In the 2013 NBA Draft, the Bulls made sure to not be the only team in Chicago raising eyebrows with their first round pick. The Bears had raised eyebrows just a couple of months earlier when they picked Jake Long with their first pick, #20 overall. The Bulls were at a VERY similar position as the Bears were. In fact, they also had the #20 overall pick. Both teams also had a big guard on their list of team needs. The Bears got their big guard, and the Bulls got theirs as well in the form of the 6'7" Tony Snell.
The Bulls did have some good fortune despite a tough season that saw them playing without superstar point guard Derrick Rose for the whole year. The Bulls did play well above expectations throughout the season, but in the end it was a 5 game second round loss to the Miami Heat, the team's second defeat at the hands of the Heat in the last three playoffs. The Bulls played well, but by the end of the season were just too banged up to compete.
One major plus was the emergence of shooting guard/small forward Jimmy Butler. Butler is an athletic wing whose specialty is defense. In fact, after only his second season in the NBA after being taken with the #30 overall pick, Butler is already being seen in some circles among the elite defenders in the NBA. His jumper showed a drastic improvement as the season went on, and he became much more assertive on offense as his confidence climbed.
Still though, the Bulls were very short on big guards. The next guy up who could play the 2 was Kirk Hinrich, who, at 6'3" is not a big guard. Beyond that, Marco Belinelli was a solid scorer, but was very hot or cold, and wasn't much on the defensive end of the floor. After that things really dropped off with Daequan Cook as well as an often injured and old Rip Hamilton. Shooting guard wasn't the only need on the roster. The Bulls were also in need of a good backup center, but the players available at the time were not satisfactory to the front office, at least not as satisfactory as Tony Snell.
Snell grew up in southern California where he was a high school teamate of Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard. The most interesting thing about that is the comparisons of his game to Leonard's. However, past the hair and location, are they really that similar? Yes and no. They're both long wings, and both of them have offensive games that are smooth and allow the game to come to them instead of trying to force anything. Snell is seen as more of a shooter than Leonard though, as Leonard was not seen as much of a shooter when he was drafted. Both are seen as good at playing around the rim, and both are fairly athletic players. Leonard is stronger than Snell while Snell comes off as more of a longer type of player, and that will make a difference in how they play defense, even if they are of similar defensive quality. Both players are/are going to be coached by one of the best defensive and one of the best x's and o's coaches in the league.
For college, Snell went to New Mexico. After a quiet freshman season he came on in his sophomore season before improving even more in his junior season. After that it was time for him to enter the draft lottery. During workouts he supposedly really impressed teams. Mock drafts had him as high as the top 10 at times during the weeks leading up to the draft. However, often when a player's interest is heavily driven by good workouts that player's stock takes a bit of a fall once the actual draft arrives, and that was what happened with Snell. The Bulls, who have drafted well over the last 5 years, saw something they clearly liked in Snell, so they went ahead and used that first round pick on Snell.
As I touched on earlier, Snell is a bit of a wiry guy, a 6'7" guard who can also play the wing. His defense is likely to be more disruptive than physical. His biggest offensive strength is his ability to shoot the ball. However, his ball handling helps him to get to the basket, and he is a solid distributor. He is said to have a very smooth and fluid game. At the same time, he doesn't force much either. He allows the offense to come to him, which should fit in very well with Derrick Rose leading the offensive charge.
His role with the Bulls will likely be as a shooter early on. Rose can penetrate at will, so when the defense collapses on him he'll be able to kick the ball out for an open jumper. As the season progresses expect Snell to start to show an ability to get to the basket and help keep defenses honest on guys like Rose and Butler. At least this is what happens if things go smoothly. How it will actually happen has yet to be seen.
On a personal level, Snell is said to be a quiet type of player that is a good listener and overall good student of the game. There is not a whole lot about his family life, but he was born in Watts, CA, and went to high school in Riverside. He seems like a guy that will fit right in with the rest of that roster, and if he continues to grow he can be another fan favorite in vein of Jimmy Butler in no time. This kid should be fun to watch assuming Thibodeau gives him some minutes (which is a huge assumption to make).
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