Chicago Bulls general manager, Gar Forman and head coach, Vinny Del Negro fielded questions from the media following the Bulls’ first round selections in the 2009 NBA Draft. Here is a recap of what each said.

Gar Forman

• They targeted James Johnson during the season.
• It was a consensus among their staff that James was a top 5-7 player in the draft.
• They love his versatility.  He can play the 3 and the 4.  He can play inside and outside.  At his size, 6′8″ 250 pounds, he can put the ball on the floor, rebound, push it out in transition, and penetrate.  He’s a very good passer for a big man and can make plays for both himself and teammates off the dribble.
• They got to see him for three straight days at a tournament in Anaheim, in which he showed an effective post game.
• They had talks with teams the last week about moving up in the draft, and James was the guy who they were targeting to move up and get.  They were really excited that he was there at 16.
• Taj Gibson is also a versatile guy.  He has great length.  He’s 6′10″ with a 7′4″ wingspan.  He runs the floor, which is important for the Bulls’ bigs to do with Derrick.  USC ran a lot of their offense through him.  He can make a 15 footer.  He plays extremely hard.  They were surprised that he was there at 26, as they heard he might be taken in the late teens or early twenties.
• It was a funny draft.  If certain guys went at certain spots, the whole order could be different.  The first 6-7, maybe 8 picks were set in stone.  After that, the same guy that went 9th could go 20th.
• James and Tyrus are nice complements.  James, in certain matchups, could guard inside and out.
• Taj’s versatility and ability to move his feet was something they liked.  In the Pac-10 Championship game, Arizona State ran high pick and rolls for James Harden.  USC switched Taj onto Harden.  Taj was able to stay with Harden off the dribble and contest the shot with his length.
• They talked to pretty much every team in the league, and talked to Phoenix about a couple of scenarios.
• The coach of Wake Forest said that James would compete everyday in practice and would compete during games.
• Thinks that both will have an opportunity to play right away.  They will have to go out and earn it.  Up to them to come in and earn minutes.
• It was surprising that Dejuan Blair is falling this far, because he is a very effective player.  He’s a big rebounder, and if you look historically, rebounding translated to the NBA.  He is surprised that Blair hadn’t been picked yet.
• There was a conversation about picking Blair at both picks.  When at 13, they were eyeing James Johnson, but making plans in case Johnson went 14 or 15.  Taj was also in the discussions at 16.
• They approached the draft by itself.  He would like to address certain needs, but when you’re drafting as deep as the Bulls were, more times than not you’re going to draft hte best player available.
• You have to wait 3 or 4 years to grade the draft.  If they knew this would be the outcome of the draft at the beginning, they would have taken it from the get go.  Only time will tell, but he thinks both are NBA players.
• James is kind of unique because for a guy that size he can handle it, crossing guys over, which is pretty unique.
• He felt they were close to moving up a couple of times.  As the draft got under way, they thought they were real close to one deal moving up, but when it got closer to their pick, they couldn’t get over the hump.
• There aren’t a lot of true lowpost scorers.  Usually when a team gets one, they don’t let him go.  There is only a handful of them, they’re almost a dying breed.  If they could ever find one, they would try to get one.  Even in this draft, he doesn’t think there is anyone who you can pinpoint as a true lowpost scorer.
• They will address free agency on July 1.  They will continue to have conversations with teams.  They’re always looking to get better.  At the same time, they’re always looking at short term needs and longterm flexibility.  They’re going to have some flexibility down the road as far as free agency is concerned.
• They will look at addressing backcourt depth in July.  They have a plan in place and a contingency plan as things move.  When July 1 hits, it’s they’re hope that Ben Gordon remains a Chicago Bull.
• They really like James.  They went out to dinner with him and he’s very personable.
• His dad was like a 9 time world champion in martial arts.  James is something like 21-0 when doing marital arts.  Forman doesn’t think that James is doing martial arts anymore, and if he is, they’re putting a clause in his contract that says he won’t be.  The staff at Wake Forest said that his martial arts training has really helped him in basketball with core strength and flexibility.
• There weren’t a lot of surprises.  Pretty much went the way they thought it would.  Surprised that Blair lasted to the second round, and that B.J. Mullens, a guy who they think has a really big future, lasted as long as he did.
• Chase Budinger is a very good player, who has positional size and can shoot the basketball.  Thinks he will be a very good NBA player.
• Point guard was probably the strongest position in this draft.

Vinny Del Negro

• James Johnson has a lot of skill and can do a little bit of everything.
• Taj gives them length, he can block shots, and runs the floor.
• Taj shot the ball a little big better in the workout than they expected.
• Taj can get out and guard different guys.  James can guard some threes and fours with his size and strength.
• He doesn’t think there will be any problem with their work ethic.  The staff will guide them in the right way.  Then they will have to go out and earn minutes.  There will be minutes to earn if they work hard enough, because Vinny knows they’re talented enough.
• He expects the Bulls to get better defensively, becuase they need to.  It’s easy to talk about getting better defensively, but it takes time to do.  The defense is going to be a big focal point, more so this year than last.
• He feels strongly that they can score the basketball, especially after the trade.  Adding these two pieces just adds more depth.

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• 2009 NBA Mock Draft V1.0

Tags: 16th pick, 2009 free agency, 2009 NBA Draft, 26th pick, Anaheim, Arizona State, B.J. Mullens, Ben Gordon, Chase Budinger, DeJuan Blair, Derrick Rose, Gar Forman, James Harden, James Johnson, martial arts, Pac-10, Taj Gibson, Tyrus Thomas, USC, Vinn Del Negro, Wake Forest

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