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DALLAS, TEXAS – MAY 18: Jalen Williams #8 of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives to the basket against Dereck Lively II #2 of the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter in Game Six of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs at American Airlines Center on May 18, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
In the 2025 NBA Draft, which will take place later this week, the Chicago Bulls will be drafting twelfth.
They would rather not be, of course. Everyone wants to be at the top. And were it not for two pieces of bad luck that saw them come excruciatingly close to winning the NBA’s Draft Lottery, the Bulls could have been picking in the top four. Alas, #12 it is.
It would follow logically that the twelfth overall pick in any draft pool should land that team the draft’s twelfth-best player. However, nothing about the drafting process is ever that linear. Drafting has always been an inexact science – and if the recent value of the #12 pick is taken as a microcosm of the NBA’s draft evaluation process overall, it might be becoming even more inexact.
Outside The Top Ten, No Problem
The list of players drafted in the last 21st century with the twelfth overall pick sports some absolutely excellent draft steals. In fact, only the last ten years are needed to tell an encouraging story.
In 2020, the Sacramento Kings selected Tyrese Haliburton with their twelfth pick. This is the same Tyrese Haliburton who has since ascended to superstardom, and who brought the Indiana Pacers to within one win of winning the NBA Championship. He was available just one pick before Kira Lewis Jr.
In those Finals, Haliburton’s Pacers were up against the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have been just as prolific with the twelfth draft slot. In 2022, they selected Jalen Williams, who has gone on to be the “second star” of an NBA championship-winning team, while the first star on that roster, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, was acquired on his draft night in exchange for Miles Bridges, himself a #12 pick of the Charlotte Hornets back in 2019.
Some Of The NBA’s Best
Beyond those three stand-out players lie more success stories.
The Thunder will be hoping that Nikola Topic – who set a piece of NBA history himself this week – will go on to be the third stand-out twelfth pick on their roster. But even if he does not, Bridges (who has recorded greater than a 20 points per game average in each of his last three seasons), P.J. Washington (who averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game last season), Taurean Prince (one of the few bright spots on a bad Milwaukee Bucks team) and Luke Kennard (a career 43.8% three-point shooter) all continue careers that exceed their draft slot.
Indeed, there has only been one failure. The San Antonio Spurs selection of Joshua Primo stands alone as an unsuccessful pick, as his off-court behavior saw his NBA career be terminated unprecedentedly early. Everyone else in recent memory to be selected with the twelfth overall pick has been a success, to the point that three of the best current players in the NBA were drafted in the spot where the Bulls currently sit.
That, surely, serves as a cause for optimism. The Bulls did not win the lottery. But if they make the right pick, they might just get away with it.
The full slate of #12 overall NBA draft picks in the 21st century is listed below.
- 2024: Nikola Topic, Oklahoma City Thunder
- 2023: Dereck Lively, Dallas Mavericks
- 2022: Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
- 2021: Joshua Primo, San Antonio Spurs
- 2020: Tyrese Haliburton, Sacramento Kings
- 2019: P.J. Washington, Charlotte Hornets
- 2018: Miles Bridges, Los Angeles Clippers *
- 2017: Luke Kennard, Detroit Pistons
- 2016: Taurean Prince, Utah Jazz **
- 2015: Trey Lyles, Utah Jazz
* – traded to the Charlotte Hornets along with two future second-round picks in exchange for the rights to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (#11)
** – traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Jeff Teague
Mark Deeks I am continuously intrigued by the esoterica and minutiae of all the aspects of building a basketball team. I want to understand how to build the best basketball teams possible. No, I don’t know why, either. More about Mark Deeks
