Chicago Bulls: 5 options for pick No. 7 in 2019 NBA Draft

5. Darius Garland

The Bulls feel pretty good about their starting five. Well, for the most part anyway.

"“We feel at the two, three, four and five spot we are really solid,” Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations told NBA.com following the NBA Draft Lottery. “I’m confident we’ll find a player in this draft that fits us and suits us.”"

Did you notice Paxson didn’t say much about the starting point guard spot — a position that is currently occupied by Kris Dunn? Should the Bulls opt to go in this direction, there are a couple of players to choose from.

One of the players in question is Darius Garland from Vanderbilt. During his freshman season, which unfortunately only consisted of five games, he posted averages of 16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest. He shot 53.7 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from 3-point range.

Garland is an effective shooter, and the threat of his jump shot allows him to get into the lane. In addition to the jump shot, his offensive arsenal includes floaters and scoops as well.

The other side of the narrative is Garland isn’t explosive and has trouble finishing at the rim against bigger defenders. Another not so great stat is the fact that he averaged more turnovers per contest (three) than he did assists (2.6). At 6’3″ weighing 175 pounds, he will more than likely struggle with regards to defending taller guards at his position.

But the main thing that may scare some teams off is the meniscus injury that limited him to just five games. Bulls fans will think about Derrick Rose and his assortment of injuries that followed after initially tearing his ACL back in 2012.

Then again, Zach LaVine missed 11 months with a knee injury and after playing just 24 games in 2017-18, he was the team’s top scorer in 2018-19. Bearing this in mind, all hope isn’t lost with this kind of injury.

Although he played in just five games, Garland is projected to go as high as No. 4 and as low as No. 8, which could mean he’s no longer on the board when the Bulls make their selection. For obvious reasons, selecting a player coming off an injury isn’t an ideal scenario.

However, if he doesn’t have any ill effects from the injury and shows improvement at the defensive end of the court, he could be on Chicago’s radar.