Bulls draft Johnson, Gibson
The Chicago Bulls added some size and toughness to their front line, drafting Wake Forest forward James Johnson with the 16th pick of the 2009 draft; and following with USC's all-time leading shot-blocker, forward Taj Gibson at 26.
The Bulls obviously didn't want Pitt big man DeJuan Blair, but instead chose to draft a pair of bigger forwards. It will raise speculation the Bulls will look to deal Tyrus Thomas, who seems to match up with both of these picks.
There were rumors swirling before the draft about the Bulls sending guard Kirk Hinrich to Portland. Perhaps Thomas will be dealt as the Bulls try to free up space to sign free-agent guard Ben Gordon.
Johnson, listed at 6-foot-9, and 245 pounds, spent two years in Winston-Salem, and has an interesting background, given that Cheyenne, Wyo., doesn't produce a ton of giant kickboxers.
Gibson, a 6-foot-9, 225-pounder who played under former USC coach Tim Floyd, wasn't really predicted to go to the Bulls in mock drafts (Chad Ford had him going 30th to the Cavs). Hopefully he'll have better luck with the Bulls than another former Floyd guy, Marcus Fizer.
Johnson, who won a Worldwide Fighting Championship undercard bout in high school in 1 ½ minutes, is a black belt and comes from a family (eight siblings) of black belts. It won't be a stretch to say he's adding to the Bulls' front-court grit. Let's just say Joakim Noah's not doing any MMA shoots for Le Coq Sportif.
Johnson averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds in his sophomore year, similar numbers to his freshman year. He led the Demon Deacons in field goal percentage (54.2 percent), blocks (48) and was second with 44 steals.
Wake Forest, for whatever reason, seems to produce good pros, going back to 1989. The Web site 82games.com lists the Demon Deacons as the top college program for NBA talent, with three stars, two role players and one solid player among the seven players who have been drafted.
The Bulls had a chance to take Blair twice, but concern over the forward's knees (he had two operations in high school) seemed to drop his stock dramatically. Some mock drafts had him going in the early teens.
Gibson set the Trojans' record with 253 blocks, third-best in Pac-10 history, and 100 came last season as USC made a nice postseason run. Gibson scored 14.3 points in his junior season, and led the team with 9 rebounds, a 60.1 field goal percentage and of course, his 2.9 blocks per game.
