What Will Bulls Do With Two First Round Picks?

Who knows?

By EAMONN BRENNAN

Updated 3:15 PM CST, Mon, Jun 8, 2009

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Forget what the Bulls want -- one of those stars, namely Chris Bosh, who will become available next summer. What do the Bulls need?

It's a lot harder to pin down than one would originally think. The Bulls are far from a perfect team; there are plenty of areas to improve. But which are the most urgent? What do the Bulls need right away? In a draft that features very little in the way of immediate star talent -- there are no Derrick Roses in this draft, and only Blake Griffin appears to be a surefire star -- what should the Bulls focus on shoring up right away?

The Bulls might not yet know the answer to that question. But if Sam Smith, now writing at Bulls.com, is on the ball, there's a chance guard Brandon Jennings -- famous for his decision to forgo college and head to Italy to play on a one-year contract -- could slip to No. 16. If so, the Bulls should forget their needs and drop everything and draft this man immediately:

"Now, I have to even correct myself here as I've been hearing that Jennings could slip through and Hill has been falling," Smith wrote today. "Many are saying Duke's Henderson will get into the top 10 and others now are insisting UCLA's Jrue Holiday also will crack the top 10."

It's not likely, but Jennings is one of the few impact players in this draft. His draft stock has been noticeably hampered by his European experiment, despite the fact that he played very well for the majority of his stint at Lottomatica Roma, and flashed a variety of skills that could make him a very solid point guard at the NBA level. If Jennings is underrated thanks to lack of "exposure," the Bulls should hop on that immediately. Not likely to happen, but possible.

Failing that, as much as it pains us to say so, a Tyler Hansbrough selection makes sense, whether at No. 16 or at No. 24 (hopefully, at No. 24; Hansbrough isn't good enough to go so close outside the lottery). If the Bulls are primarily concerned with stocking pieces to make a trade next season, Hansbrough could be a solid contributor -- not flashy, but at least capable -- to trade right away. It's not pretty, but who knows? At this point, it might be the Bulls' best, or only, reasonable draft strategy.

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.