During the 2023 NBA Draft, the Bulls traded with the Washington Wizards for the No. 35 pick. With the pick, the Bulls selected Julian Phillips from Tennessee.
Officially, the Chicago Bulls traded their 2026 and 2027 second-round picks to the Washington Wizards to obtain the No. 35 pick in the 2023 NBA draft. With that pick, the Bulls drafted Julian Phillips, a forward from Tennessee.
The Bulls now don't have a second-round pick until the 2028 NBA draft. They owe their 2024 second-round pick to the New Orleans Pelicans from the Lonzo Ball trade; their 2025 second-round pick goes to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the DeMar DeRozan trade.
On Phillips, Artūras Karnišovas and the Bulls felt he was worth the future second-rounders.
"Our group liked him," Artūras Karnišovas said of Phillips after the draft. "He’s an ex-McDonald’s All-American. Freshman. 19 years old. Multi-positional defender. One of the best athletes in the draft. 43-inch vertical.
"He can step in right now and probably can defend on our level. He has a lot of things to obviously improve. We’re looking forward to it. He’s very young but he’s very talented."
Karnišovas mentioned they had Phillips much higher on their draft board than where they acquired him. Marc Eversley added Derrick Jones Jr.'s recent decline of his player option for next season "played a bit of a factor" in the Bulls drafting Phillips.
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Phillips, 19, played one season at Tennessee, earning SEC All-Freshman honors.
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He averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He shot 41.1 percent from the field on 6.0 shots per game and 23.9 percent from behind the arc on a low 3-point volume.
He is lengthy, extremely athletic and a solid defender. He recorded a 91.3 defensive rating and 3.8 defensive box plus/minus in his lone season in college.
Phillips' 43-inch vertical he posted at the NBA combine is the highest in the draft class.
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