The Chicago Bulls drafted former Tennessee wing Julian Phillips with the No. 35 overall pick in the second round on Thursday night during the 2023 NBA Draft. The Bulls acquired the pick via a trade with the Washington Wizards on draft night.
Chicago bound!@ju1ianphillips ready to run with the Bulls#NBADraft pic.twitter.com/KN1mnWgsy9
— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) June 23, 2023
Phillips is the first player off the board from Tennessee and is the seventh player taken from the Southeastern Conference.
Phillips’ draft pick on Thursday night marks the third straight year that head coach Rick Barnes has put a Tennessee player into the NBA by way of the draft. Keon Johnson was taken by the Los Angeles Clippers at No. 21 while Jaden Springer went to Philadelphia with the 28th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Kennedy Chandler was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 38th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-8, 198-pound wing player heads to Chicago after one year in Knoxville with the Volunteers’ program. While starting 25 of the 32 games he played in last season, Phillips averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists for the Big Orange during the 2022-2023 year. Phillips shot the ball 41.1 percent from the floor and 23.9 percent from behind the arc.
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Phillips, a native of South Carolina and a former high school player in Missouri, was named to the 2023 SEC All-Freshman team following the regular season. Phillips was also named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Jan. 23 after putting together a string of solid road outings against Mississippi State and LSU.
Julian Phillips now joins six other active former Tennessee players in the NBA including Tobias Harris (Philadelphia), Keon Johnson (Portland), Josh Richardson (New Orleans), Admiral Schofield (Orlando), Jaden Springer (Philadelphia), and Grant Williams (Boston).
