The Bulls have tried to use the draft to build a real core over the last 10 years. The results are uneven. A few first-round picks turned into legitimate NBA players, either as starters or as steady rotation pieces. Some looked like they could be more, then stalled, got hurt, or simply fit better once they left. And some picks never delivered enough to justify the slot, the development time, or the opportunity cost.
This is not a list built on hype, comps, or what a player was “supposed” to become on draft night. It is based on what the Bulls actually got: production, consistency, and whether the player held real value as part of the team’s direction. A high pick is judged harder because the expectation is higher. A late first-rounder can still be a win if he becomes a reliable contributor on a reasonable contract. If a player never becomes playable or never gives the team clear value, that is where the “bust” label starts.
The goal is simple. Take every Bulls first-round pick from the last 10 years and sort them into great, good, or bust, using outcomes, not excuses.
2016 NBA Draft
Denzel Valentine – 14th Pick
Stats: 7.4 PTS, 3.5 REB, 2.0 AST, 0.1 BLK, 0.7 STL, 39.4% FG, 35.7% 3PT
Denzel Valentine was a very normal mid-first pick for the Bulls. Older prospect, good feel, legit passer for a wing, and enough shooting confidence to sell a simple role: a connector who keeps the ball moving, hits spot-ups, and gives you competent minutes without needing touches.
The problem is the Bulls never got a dependable version of that player for long enough to justify No. 14. Valentine had a season where it looked like he could lock in as a real rotation piece, and the shooting volume was real, but the efficiency never fully held, and the defense never became a strength. The injuries didn’t help either, and once that development curve breaks, it’s hard to get it back as a role wing who needs rhythm.
For a pick in that range, you want a player you can trust for multiple seasons, not just a guy who pops for a month and then fades out of the plan. Valentine gave the Bulls flashes, but the overall return was light for a mid-first, especially for a team that needed cheap, stable contributors.
Rating: Bust
2018 NBA Draft
Wendell Carter Jr. – 7th Pick
Stats: 10.8 PTS, 8.1 REB, 1.7 AST, 1.1 BLK, 0.6 STL, 49.4% FG, 24.0% 3PT
Wendell Carter Jr. was drafted to stabilize a frontcourt that needed structure. He came in with a real NBA frame, clean defensive instincts, and the kind of basic skill package teams like in a No. 7 pick big. Rebound, protect the rim enough, set hard screens, finish simple plays, and keep the ball moving.
In a Bulls uniform, Carter mostly gave them that. The production was solid, the rebounding translated, and he looked like a starting center when healthy. The issue was that the ceiling never clearly rose, and the availability never fully cooperated. He didn’t become the kind of long-term anchor around whom the Bulls built their scheme. He became a good starter-level big, which is valuable, but not franchise-defining.
The pick still produced real value. Carter was an actual NBA player for the Bulls, and he had enough league respect to be a meaningful piece in a major deal later for Nikola Vucevic. That is not “great” for a top-seven slot, but it is clearly not a miss.
Rating: Good
Chandler Hutchison – 22nd Pick
Stats: 5.8 PTS, 4.0 REB, 0.8 AST, 0.2 BLK, 0.6 STL, 45.0% FG, 29.7% 3PT
Chandler Hutchison was a very common late-first flyer. Wing size, some downhill juice, and the general idea that if the shot becomes passable, he can survive as an energy forward who defends, cuts, and runs the floor. At No. 22, you’re not asking for a star. You’re asking for a real rotation player, or at least someone who sticks long enough to have trade value.
The Bulls didn’t get that. Hutchison never locked into consistent minutes, and the role never became clear. He had small moments, but nothing stable enough to feel like the team found a piece. The shooting didn’t develop into a dependable weapon, and the overall impact stayed light.
For a late first, you can live with a miss. But it is still a miss. The Bulls needed cheap rotation hits in that stretch, and this one never turned into one.
Rating: Bust
2019 NBA Draft
Coby White – 7th Pick
Stats: 15.4 PTS, 3.7 REB, 3.9 AST, 0.1 BLK, 0.8 STL, 42.4% FG, 36.1% 3PT
Coby White was drafted as a clean backcourt bet. Speed, pull-up confidence, and enough shot-making to imagine a long-term scoring guard who could handle starters minutes, even if the playmaking never became elite. For the Bulls, it was also a timeline pick. They needed perimeter juice, and White was one of the few guards in that range who could get his own shot without a complicated setup.
The Bulls got a real NBA player. White scored, he survived different roles, and he grew into the kind of guard who can carry an offense for stretches when the shot is falling. He also became valuable enough that other teams treated him like a real asset, not a throw-in, as contenders eyed him through the deadline. That is already a win compared to a lot of No. 7 picks that never even become functional starters.
The downside is the obvious one. A seventh pick is supposed to tilt your future. White was productive, but he never became a clear franchise guard in a Bulls uniform, and the team never reached the point where the pick defined a direction. When the Bulls reshuffled the roster at the deadline, White was moved as part of that reset to Charlotte, which says a lot about how they ultimately valued him.
This is not a bust. It is a solid return, with real minutes and real scoring, just short of the “great” outcome you dream on at No. 7.
Rating: Good
2020 NBA Draft
Patrick Williams – 4th Pick
Stats: 9.1 PTS, 3.9 REB, 1.4 AST, 0.7 BLK, 0.8 STL, 46.2% FG, 39.2% 3PT
A No. 4 pick is supposed to give you a foundation piece. Not a “maybe starter,” not a defensive specialist you hope turns into a scorer later. A real two-way forward who changes what you can do on both ends. That was the bet with Patrick Williams: size, switchability, a jumper that looked real, and the idea that he’d eventually play with force.
The Bulls never got that version. Even when the shooting ticked up, the overall impact stayed quiet. The scoring never grew into anything reliable, the handle never became a weapon, and the aggression comes in short bursts instead of becoming a baseline. For a player with his body and role, the lack of rim pressure and the lack of “I’m taking this matchup” possessions is the killer. He’s been on the roster long enough that the evaluation is simple: the upside story never turned into an outcome.
Injuries are part of it, but they can’t be the full defense. The Bulls spent multiple seasons waiting for the leap, and the return stayed stuck in low-volume offense and “solid” defense that didn’t consistently swing games.
If this were Pick 14, you could talk yourself into “good rotation guy.” At Pick 4, it’s a miss.
Rating: Bust
2021 NBA Draft
No First-Round Pick (Traded Away)
The Bulls didn’t have a first-round pick in 2021 because it was sent out in the Nikola Vucevic deal, and it was later conveyed as a lottery pick. The Magic selected Franz Wagner as the No. 8 pick.
Rating: N/A
2022 NBA Draft
Dalen Terry – 18th Pick
Stats: 3.5 PTS, 1.7 REB, 1.2 AST, 0.2 BLK, 0.5 STL, 44.4% FG, 31.9% 3PT
Dalen Terry was the kind of first-round pick teams make when they want a cheap glue guy. Size for a guard, energy, some passing feel, and the hope that defense plus spot-up shooting turns into a real rotation role.
That role never showed up for the Bulls. The minutes stayed low across multiple seasons, and there was never a stretch where Terry became a coach-trust player who closes gaps in the lineup. Even when the three-point shot improved, it didn’t change the bigger issue: the impact wasn’t strong enough to demand a nightly spot.
The simplest way to judge it is this. A mid-first pick does not need to be a starter, but it has to become usable. The Bulls didn’t get a reliable bench piece out of the pick, and they eventually moved on.
Rating: Bust
2023 NBA Draft
No First-Round Pick
The Bulls didn’t make a first-round selection in 2023 because that pick had already been moved out and later conveyed from the earlier deal for Nikola Vucevic. Once again the Magic got the pick, and drafted Jett Howard at the 11th spot.
Rating: N/A
2024 NBA Draft
Matas Buzelis – 11th Pick
Stats: 11.3 PTS, 4.3 REB, 1.4 AST, 1.2 BLK, 0.5 STL, 46.5% FG, 36.7% 3PT
The Bulls took Matas Buzelis because the outline fits the league right now. A big forward with real length, real shot confidence, and enough mobility to defend multiple spots is the kind of player teams keep chasing in the lottery. The bet was not just “he’ll score.” It was “he’ll scale.” A forward who can hit threes, protect the rim a bit, and survive on an island gives you lineup freedom that most rosters don’t have.
So far, the Bulls have gotten a real player, quickly. Buzelis was not buried. He played real minutes as a rookie, then moved into a full-time starter role in his second season, and the production jumped with it. That matters because it usually tells you how a coaching staff sees the player. When a young wing keeps earning minutes across different lineups, it usually means his baseline impact is already positive.
The scoring is clean, but the best part is the shape of it. He’s not just a stationary shooter. He’s hitting threes at a solid clip, he’s finishing when the floor opens, and he’s starting to make simple reads that keep possessions alive. The defense is where the pick starts to feel like a win: he’s producing real blocks for a forward, and he’s had games where he looks like a problem because he can contest at the rim and still recover to the perimeter.
He’s not finished. The handle and strength will decide how high this goes. But for an 11th pick, the Bulls already have what they need: a starter-track forward with two-way flashes, and a skill set that fits almost any roster build.
Rating: Good
2025 NBA Draft
Noa Essengue – 12th Pick
Stats: 0.0 PTS, 0.0 REB, 0.0 AST, 0.0 BLK, 0.5 STL, 0.0% FG, 0.0% 3PT
Noa Essengue is basically impossible to grade right now because the Bulls haven’t really played him. Two games, almost no minutes, no usage, no real role.
You can still describe the pick as a type: a long-term development swing, more about physical tools and runway than immediate production. But there isn’t enough NBA sample to label it “good” or “bust” without lying.
Rating: Too Early
Final Thoughts
If you line up every Bulls first-round pick from the last 10 years and strip away draft-night hype, the conclusion is blunt. There was no true “great” outcome. No pick in this stretch became a clear franchise pillar in a Bulls uniform. There were good players. There were useful starters. But there wasn’t the kind of hit that resets your direction for five years.
The “good” tier is real, though. Lauri Markkanen provided starter-level scoring and rebounding before the timeline shifted. Wendell Carter Jr. was a legitimate starting center and held enough value to anchor a major trade. Coby White became a productive scoring guard who survived different roles and provided real offensive punch. Matas Buzelis, still early in his career, already looks like a starter-track forward with two-way flashes, which is exactly what you want from a mid-lottery pick. Those are solid returns, even if they didn’t change the ceiling of the franchise.
The “bust” group is heavier than it should be. Denzel Valentine and Chandler Hutchison never became stable rotation pieces. Dalen Terry never carved out a dependable role. And Patrick Williams is the hardest one. A No. 4 pick cannot live in potential for years without turning it into consistent impact. At that draft slot, “fine” is not enough. The upside story has to become production.
Two drafts, 2021 and 2023, didn’t produce a first-rounder because the picks were moved in prior deals. That is part of the record, too. Over a decade, the Bulls found players. They just didn’t find the one that truly shifts everything.
