Busy Week for Bulls

By Benjy Lipsman in News on Jun 23, 2004 4:00PM

Last night began a week of huge changes throughout the NBA. The party started with the Charlotte Bobcats' expansion draft. Charlotte selected 19 players from among those left unprotected by other teams.

Among those selected was Bulls power forward Marcus Fizer, who was looking forward to a fresh start after spending much of last season in coach Scott Skiles' doghouse.

Some of the biggest names in the NBA are also looking to move on as well. Tracy McGrady and Shaquille O'Neal have both demanded trades. McGrady, who spurned a Bulls offer in 2000 in favor of the Orlando Magic, may end up with the Houston Rockets as soon as this week -- a deal's supposedly already in place.

Tomorrow night is the week's main event -- the 2004 NBA Draft. The Chicago Bulls have the 3rd pick overall, as well as 31st and 38th picks in the second round. Much speculation has surrounded who the Bulls will select with their first round pick. Most mock drafts have the Bulls going with either Duke small forward Luol Deng or Arizona shooting guard Andre Iguodala.

Of course Chicagoist knows the Bulls drafts rarely goes anything like expected -- they traded Chris Mihm for Jamal Crawford in 2000 when they needed a center, and traded emerging team leader Elton Brand for high schooler Tyson Chandler in 2001. Last year's career-threatening motorcycle crash of Jay Williams changed the Bulls draft strategy a week before the big day. So chances are something big will happen that nobody expects!