NBA Draft 2021: 3 biggest winners and losers from draft lottery results

Loser No. 2 – Chicago Bulls

Orlando’s gain is Chicago’s loss, as the Bulls had only a 20% chance to land in the top-4 overall and keep their pick. It would’ve been great to accomplish that and get one of the elite prospects at the top of the draft. Unfortunately, they’ve struck out and will have to wait until No. 38 in this year’s draft.

It’s a major missed opportunity for a franchise that still needs more talent. Despite getting Nikola Vučević in a trade and him averaging around 22 ppg and 11 rpg in 26 games since Chicago still finished outside of the top-10 of the Eastern Conference standings. And unlike Detroit and Orlando, this team has a franchise player in Zach LaVine, who made the All-Star game this season after averaging over 27 ppg.

The other two key pieces on the roster include 15 ppg scoring guard Coby White, along with last year’s top-5 pick Patrick Williams, who started 71 of 72 games for the Bulls this past season. They already traded away Wendell Carter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen hasn’t taken the next step that Bulls fans had hoped he would.

But with the talent they currently have, it’s very likely that they’ll be closer to the 10-14 pick range in future drafts rather than 1-6. That puts them in the rough position to be too good to get a potential game-changer, but not good enough to make and advance in the playoffs. Vučević may have switched teams in a trade but effectively, he landed in the same position. And if things don’t change soon for the Bulls, LaVine may not be around any longer.