Two years in a row, the Chicago Bulls have used lottery picks on long, rangy, athletic forwards. In 2024, they selected Chicago native Matas Buzelis with the 11th overall pick, then followed it up in 2025 by taking French forward Noa Essengue at No. 12.
While somewhat redundant positionally, doubling down on wings was necessary for a franchise built around guards. When Chicago drafted Buzelis, Patrick Williams, Julian Phillips, Dalen Terry, and Torrey Craig were the only forwards under contract. Fast forward to today, and Williams is the lone holdover from that group.
Prior to Buzelis’ arrival, DeMar DeRozan operated at power forward despite being a natural small forward.