There's no way Bulls front office swings and misses again, or is there?

It was almost as if a front office would purposely have had to try and miss on the lottery portion of the 2025 NBA draft class.

No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and No. 4 pick Kon Knueppel look like perennial All-Star caliber players. The likes of Dylan Harper (No. 2), VJ Edgecombe (No. 3), Cedric Coward (No. 11), and Derik Queen (No. 13) have each flashed star potential. While Ace Bailey (No. 5), Tre Johnson (No. 6), Jeremiah Fears (No. 7), Egor Demin (No. 8), Collin Murray-Boyles (No. 9) and Carter Bryant (No. 14) are showing that they can at least be key pieces – as starters or in the rotation – on a playoff-caliber team.

The one somewhat of a disappointment? Suns big man Khaman Maluach.

Selected No. 10, the center out of Duke was expected to be raw and a work in progress, and for a Phoenix team sitting No. 7 in the Western Conference standings and fighting for a playoff spot, babysitting and development is not a high priority this season.

That doesn’t mean they are out on Maluach by any means. Call it more of a one-year pause.

And then there’s the Bulls. The one front office that did miss with the selection of Noa Essengue.

It’s not even that they knowingly went after a player they knew was a project or the fact that Essengue unfortunately had to have season-ending shoulder surgery after just two brief appearances and six minutes of NBA basketball. There is recent opinion coming out of the organization that once they got Essengue into fall camp there was a realization that he was going to need two to three years of work – on and off the court – before even being a serious rotation player. And that was pre-injury.

A loaded draft class and this is what the Bulls took from it?

The only good news is executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley are headed for possible redemption, as the Bulls sink future in the standings in this current 11-game losing streak and higher in the draft lottery odds.

And while there is always hope that they can land in the top four picks – that sits at 20.3% as of Saturday – their more likely odds (50.7%) are staying at No. 9. What does that mean if they stick to a current mock script and opt not to try and pretend to be the two smartest execs in the room?

Talent incoming.

Nate Ament – Tennessee – 6-10 – Forward

While Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson would be instant additions to the Bulls frontcourt and allow Matas Buzelis to get more playing time in his natural spot as a three, Ament is the consolation prize for slipping out of the top four.

The athletic wing started the year off slowly under high expectations but has really flashed since the start of February. Ament will have the opportunity to make an even bigger statement in March for the Vols.

Keaton Wagler – Illinois – 6-6 – Guard

Think poor-man’s Knueppel, as Wagler is proving to be lethal from three-point range, play with a high IQ, and jumping up the draft boards like Knueppel did at about this same time last season.

There’s a good chance that he can have a hot March, leapfrogging the likes of Darius Acuff Jr. and Mikel Brown Jr., moving out of reach for the Bulls.

Karim Lopez – New Zealand Breakers – 6-9 – Forward

This would be a mistake to grab Lopez in the top 10, but since when does Karnisovas care about mistakes. He’s reached before and an 18-year-old playing professionally overseas is right in his wheelhouse.

If the Bulls can land the protected lottery pick from Portland, Lopez would seem to be a better gamble in that zip code and for a team with two first-round picks.