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Chicago Bulls | Grade: F

Pick: Lauri Markkanen
Trade: Jimmy Butler and No. 16 to Minnesota for Kris Dunn, Zach Lavine, and No. 7 pick

What is happening here?

Twitter - Nick Friedell ✔ @NickFriedell
Definitely a feeling of excitement from Bulls executives right now. They will always respect Butler, but they believe in the new direction.
5:53 PM - 22 Jun 2017
75 75 Retweets 261 261 likes

It's almost like Chicago management exists in an alternate world. Sometimes that meant trading multiple picks to bet big on Doug McDermott. Other times it meant lowballing Jimmy Butler in contract talks a few years ago. More recently it meant selling the world on the Three Alphas, then trading for Michael Carter-Williams and Cameron Payne just a few months before they add one more overwhelmed former lottery pick in Kris Dunn.

I don't know. Whatever you thought of Butler's future in Chicago, it's hard to believe that the Wolves package was the best the Bulls could've gotten for him, particularly if you include February's Celtics talks in the discussion. It's even harder to understand what Chicago sees in Dunn, a player who struggled for almost the entire season last year. At 23 years old he was supposed to be ready to contribute immediately, and he wasn't. He probably still isn't. LaVine is coming off an injury. He's at least got some upside.

But then they used the No. 7 pick on Markkanen, in part because they already have Dunn, Carter-Williams, Jerian Grant, and Payne on the roster. They've made so many bad calls at point guard that I guess they didn't feel comfortable drafting a potentially good one (like Dennis Smith). I like Markkanen more than most, but he needed the right situation to develop gradually in a system that plays to strengths. Is Chicago that situation?

This grade isn't about the pick, and it's not even about the trade. I hope Markkanen succeeds and Dunn surprises people. But it's about the Bulls generally. It always feels like they're three steps behind the smartest teams in the league, and they don't seem to have any coherent plan beyond staying just competitive enough to turn a profit. There are teams that have been worse over the past few years, but it's hard to find a team that's been more frustrating. If you know a Bulls fan, hug that Bulls fan.

Golden State Warriors | Grade: A

Pick: Jordan Bell

Jordan Bell was arguably the best defensive prospect in the draft. It was him or OG Anunoby. Anyway, he'll be awesome defending pick-and-rolls as a small ball center, and now that he's on the Warriors, it doesn't even matter that he can't really score. This feels like the Pat McCaw pick, Part Two. Life is not fair.