A look back at when the Chicago Bulls selected Elton Brand with the first pick in 1999

Elton Brand did his best to lift the Bulls up from the bottom of the league.

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The years that followed Michael Jordan’s dynastic Chicago Bulls were tough and unremarkable. The team’s mediocrity, though, had a silver lining: it allowed them to win the first pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, and they used it to select Duke’s workhorse of a forward, Elton Brand. A 6-foot-9 forward from Peekskill, New York, Brand arrived in the Windy City hoping to turn the Bulls’ fortunes around.

Rookie of the Year

In his first season, Brand averaged a double-double of 20.1 points and 10 rebounds to go with 1.6 blocks. Those numbers were enough to earn the Rookie of the Year award alongside Steve Francis from the Houston Rockets. However, Brand’s stellar play did not necessarily translate to more wins for the Bulls, as they finished the 1999-2000 season with a woeful 17-65 record.

To be fair to Brand, that Bulls squad was nearly devoid of talent as the next best player was veteran Toni Kukoc, one of the remnants from the glory years of the Jordan’s Bulls.

Things did not get better

Brand’s sophomore season—from a personal standpoint—was a success as he again averaged a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds and even raised his assists to 3.2 per game. But the Bulls hardly mattered during the 2000-2001 season, as they became even worse, finishing with a league-worst 15-67 mark.

A few months after the season ended, Brand was sent to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Brian Skinner and the draft rights to center, Tyson Chandler.