The Bulls thought a lot about Derrick Quinn during the draft

He signed his lowest production since starting with the Pelicans. Derrick Queen satisfied with 8 points (4/9 shooting), still 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 17 minutes in the collective explosion of his practice against the Bulls. A Bulls team whose staff has been close in the past.

Before the draft, Derrick Quinn came to Chicago, and spent time with Billy Donovan, who learned a lot about him. The Illinois franchise has made no secret of its interest in the Maryland-trained interior.

« He was one of the players the front office asked me to watch. His coach at Maryland, Kevin Willard, and I are very close. Kevin worked for (roar) Pitino, and I worked with Kevin’s father in Kentucky. clearly (queen) was on our list », the Bulls coach reports today.

Finally, the Bulls, who had the 12th pick, preferred to bet on the French Noah Essengue. Derrick Cheen, he, while the Pelicans made great maneuvers to recover ithe was selected 13th overall by the New Orleans franchise.

A decision that could already be criticized at the local level to the extent that the pivot is already proving to be productive, with an average of more than 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Before playing against the Bulls, he even averaged 23 points in three games, including a notable game against Nikola Jokić, with whom he is compared.

A better choice for the future?

Noah Essengue, for his part, was content with two anecdotal appearances with the first team and spent the majority his time in the G-League with the Windy City Bulls (average of 25 points in two games). But his profile was arguably better suited to the Bulls’ highly rhythmic style of play.

However, the fact that Billy Donovan was personally tasked with evaluating Derrick Quinn’s potential shows just how serious the Bulls were about him. There were probably five players in this draft whose videos (managers) wanted me to watch. I talked about him with (Willard). Kevin thought he had a really, really high basketball IQ, all those qualities. »

Qualities – game vision, support, completion, etc. – which the Pelicans now benefit from. ” When the draft actually arrives, there are things that happen at that time. You have five minutes to make your choice. I think the front office saw Noah as a long-term opportunity: ‘This guy fits the way we want to playBilly Donovan reports.

The latter, however, says that he and his leaders did not have the impression that the pivot ” he was not good » for the Bulls. (But) I think they said to themselves that with the way we play, Noah, maybe in terms of potential, another athletic wing, long defender, maybe that’s something we need defensively », concludes the coach who will have to wait to see if this choice was the right one.