{"id":694343,"date":"2026-04-02T18:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694343\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:00:34","slug":"bulls-flirting-with-massive-draft-mistake-in-proposed-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694343\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulls flirting with massive draft mistake in proposed deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

With at least three picks in their pockets \u2014 including two in the top 40 \u2014 the Chicago Bulls are equipped to land some much-needed talent<\/a> in the 2026 NBA Draft. The chances of that happening dip dramatically if they trade up to select Houston’s Kingston Flemings.<\/p>\n

That’s just what Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley predicts the Bulls could do in a recent mock draft<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Buckley’s story tosses out five trades that “would blow up” B\/R draft expert Jonathan Wasserman’s latest mock. Unfortunately, Chicago is involved in one of them \u2014 and not for making a brilliant maneuver.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Bulls package multiple picks to move up two spots and select Flemings, a lead guard with intriguing traits, but also legitimate concerns.<\/p>\n

Bulls trade three picks to Grizzlies, pick Kingston Flemings in mock deal<\/p>\n

Buckley has Chicago sending a trio of draft selections and a veteran wing to the Memphis Grizzlies for the right to move up two spots. The trade, in its entirety, looks like this:<\/p>\n

In his mock, Wasserman has Flemings going seventh overall to the Grizzlies and Chicago selecting Arizona guard Brayden Burries ninth. Here, the teams would swap rookies with a few other moving parts.<\/p>\n

Why the Grizzlies make this trade<\/p>\n

With all the uncertainty surrounding Ja Morant, it would frankly make sense for Memphis to just stay put at seven and take Flemings.<\/p>\n

But why wouldn’t the Grizzlies make this trade?<\/p>\n

They move back only two spots, for their troubles collecting an early second-round pick and a lightly protected first-rounder three years from now. It would shock nobody if the Bulls are still picking in the lottery in 2029. <\/p>\n

Add Okoro, a solid, rotational wing defender, and it’s easy to see why Memphis would agree to this.<\/p>\n

Bulls make massive mistake by trading up in 2026 NBA mock draft<\/p>\n

This move isn’t ideal.<\/p>\n

Picking at No. 38 in a draft class as loaded as this<\/a> is like picking at No. 28 in a normal year. Plus, any player selected in the second round is more economically valuable than one selected in the first.<\/p>\n

The other problem with this scenario is Flemings. <\/p>\n

The former Cougars’ star is an exciting prospect. He’s explosive enough to earn a Derrick Rose comparison. He’s a true point guard in the way he runs an offense. He can create shots for teammates, is a willing passer, a hard-nosed defender and plays with competitive poise. <\/p>\n

He can also go missing offensively for stretches. He’s 6-foot-4 but generously listed at 190 pounds; he can get bullied by bigger players on defense and run into problems forcing tough shots against stronger players on offense. <\/p>\n

Mid-range pull-ups make up a healthy chunk of his shot diet \u2014 he only attempted 2.9 3-pointers per game at Houston, not optimal for a player who has the ball in his hands as much as Flemings does. <\/p>\n

For as quick as he is off the dribble, a concerning number of his shots came with a defender in close quarters.<\/p>\n

Chicago should be hoarding draft capital right now, not haphazardly giving it away. And Burries is arguably a better fit<\/a> for the Bulls anyway. Making this trade would be a(nother) disappointing move on the part of this front office.<\/p>\n

Bulls trade grade: C-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With at least three picks in their pockets \u2014 including two in the top 40 \u2014 the Chicago…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694344,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-694343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116336422019995433","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}