2020 NBA Mock Draft roundup: Predictions for Bulls' first-round pick

Absent from the NBA's season restart, and with organized offseason activities a question hanging in the air, the next tentpole for the Bulls to hone in on is the draft.

This year's draft will be an especially important one for the organization. Entering Year 4 of a rebuild and under fresh front office leadership in Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, the direction the Bulls take with their impending top-10 choice will offer a window into the new regime's thoughts on the roster and teams' general standing.

Karnisovas, for his part, disputed the widely-accepted notion that this draft is a weak one at his end-of-season press conference with reporters. The Bulls own the seventh-best lottery odds (yet again), with a 7.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick, and 32 percent odds of vaulting into the top four. They also own the Grizzlies' second-round pick (No. 47) by way of some transaction minutia from the Tomas Satoransky sign-and-trade.

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"I like a lot of players that are in our range," Karnisovas said. "I think we've done a lot of work studying. That's why the excitement is coming from studying those players and interviewing them and looking at the video. So I think we'll add a good player to our roster next year."

Wherever the Bulls land, they'll have a litany of possible needs to address. Though they invested the No. 7 overall pick in Coby White in 2019, the playmaking potential of lead guards LaMelo Ball or Killian Hayes might be too much to pass up if afforded an opportunity to snag them. On the wing, an area the Bulls are thin, do-it-all forward Deni Avdija and 3-and-D prototype Devin Vassell's stocks are rapidly rising, and Isaac Okoro has drawn Jimmy Butler comparisons for his game-wrecking potential on the defensive end. Onyeka Okongwu, Obi Toppin and James Wiseman intrigue in the frontcourt, as well.

All of which is to say, a lot can happen between now and October, when the draft is scheduled to be held. Which direction should the Bulls go? Here's a roundup of the latest spate of Mock Drafts from across the interwebs:

Rob Dauster, NBC Sports

No. 7: Deni Avdija, F, Maccabi Tel Aviv

Gary Parrish, CBS Sports

No. 7: Isaac Okoro, F, Auburn

Tankathon

No. 7: Tyrese Haliburton, G, Iowa State

No. 47: Elijah Hughes, F, Syracuse

Bryan Kalbrosky, USA Today

No. 8: Killian Hayes, G, Ulm

Mike Babcock, Babcock Hoops

No. 7: Killian Hayes, G, Ulm

No. 47: Paul Reed, F, Depaul

NBADraft.net

No. 7: Onyeka Okongwu, F/C, USC

No. 47: Jay Scrubb, G, John A. Logan College (JUCO)

A. Sherrod Blakely, NBC Sports Boston

No. 7: Isaac Okoro, F, Auburn

James Ham, NBC Sports Bay Area

No. 9: Killian Hayes, G, Ulm

And here's NBC Sports Chicago's latest Mock, which saw the Bulls select Okoro. Happy scouting.

RELATED: Bulls offseason watch: Key dates for 2020 NBA Draft, Free Agency 

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2020 NBA Mock Draft roundup: Predictions for Bulls first-round pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

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