In two days the Chicago Bulls will decide whether to go with shooting or size. As always, this confounding question haunts all general managers outside of the top few picks. The Bulls possess the 17th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and are, I assume, looking for a complimentary player to make the difference between exiting in the conference finals or winning an NBA championship (working with the optimistic assumption LeBron James will shun Cleveland and come to Chicago). The Bulls, like every team, could use both depth at center and help on the perimeter to this effect.

Of the two writers I respect on the subject of mock drafts, ESPN writer Chris Ford has the Bulls going with shooting and NBADraft.net writer Aran Smith has Chicago going with size.

I would like to believe Ford, who recently changed the pick from a lights-out shooter in 6-6 guard James Anderson to lights-out shooter 6-3 combo guard Avery Bradley. The Bulls do not have the perimeter assassin to compliment Derrick Rose and LeBron James’s game. I mean, I was happy Luol Deng developed an acceptable three-point shot for a small forward, but I hardly want him playing the role of Steve Kerr in an NBA finals’ situation.

Meanwhile, Smith has the Bulls rolling the dice on 7-foot center Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside is coming out of Marshall after his freshman year. He averaged a decent 13.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 5.4 blocks playing 26 minutes a game in a minor conference, but he is all potential at this point. After Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, and Tyrus Thomas, I am tired of potential, even if Whiteside is a potential defensive player of the year.

There you have it, shooting or size, and I would much rather have solid shooting. At least that was what I thought until I decided to play devil’s advocate and look for proof of his Whiteside’s potential on YouTube. Now these grainy, poorly produced college highlight mixes have me confused. Does he have the potential to develop an offensive game with both range and back-to-the-basket post moves? So, if you had to choose, if you were so blessed as to have Chicago Bulls tickets to Season One of the LeBron-Rose Era, who would you want, the spot up shooter or the potential beast?

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