NBA: Ranking the 10 best scouting departments over the past 20 years

Chicago Bulls

Although Chicago Bulls fans might cringe, one must give credit when credit is due. Their public perception is one thing, but when the Bulls have a high lottery pick, they tend to draft pretty well. However, when drafting in the late first to second round, at least in the past 10 years, there hasn’t exactly been as much consistency.

Some of their draft/trade mistakes, along with Rose’s injuries, even led to the front office having no choice but to deal Jimmy Butler (since everyone else on their roster had very little trade value) and rebuild to prevent living in basketball purgatory.

But one thing to keep in mind is that the top 10 picks are the ones you absolutely cannot miss on. Otherwise, you end up like the Orlando Magic or Phoenix Suns: rebuilding teams that have been in the lottery for 7-plus years, since they keep striking out year after year. We can say what we want about Paxson and Forman, but the aftermath of the Derrick Rose era isn’t looking as gloomy as everyone thought and that’s all due to their drafting.

Hits: Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Lauri Markkanen, Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler, Wendell Carter Jr., Bobby Portis, Nikola Mirotic, Andres Nocioni

Misses: Tyrus Thomas, Doug Mcdermott, Paul Zipser, Marcus Fizer, Cameron Bairstow, Marquis Teague, Trenton Hassell, Erik Murphy, Aaron Gray