NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bulls have so far added three new pieces to the roster since the beginning of free agency (and have gotten a ton of value out of it, to boot). If you’re interested in getting a closer look at these three players, don’t worry, we took a deeper dive into each of them already.
And in case you were dying for a refresher on point guard Ryan Arcidiacono, we also covered that three-year $9 million resigning yesterday.
Although, specifically, these three new roster additions give the Bulls something that is rather unfamiliar to many fans: versatility.
As discussed previously, the Bulls put up one of the most stagnate and stable lineups in all of the NBA last season. In today’s era of position-less basketball, there is no question that team’s who have the appropriate depth to mix-up lineups achieve more success.
Not to mention, considering more and more teams are doing it, the Bulls are in a position where they have to keep up. Chicago hasn’t been in the best situation to counter untraditional lineups as of late, but simply adding Young, Satoransky and Kornet allow for them to do that.
Each of these players has experience switching it up on the court. Young checks in as the older player here (age 31-years-old), and while he will normally be planted at the small forward position, he has the physical prowess to be the dominant paint presence on the court or just act as a decoy off the ball. Also, Young’s intangibles are raved about and appear just as valuable as his efficient field goal percentage (52.7 FG%).
As for a guy like Satoransky, his value comes mostly with what he can do on the court. His six-foot-seven size for a point guard allows him to cause problems for both guard positions and the small forward position. While he is most comfortable as a point guard, the Bulls could have a lineup where he is either playing off the ball at shooting guard or even small forward (if they want to go small). Satoransky’s shooting combined with his ability to cut toward the basket with power allows for him to play off the ball well, even if he doesn’t want to.
As the season stretches on and Coby White gains more minutes (assuming he does), the team is in a great position to play both on the court at once, which will allow for a scoring-heavy lineup that can really push the tempo.
When you throw Kornet into all of this, you just gain more of a versatile look on the court. Kornet isn’t your traditional center, he is practically the definition of a stretch-5, and can get super streaky from deep. Defenders have to respect him from downtown, which will open up the court well and allow for the team to really space things court. With the sheer speed in transition that White holds and the post-up ability of a guy like Young, giving them room to work will be important. The Bulls second-unit looks to be in much better hands.
Also, it’s not a bad thing to have any of these guys hanging out behind the arc. All three of these players come with a pretty decent jumper from long range and can sink the three-ball. Considering the Bulls were 19th in the league in three-point field goal percentage, and second to last in three-pointers made, so yeah, more shooters was a must this offseason … and that’s exactly what they got with each of their pickups.
With the exception of Kornet (for now), the Bulls should feel pretty comfortable playing any of these guys along with their starters. While the starting lineup is pretty much set in stone, it’s always nice to have confident options with pretty significant starting experience to help shake things up.
