Bulls fail to jump at NBA Draft Lottery, cede pick to Magic

The Chicago Bulls’ payment to the Orlando Magic for their bold 2021 trade deadline move to acquire Nikola Vucevic is complete.

At Tuesday’s NBA Draft Lottery, the Bulls remained in 11th, which means their final top-four protected first-round pick will convey to the Magic for the June 22 NBA Draft.

The Bulls held just an 8.5 percent chance of moving into the top-four picks and a meager 1.8 percent chance at the No. 1 spot and the right to draft French sensation Victor Wembanyama. He's headed to the Spurs, who won the lottery.

The Magic drafted Franz Wagner with the first lottery pick the Bulls conveyed to the Magic, who also acquired Wendell Carter Jr. and the expiring contract of Otto Porter Jr. in the deal that sent Al-Farouq Aminu to the Bulls with Vucevic.

The Bulls also are out a 2025 first-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the sign-and-trade acquisition of DeMar DeRozan. This lack of draft capital will place a huge premium on creativity for Bulls’ management, which made big splashes that, coupled with Lonzo Ball’s potentially career-threatening injury, have netted one playoff appearance and one playoff game victory.

The Bulls, who also currently don’t have a second-round pick in this year’s draft, still may sneak into the first round. The Portland Trail Blazers owe the Bulls a lottery-protected first-round pick as part of the three-team deal involving Lauri Markkanen and Derrick Jones Jr.

The Trail Blazers sit third following Tuesday’s draft lottery, but they also acquired a first-round pick from the New York Knicks in this year’s Josh Hart trade. It’s possible that the Trail Blazers and Bulls negotiate to send that 23rd pick to Chicago, freeing up Portland’s ability to make other future trades that they’re limited in doing until the Bulls’ payment is fulfilled.

At his season-ending news conference, executive vice president Artūras Karnišovas said everything is on the table this offseason except a full rebuild.

“At the end of the day, to be a .500 team is not good enough. It’s not good enough for this organization. It’s not good enough for the fan base. They deserve better, so I’m going to have to look at everything,” Karnišovas said. “How can I help this group to do better? We have to move forward. But I’ll be open to anything.”

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