguer, and a 70% shot of nabbing a seventh-man.
This doesn’t bode well for the future of the franchise.
That said, there are a small handful of draft-able players who, under the coaching tutelage of anybody not named Billy Donovan, could become a useful piece of Chicago’s rotation. Here are four of ‘em:
Khaman Maluach, C, Duke
Measurables: 7’2”, 250
2025 Statistical Highlights: 8.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.6 BPG.
NBA Player Comp:
Ceiling - Rudy Gobert with less offensive skill.
Floor - Healthy Mitchell Robinson.
The Skinny: Assuming the Nikola Vucevic Era comes to an end (fingers crossed), the Bulls will have a massive hole at the five-spot — I wish Jalen Smith was good enough to fill it; he’s not — and being that Chicago is in no position to compete for realisies in the Eastern Conference, they can afford to take a flyer on a project like Maluach.
Maluach is one of the few potential first rounders who is considered a natural center, and in today’s NBA — which, based on what we’re seeing here in the 2025 Playoffs, is trending towards 1990’s-level physicality (thank goodness) — a middleman who actually plays in the middle could be a crucial piece of a championship puzzle come 2029.
The native of South Sudan needs some time to marinate, but as much as anybody in the draft class, he could be worth the wait.
Derik Queen, C, Maryland
Measurables: 6’10”, 245
2025 Statistical Highlights: 16.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 1.9 BPG.
NBA Player Comp:
Ceiling - Zach Randolph lite.
Floor - Naz Reid without an outside shot.
The Skinny: Before his monster postseason performance, Queen had been mocked about 2/3rds of the way down most draft boards. But after throwing down 31 points in the Big Ten tourney quarterfinals, then dropping a 12/15 double-double in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, he logically skyrocketed.
Like Maluach, Queen is a bit of a throwback — he has somewhat of an “old man’s game,” and I mean that in the best way possible — and could wreak havoc in the paint on both sides of the floor.
And if he puts on 15 pounds of muscle over the next two seasons, look out.
Kasparas Jakučionis, PG/SG, Illinois
Measurables: 6’6”, 205
2025 Statistical Highlights: 15.0 PPG, 4.7 APG, 84.5 FT%.
NBA Player Comp:
Ceiling - Prime Goran Dragic.
Floor - Not-prime Spencer Dinwiddie.
The Skinny: The last time Chicago drafted a combo guard from U of I, it worked out pretty well (h/t to Ayo Dosunmu), so going back to the well wouldn’t be a bad move, now would it?
The primary concern with the slick Lithuanian is his consistency. In February, for instance, he hit double figures ten times — including back-to-back 24-point outbursts against UCLA and Minnesota — but also delivered three games of seven-or-less points.
He’ll need some seasoning, but if he makes any kind of leap, he’d look awfully nice playing in between 6’8” Josh Giddey and 6’10” Matas Buzelis.
Liam McNeeley, SF, Connecticut
Measurables: 6’8”, 210
2025 Statistical Highlights: 14.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 86.6% FTG.
NBA Player Comp:
Ceiling - Klay Thompson, but not quite.
Floor - Corey Kispert on a heater.
The Skinny: Liam’s my guy.
He’s tall, he’s relatively thick, he’s skilled, and he has a winning pedigree. He’s also an athlete, who racked up 35-plus minutes in ten of his games last season.
The Texan needs work on his outside game — in his last four contests of the year, he shot a cringy 4-of-24 from distance — but he’s fearless, and, like Jakučionis, would help give the Bulls size mismatches all over the joint.
Considering their garbage salary cap situation, if the Bulls come out of the draft loaded with mismatches, that would be a win.