Bulls fans have been waiting eagerly to see their team play since March when all professional sports were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. After failing to qualify to participate in the NBA’s bubble at Walt Disney Resort in Orlando over the summer, the Bulls were able to land the fourth pick and the 44th pick in this year’s draft.

Almost everyone had the top three players going to their respective teams but everyone else wondered who the Bulls were going to select with the fourth pick. Reigning Naismith player of the year, Obi Toppin, was available as well as Israeli star, Deni Avdija. Analysts were stumped about who the Bulls were going to take with their pick.

As the draft day rolled around, rumors started coming out about the Bulls and that they might trade their pick and third-year player, Wendell Carter Jr. for the second overall pick from the Golden State Warriors. Many people were in favor of this trade as it would allow the Bulls to get one of the three players that are expected to make immediate impacts on the floor.

Come time for the Bulls to make their pick, they elected to hold on to the pick and ended up drafting Shooting Guard Patrick Williams out of Florida State.

After hearing about the pick, many fans and analysts were very surprised with the pick. Many mock drafts had Williams falling into the seven-nine range and some even had him outside of their top ten. Williams was the ACC sixth man of the year averaging 9.2 points per game, grabbing 4 rebounds per game along with an assist per game as well. Williams also averaged 22.5 minutes per game.

As a Bulls fan, I was one of the millions of people who were surprised with the pick. I could not get over the fact that they had taken someone who did not even start on their team and averaged less than 10 points per game with the fourth pick.

Hello @PatrickLW4 👀 pic.twitter.com/SqnNNlkbVL

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 23, 2020

But as I continue to think about it, Bulls Vice President of Basketball Operations, Arturas Karnisovas, has some of the best connections with international basketball scouts which means that there must be some reason why they did not take him. Karnisovas has a very good record drafting with his former team, the Denver Nuggets, as he drafted Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray who have turned into very good players over the last year.

The Bulls selected a European player with Marko Simonovic in the second round. The Montenegro native is a six eleven center who played internationally for the Mega Soccerbet in Serbia. 

Not to be confused with Marko Simonovic who is 36 and plays in the same league as the Bulls’ second-round pick, Simonovic is a 21-year-old who helped lead his U20 team to multiple gold medals with his national team and could be a great asset to the Bulls. Simonovic is a great shooter but needs to put on some muscle if he wants to be a defensive threat in the NBA.

From a fan’s perspective, I do not know much about the lengthy big man but if his shooting ability is true to the scouting report, he could be a steal falling to the 44th pick.

As soon as the draft was over, the Bulls immediately picked up the phone and called Chicago native, Devon Dotson. The six-two guards averaged just under 15 points per game as well as four rebounds and four assists per game over a two-year span with Kansas. Dotson was

a consensus All-American his sophomore year and has the potential to see serious minutes as a role player for the Bulls this season.

This year’s draft was one of the most surprising drafts to watch as a fan. The front office definitely made a few surprises with their picks’. I love the Dotson signing as he was clearly a beast at the college and I am hopeful he can produce at the next level. The Bulls are continuing to get young talent and fans should be excited for the upcoming years as the future looks very bright.