Best Draft Pick In Chicago Bulls History

Unlike the previous team entries in this series, with the Chicago Bulls, the conversation about the greatest draft pick in franchise history begins and ends with one player. But before diving into the obvious answer, it's worth acknowledging Derrick Rose, a homegrown Chicago kid from Englewood, who the Bulls selected first overall in 2008. Rose won Rookie of the Year, became the youngest MVP in NBA history at just 22, and led Chicago to the best record in the league in 2010-11. Then injuries began to derail what had started to be a promising career. While he would never take the title of the Bulls' best draft pick, he could have made the conversation more competitive.

So we move ahead to the obvious answer, which is Michael Jordan. On June 19, 1984, the Bulls selected a shooting guard from North Carolina with the third overall pick behind Hakeem Olajuwon and, infamously, Sam Bowie. Portland needed a center, the logic went. It remains one of the most baffling decisions in draft history. Yes, you cannot teach height, but drafting a big man who had just come off a two-year stint on the injured list due to a stress fracture in his tibia, the red flags were flying furiously. And yes, the Blazers already had Clyde Drexler, but one could only imagine how deadly the high-flying duo could have been. 

For the few who may not know Jordan’s much-publicized story, he grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and as a sophomore was cut by his varsity team. Following his All-American senior season, Jordan joined the North Carolina Tar Heels.  As a freshman, Jordan catapulted himself into the national spotlight, hitting the game-winning jumper in the 1982 NCAA Championship game. After two more seasons on campus, Jordan declared for the 1984 NBA Draft. 

In his rookie season, Jordan averaged 28.2 points, helped Chicago improve from 27 wins to 38, and claimed Rookie of the Year. The next fourteen seasons saw Jordan become arguably the greatest player in NBA history.  Six championships (on a pair of three-peats), six Finals MVPs, five regular season MVPs, fourteen All-Star appearances, eleven All-NBA teams, ten scoring titles, a Defensive Player of the Year award, a spot on the NBA 50th and 75th Anniversary teams, and a place in the Basketball Hall of Fame. And let’s not forget being the face behind the most popular sneaker brand of all time and the world’s first billion-dollar athlete. 

The Bulls selected third in 1984 and ended up with the greatest basketball player who ever lived. When it comes to the greatest draft pick in Chicago history, regardless of the sport, it is never really a conversation.