Bulls look at guards before Hawes, Noah take center stage
The Bulls weren’t exactly shopping for need during Thursday’s predraft workouts at the Berto Center.
Among the players participating were a pair of guards — Texas A&M’s Acie Law (6-feet-3, 183 pounds) and Georgia Tech’s Javaris Crittenton (6-5, 198) — along with Georgia Tech forward Thaddeus Young (6-8, 210).
The Bulls figure to be in good shape at the three perimeter spots, but want to examine all the options in case they decide to trade one of their current players for a big man.
“I was saying that to myself, but they’re kind of short around the perimeter, so I guess they’re trying to get some bigger guys around the perimeter and build for the future,” said Young, who has not signed with an agent and could return to college.
“I think they want to add size to the backcourt,” said Javaris Crittenton. “You never know what their thinking is.”
The Bulls have the No. 9 pick in the June 28 NBA draft, while the three prospects who visited Thursday have been projected to go between 10 and 20.
This year’s draft is low on point guards, so Law and Javaris Crittenton have a chance to raise their stock during these predraft workouts. Javaris Crittenton said he’s eager to match up against Ohio State’s Mike Conley Jr. (6-1, 180).
“I tried to set up workouts and tried to find him, but we don’t seem to run into each other,” Javaris Crittenton said of Conley. “I’m just thankful that me and Acie Law had a chance to work out with each other. It was a very physical battle today, two big point guards. It was fun just competing.”
Big men arrive: Shortly after Thursday’s session ended, Washington’s Spencer Hawes walked through the front door of the Berto Center. The 6-11, 235-pound center is more in line with what the Bulls need this summer.
Today’s workout will be the main event in the Bulls’ eyes, with Hawes going head-to-head against Florida’s Joakim Noah (6-11, 230). Those two players already matched up on Wednesday in Minnesota.
The Bulls will scout a third big man prospect on Saturday when they visit China’s Yi Jianlian (7-0, 235) in California.
At the Orlando predraft camp, Hawes and Joakim Noah both measured 6-10¨ without shoes. The biggest difference between the two was their vertical leap. Joakim Noah jumped 37¨ inches, compared to 29 for Hawes.
Hawes, 19, has admitted a need to get stronger, but he was able to bench press 185 pounds nine times at the predraft camp. In comparison, Luol Deng did 5 reps before the 2004 draft and Dwight Howard did 8, according to an archive at DraftExpress.com.
Bull horns: Stephane Lasme, a 6-8 forward from Massachusetts, was the fourth player on the floor Thursday with Thaddeus Young, Acie Law and Javaris Crittenton. … Young said his workout with the Bulls was more strenuous than a previous visit with Philadelphia. “We just went in, stretched and did the workout for the Sixers,” he said. “Here, we did speed, agility, vertical jump. We did all that, then went through a very, very hard workout.” … Since leaving school, Young has been working out with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago.
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