Cleveland Cavaliers: Ranking the NBA’s best young cores
By Tony Pesta
10. Chicago Bulls
Potential All-Stars: Zach LaVine
The 2019 NBA Draft was a successful one for the Chicago Bulls. Finally finding a point guard worth drafting in the lottery, Coby White is already a cornerstone to the franchise. Then, the Bulls capped off their draft by getting a potential steal in the second round with Daniel Gafford.
Last season for North Carolina, White showed how talented he was as a scorer. Averaging 16.1 points on 42.3 percent shooting, White was a blur of speed and athleticism that left most other defenders in the dust.
His deep shooting and playmaking might need a bit of work, but White seems like he could quickly become a valuable guard in today’s league.
Most importantly, White allows Zach LaVine to focus solely on scoring. LaVine put up a career-high 23.7 points per game last year with the Bulls and will be even more productive with a worthy point guard next to him running the show.
Still a very young player, LaVine has the highest chance of anyone on this team becoming an All-Star one day.
Playing alongside White and LaVine will be the promising big man, Lauri Markkanen. This 21-year-old averaged 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds a game as he surprised everyone for the second year in a row. This stretch 4 has all the tools necessary to become an elite scorer one day.
On the bench, the Bulls have Kris Dunn, who showed brief glimpses of productivity, but should be more comfortable in his new role with the second unit. Of course, Gafford is the finishing touch for this squad, a versatile forward with NBA level athleticism.
Cavaliers takeaway:
One thing the Chicago Bulls have done better than the Cavaliers is drafting players that fit their positional needs. Moving forward, the Cavs should look to fill in the weak areas of their lineup.