Draft grades for Julian Phillips as the No. 35 overall pick in the NBA Draft
NBA Draft grades for the Chicago Bulls picking Julian Phillips in the second round range from as high as a ‘B’ to as low as a ‘D-’, after the former five-star Tennessee freshman wing went at No. 35 overall, selected in the second round.
The Bulls entered draft night without any picks, but traded two future second-rounders to select Phillips, who became the seventh Tennessee player drafted during the Rick Barnes era in Knoxville.
“Our group liked him,” Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas said after the draft according to the Chicago Tribune. “He’s (an) ex-McDonalds All-American. Multi-positional defender. He’s one of the best athletes in the draft. He can step in right now, probably can defend on our level.”
Defense was never an issue for Phillips, who analytically was one of the best defenders on a Tennessee defense that was ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency most of last season. On the offensive end, though, Phillips averaged 8.3 points in 24.1 minutes per game, shooting 41.1 percent from the field but just 23.9 percent from the 3-point line.
“He has a lot of things to improve,” Karnišovas said, “but we’re looking forward to it. He’s very young and very talented.”
ESPN gave the Bulls their highest marks for draft Phillips, giving Chicago a ‘B’.
“… The Bulls traded in to take Phillips in a reasonable spot for a talented player who wasn’t particularly productive at Tennessee,” ESPN Kevin Pelton wrote. “Sadly, the biggest news of the night was Bulls vice president Artūras Karnišovas telling reporters Chicago doesn’t expect Ball to play in 2023-24 after undergoing a cartilage transplant.”
Chicago taking Phillips was a ‘C’ according to SB’s Nation’s Rickey O’Donnell.
“The Bulls traded into the second round to take the same type of prospect they seemingly select every year under Artūras Karnišovas: an athletic wing without much skill in their dribble/pass/shoot skill set,” O’Donnell wrote. “Phillips is a 6’7 wing with a 7-foot wingspan who recorded a 43-inch max vertical at the combine. He profiles as one of the better wing defenders in the class.
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“The problem is that his offensive skill set is extremely raw right now. He probably needs to turn into an adequate shooter to make it, but his 82 percent free throw percentage is reason for optimism.”
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie gave the Bulls a ‘C-’ for trading into the draft to get Phillips and also signing Connecticut center Adama Sanogo as an undrafted free agent.
“Phillips is a good bet at No. 35,” Vecenie wrote. “He’s a big, rangy wing who can defend multiple positions. I loved him on that end this past season. He’s going to have to shoot the ball to be impactful in the NBA. While there were signs of him being able to do that in high school, he hit just 23.9 percent from 3 this past season.”
The lowest grade, a ‘D’, came from CBS Sports and Kyle Boone.
“You’ve got to hand it to Chicago’s front office: they are nothing if not consistent,” Boone wrote. “Trading into the early second round to draft Julian Phillips was very much on brand for this franchise, adding a super-athlete who has crazy physical tools but has a long way to go towards developing into a real threat as a shooter. Pretty underwhelming.”
