2019 NBA Draft: Bulls could get creative and trade up from No. 7 pick

“The fun part of it’’ comes to an end Thursday night for the Bulls.

The player workouts and interviews are over, and the false intel has been floated. When the seventh pick of the 2019 NBA Draft arrives, it will be time for general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson to trust their scouting and draft board and hand in the name of the next Bull.

Maybe.

Is there a crack at No. 4 for the Bulls to trade up with the Pelicans? Are the Suns willing to swap places from No. 6 to No. 7? The organization historically proceeds in a straightforward manner on draft night, but Paxson seems to have taken on more of a riverboat-gambler mentality since the end of the second season of the rebuild.

The front office is firmly behind coach Jim Boylen, signing him to a three-year extension, and was aggressive in adding two highly respected assistants to his staff.

And the Bulls were more than just sniffing around Hollywood, trying to land point guard Lonzo Ball from the Lakers before he was traded to the Pelicans in the Anthony Davis blockbuster.

“[Picks] 1 and 2 are very special,’’ Paxson said of Zion Williamson and Ja Morant last month. “But we’ve seen it over the years: There’s talent at a lot of different places in a draft, and you don’t always know the day you draft them, either.

‘‘It’s how they work themselves, how they fit into the team you have. This is the fun part of it now, and I’m convinced that this is a draft where at 7, we’ll get another piece we like.’’

Paxson should feel that way.

After all, rolling sevens has been a good thing the last two seasons, landing Lauri Markkanen in 2017 after the Jimmy Butler trade with the Timberwolves, then grabbing Wendell Carter Jr. last season.

Markkanen was a no-brainer for the Bulls at the time, with teams behind them admittedly hoping he would fall a spot or two.

Carter’s selection, however, was a war-room debate that went to the last minute.

Multiple media outlets, including the Sun-Times, reported that Forman obviously liked Carter but was intrigued by point guard Collin Sexton. In the end, the “Team Carter’’ voices won.

Considering how both picks played this past season, there was good reason for that in-house debate to rage on.

Carter was enjoying a solid start before a hand injury in mid-January forced him to have surgery and miss the rest of his rookie season. Sexton closed his first season in beast mode, averaging 22.4 points in March and 20.2 in five games in April.

The problem is, this draft is not 2017. And it’s not 2018.

There are more land mines than prospects, and kicking the tires on players after the top three — throw RJ Barrett in there after Williamson and Morant — might result in a flat.

Just look at Coby White, one of the players linked to the Bulls. He’s fast and athletic and can play off the ball when Zach LaVine is at the point. But he’s a former shooting guard converted to point guard who lacks the court vision and decision-making.

The only reason the Bulls are back in the point-guard market is to find a better decision-maker and secure ballhandler.

White is not that. Not yet, maybe never.

The Bulls’ other glaring hole is perimeter defense, and at No. 7, there are options with De’Andre Hunter or even the enigmatic Cam Reddish.

Hunter is the safe pick; Reddish could be a gamble.

Paxson is poised to go either way.