Chicago Bulls: 5 options for pick No. 7 in 2018 NBA Draft

1. Mikal Bridges, SF — Villanova

At the team’s end of the year press conference, vice president of basketball operations John Paxson stated that Bulls may be looking for additional wing depth in the upcoming draft.

"“I think we need to look at the wing position”, Paxson told NBC Sports Chicago. “That would be an ideal spot. Size and length at the wing as a shooting component, a defensive component, would be something that, if you’re looking at an area we would like to improve, that would be it.”"

Bearing that in mind, you can’t have this conversation without bringing up Mikal Bridges from Villanova.

The Good

For starters, he possesses ideal size and length at 6’7”. Once considered a defensive specialist, Bridges transformed himself into one of the best shooters at the collegiate level.

During his career at Villanova, he converted 52.5 percent of his overall attempts, including a 40 percent conversion rate from beyond the arc. His Scoring output and rebounding numbers increased in each of the last three seasons as well.

During the 2017-18 season, nearly half of his shot attempts were from 3-point range and he knocked down 43.5 percent of them, which makes him a good candidate for Fred Hoiberg’s pace-and-space offense.

However, he’s not a perfect prospect either. Bridges needs to work on becoming a better facilitator, averaging just 1.9 assists per outing.

He’s not considered an overly physical presence at either end of the floor and doesn’t do a good job with initiating contact, averaging 3.4 attempts per game from the free throw line. Though he has the ability to get to the rim, Bridges is more of a catch-and-shoot player, as 96.4 percent of 3-point field goals were off assists.

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However, Mikal Bridges has the tools overall to become a solid 3-and-D player at the next level, and if the Bulls stick to their desire to draft a player of that mold, then he certainly deserves to be given strong consideration at No. 7.