NEWSLETTER
Bulls Training Camp and Media Week is set to tip-off tomorrow! After months and months of waiting, we should finally begin to get a better idea of where this organization is heading and what the opening expectations of the new era will be. With that in mind, I decided to jot down a couple of thoughts/questions/topics that will likely be a point of discussion over the next couple of weeks.
Here goes nothing …
Bye Jimbo, Hello Billy
Arguably the most exciting thing about training camp this offseason is the fact that it will not be led by Jim Boylen. Instead, the Chicago Bulls will have an experienced head coach running the show for the first time in … well … a long time. When new front-office leader Arturas Karnisovas hired Donovan as the Bulls new lead man back in September, it marked the franchise’s first-time hiring a head coach with previous head coach experience since 2003 (Scott Skiles). While there will still surely be some kind of learning curve for Donovan (after all, this is an entirely new roster), he should still walk into his first training camp with the team feeling more than prepared.
As someone who has seen success at nearly every stop in his coaching career, Donovan should be able to skip many foundational steps and get right to the progress. The guy knows how he likes to implement his culture, and he knows what it takes to run an efficient training camp. Unlike Boylen (or eve, to an extent, Hoiberg) we’re not going to have to watch Donovan figure things out on the fly. Likewise, the organization isn’t going to have to worry about their head coach coming into his own.
When the front office went out of their way to hire an experienced head coach, they further demonstrated that all the focus is on the roster.
Ready for “Lead Guard” Coby White?
Practically every single report that mentioned the Bulls this offseason mentioned their desire to land a lead playmaker. What haven’t the Bulls done one day out from training camp? Add a lead playmaker.
Whether this reaffirms the fact that no one knows this front office or that this organization still has plans to add a player at the position is anyone’s guess. All we know right now is that the franchise is about to head into training camp with roughly the same point guard situation as last season (minus Kris Dunn), which means Coby White and Tomas Satoransky are bound to be the No. 1 and No. 2 options at the position.
Technically, there is a chance Satoransky ends up as the team’s starter again, but it’s almost impossible to think that White will not get the opportunity after the success he had toward the end of the 2019-20 campaign. Not to mention, all signs have pointed to the new front office having high expectations for White. These next couple of weeks should tell us a lot about how Donovan and this front office view White and his role. Is the decision to let him run the show all but made or is there still room for competition?
For what it’s worth, here are a couple of things I believe bode well for White’s chance to be the Bulls answer at point guard this season:
• Uptick in assists at the end of last season – averaged 4.5 over the last 15 games, 6.0 over his last five.
• He’s apparently been focused on playmaking this offseason.
• White’s solid mini-camp outing (where he was seen attacking the basket quite well).
• Billy Donovan’s willingness to play three-guard lineups.
• Simply put, he is just one of this team’s most exciting players. Start the man.
Wendell Carter Jr. Should be a Happy Man
Ask a Bulls fan who is bound to benefit most from the absence of the previous head coach, and there is about a 90% chance the answer will be Wendell Carter Jr.
Many believe the Bulls 21-year-old big man still has the highest upside on this roster. He fits the mold of the modern center perfectly, and he has already shown flashes of brilliance on the defensive end. Where he lacks in natural athleticism and burst, he makes up for with a strong frame and high basketball IQ. The potential to be one of the better young, two-way players in the league is there, and that was recognized last season with a Rising Stars nod at All-Star weekend.
All signs point to the new front office valuing players with potentially elite two-way abilities, and no one on this roster fits that better than Carter Jr.
From the moment training camp tips-off, I expect we hear about a system that puts Carter Jr. in a position to succeed, specifically on the offensive end of the floor. From Al Horford and Joakim Noah to Domantas Sabonis and Steven Adams, Donovan has coached a wide range of successful big men. While all are very different players, they have had one thing in common – they pass the ball. Carter Jr. averaged 2.0 assists per game in college, but he has failed to reach that mark in either of his two seasons in the NBA. Combine Donovan’s affinity for using his big men with Karnisovas’ recent experience watching Nikola Jokic distribute the ball, and I think we should expect Carter Jr. to promote far more ball movement this season. Call it a hunch.
Whether it’s via passing or scoring, I just think we’ll see a much more utilized Carter Jr. from the get-go.
The Veterans Are in a Weird Spot
Chicago’s new front office made it clear that player development is the priority of this revamped organization. Karnisovas hired a head coach with plenty of experience in that field, and he also practically built a player development department from the ground up. All of this organization’s attention will be on its young talent over the next couple of months, and rightfully so.
However, that puts some other players on this Bulls roster in quite the odd situation. Players like Thaddeus Young, Otto Porter, and Tomas Satoransky are all considered quality veteran talents. Unlike the 36-year-old Garrett Temple who is (1) less pricey to have around and (2) needs less playing time, these three are arguably good enough to clock big minutes in a normal NBA rotation. We saw this become a problem, specifically, with Young last season. The big man became frustrated with his spot behind Lauri Markkanen after only a couple of weeks on the team. Meanwhile, Porter and Satoransky are in store for more consistent minutes, but both could also see a hit in terms of their priority with guys like Coby White and Patrick Williams in the mix.
The other problem is that the front office needs these guys to prove their worth if they want to build their value ahead of the trade deadline. The only way to do that is to make sure they see their fair share of time on the court. In general, I’m just interested to see how this organization and coaching staff finds time for these veteran pieces and how big of a role they expect each to play in the rotation. Hopefully, training camp and the preseason will tell us something.
