The 2013 NBA Draft class wasn’t the disaster it was made out to be.
Not when it produced future Hall of Famers such as Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 15 overall) and Rudy Gobert (No. 27).
It just wasn’t star-laden at the top.
Yes, eventual bust Anthony Bennett went No. 1 to the Cavaliers, but it was a draft about teams scouting well and hitting on picks late, then having a system in place to develop that raw talent.
The Chicago Bulls are about to be tested in that department again.
Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas & Co. entered the draft lottery Sunday with a 77.6% chance to stay at No. 11, and that’s exactly how the balls bounced. That means the Bulls will pick 11th on June 26, the first day of the new two-day event.
Unfortunately for Karnisovas, he doesn’t have a second-round selection — at least for now.
The Bulls had a 2% chance to land the No. 1 pick and a 9.4% chance to land among the top four, but it might be OK that they didn’t, especially with more questions than answers in the top five of the class.
The Atlanta Hawks landed the No. 1 pick. The Hawks, who has never drafted first, despite only having a 3% chance of winning the top pick.
The Washington Wizards will have the second pick, followed by the Houston Rockets , who will pick No. 3 and the Spurs will have the No. 4 pick.
Alexandre Sarr might be the No. 1 pick, but even that is debatable, with Nikola Topic, Zaccharie Risacher, Donovan Clingan and Reed Sheppard all in the mix. That’s good news for the Bulls, who could hit a gem at No. 11 while teams in the top five swing and miss.
Either way, this is an important first step in a telltale offseason for Karnisovas, who finally admitted last month that his plan of continuity with DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic has been a failure.
‘‘This group, something doesn’t work,’’ Karnisovas said. ‘‘I have to find ways to find a group that’s going to make improvements. We’ve done it for a couple of years now, and it hasn’t worked. Everything is on the table.’’
