European hoops question.

[Da Stars.]

Why was Tony Kukoc drafted by the Bulls. Great ballhandler. Not really. Great defender. Kidding me right? Great rebounder. LOL. Why was this man brought to the NBA.?

[Bush4Ever.]

Why was Tony Kukoc drafted by the Bulls. Great ballhandler. Not really. Great defender. Kidding me right? Great rebounder. LOL. Why was this man brought to the NBA.?

At the time he was seen as something in the spirit of Magic, with his combination of height and vision. Maybe swapping out some passing ability for shooting ability.

Playing something closer to the idea of a point-forward, with enough versatility to touch multiple aspects of the game (scoring, passing, rebounding) in positive ways.

How Bulls management treated Pippen relative to him was criminal though. I can't even imagine how resentful I would have felt if I was Pippen.

[elmerjfudd]

Kukoc went in the 2nd round, turn out to have a good nba career and is a hall of famer. Even if yall had to redo it 999/1000 times the bulls make that pick.

[thedangerouskitchen]

Kukoc was called "Euro Magic" because of his Passing/Playmaking abilty... and of course, what got everyone's attention is the fact that he was running the point at a height of 6'11. He was also a skilled Scorer and a Clutch Shooter... a little streaky sometimes with that shot, but when he was 'on' he could carry the Offense for good stretches.

With MJ, Pip and Grant the Bulls weren't terribly concerned about Kukoc's Defense (which was below-average by 90's standards but certainly above-average if he played today, so he wasn't exactly a complete waste on that end of the floor... he had length, size and athleticism, and was effective in a Help role)... in 1994 when it was announced he would be joining the Bulls (prior to Jordan retiring out of boredom) the idea was to have him run the second-unit off the bench.

All that changed of course...

[lettherebehouse]

This doesn’t really have to do dick with European Basketball.