Over the past 18 months, the Chicago Bulls have parted ways with most of their veteran talents. Alex Caruso was sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder. DeMar DeRozan was sign-and-traded to the Sacramento Kings. And, Zach LaVine also made his way to the Kings ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

As such, Nikola Vucevic is the final veteran within Billy Donovan’s rotation. In the latest edition of The Athletic’s mock draft, Sam Vecenie has the Bulls landing a big man of the future with the ninth overall pick. Derik Queen could emerge as a genuine long-term replacement for Vucevic.

“Queen is an outstanding player, a playmaking big man who steps up in the biggest moments and continues to just produce whenever necessary,” Vecenie wrote. “His showdown with fellow perimeter playmaking center Danny Wolf in the Big Ten tournament was one of the most fun games of the week, as Queen went for 32 points and nearly put Maryland on his back to win the game. Queen is averaging 16.3 points, nine rebounds and two assists, but that undersells his passing ability. Queen is the exact kind of offensive playmaking center whom teams would love to have, especially if you believe he has potential to shoot from distance.”

Vucevic, 34, has been enjoying a borderline All-Star-level season. In 62 games, he’s averaging 18.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists. However, given his age, the Bulls still need to find a long-term replacement for Vucevic, and if Queen can remain healthy and focused, he could be the ideal draft pick for Billy Donovan’s team.

Bulls Could Draft Jase Richardson

According to a March 18 mock draft from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, the Bulls could choose to go in a different direction and select Jase Richardson out of Michigan State.

“Jase Richardson enters March Madness after combining for 38 points and seven threes in two Big Ten tournament games,” Wasserman reasoned. “It’s become clearer by the month that he offers more creativity than the early numbers suggest. While he’s been incredibly efficient off the ball, he’s also been one of the nation’s most efficient ball-screen scorers thanks to his feel on drives, elite finishing and 49.1 percent pull-up shooting.”

Richardson’s floor spacing would give Donovan’s team a much-needed boost on the perimeter. According to Cleaning The Glass, the Bulls are 14th in the NBA for 3-point field goal percentage despite being third in the league for 3-point volume. Richardson could help turn the Bulls into a top-10 shooting team from deep.

Bulls Could Re-Sign Tre Jones

During a March 8 postgame news conference, Donovan heaped praise on Tre Jones and how quickly he’s become a key part of the Bulls rotation.

“He’s got something, he’s got the IT factor to me,” Donovan said. “He really does. He’s just a winner. You can look at size and length for position and he probably doesn’t have any of those things. But he has really good speed, he’s really tough, he’s got a high IQ, he understands competition. He can really stay in the moment and compete. The last two games on the road he’s been great. He’s got a lot of substance, a lot of competitive character to him.”

Jones will become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. If he continues to produce at his current level, the Bulls will likely re-sign him, regardless of who they select in the draft.