NEWSLETTER
If we put aside the Chicago Bulls’ questionable decision to double-down on a core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Nikola Vucevic, the organization had a pretty decent offseason.
I know that’s a pretty enormous caveat, but I feel like it’s what we have to do to evaluate this specific summer properly. If the decision was to continue improving this roster and fill their glaring holes, Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley did at least do that with the signings of Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig.
Indeed, Carter will add an above-average 3-point shooter to the backcourt who can also supply plus defense at the point guard position. While he might be undersized, he should be able to provide shades of the elite perimeter defense the Bulls initially built around Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso. As for Craig, he feels like the ideal role player to have around an offensive-minded core. He’ll add genuine length and size to the forward position, as well as a shooting stroke that just helped him convert at a career-high 39.5 percent behind the arc. Throw in the fact that he gives Chicago another player not named Nikola Vucevic or Andre Drummond to consistently attack the glass, and signing Craig on a veteran minimum felt like a steal.
I’d also commend the Chicago Bulls for re-signing both Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu. As unclear as Dosunmu’s role appears at the moment, he’s now at least tied to the organization for three more years at just 23 years old. A versatile defender, true transition scoring threat, and overall high-IQ player, Dosunmu is another intriguing youngster for this front office to prove they can develop.
With all of that said, there is still one glaring weakness the front office failed to address this offseason that could continue to hold the organization back significantly. If adding a 3-point shooting was No. 1 on the to-do list, adding a proven facilitator likely should have been No. 2. What the organization has shown ever since Lonzo Ball went down in January of 2022 is that they are desperately missing that stabilizing, pass-first playmaker in the backcourt.
Now, look, I understand that Ball wasn’t the most traditional point guard. He was a far more gifted transition passer than he was a half-court distributor. But what he did offer Chicago is a player who understood how to be a steady connective passer and keep the offense in motion. The lack of this presence last season was evident, as the offense plummeted to the 24th-ranked unit in the NBA.
To be sure, head coach Billy Donovan tried to implement a more randomized, free-flowing offensive attack. But relying on LaVine, DeRozan, and Vucevic to share the wealth on their own didn’t prove as effective as the team had obviously hoped. While Chicago finished top-10 in passing per game and a solid sixth in average seconds per touch, they could only muster a 23rd-ranked AST%, per NBA Stats. In other words, the ball was moving, but was it moving in the right way?
Chicago also averaged the third-fewest points scored on cuts last season. This put them behind only the Mavericks and 76ers, who also happened to run the first and second-most isolation possessions per game, respectively. Based on how little the Bulls were finding cutters and racking up assists, you would’ve assumed they also sat near the top of the list in ISOs. However, the team actually averaged only 7.0 ISO possessions each night, per NBA Stats, which sat only 18th in the NBA.
So, again, the Bulls were making an effort to move the basketball, but it simply wasn’t ending in the results they wanted. The good news is that merely adding more shooting with Carter and Craig should help correct this a bit. Replacing players like Derrick Jones Jr. and Javonte Green with those two should help keep defenses more honest and lead to more catch-and-shoot makes. But there is still that lingering question of who will consistently set the table for this offense and keep the wheels in motion.
Basketball Index recently shared a chart on social media that illustrated this problem well. While the Bulls have some of the best shot-makers in the league thanks to their score-first “Big 3,” they ranked extremely low in playmaking talent last season.
Check out the Scatterplot here:
We shouldn’t expect Carter or Craig to greatly increase the Bulls’ playmaking capabilities. While Carter can run well in transition and Craig is perhaps an underrated connective passer in the halfcourt, neither will likely have the ball in their hands enough to make a real difference. Instead, the Bulls’ decision to double down on their “Big 3” means the playmaking strides are going to have to come from the internal development of that trio.
Can DeRozan tap into the distributing skills that helped him average a career-high 6.9 assists in his final season with the San Antonio Spurs (when he recorded his second-lowest USG% of the past eight seasons)? Will Zach LaVine turn some of the flashes he showed as an improved passer last season into a nightly occurrence? Is Coby White about to step up as a more true point guard?
In my opinion, I think Nikola Vucevic could actually help the most at times. He remains an underrated quick-decision-maker and creator. Not only does he have the court vision to find open shooters off the pick-and-roll, but he’s pretty darn good at kicking out after drawing the help down low. Vucevic actually dished the third-most assists of his career last season despite averaging his lowest USG% since the 2013-14 season. Finding a way to locate him in the middle of the floor more often could be key, especially with more shooting on the roster.
This isn’t a one-player solution, however. The Bulls will have put themselves in a position where they will need everyone to create offense for each other and move off the ball. I wish I could believe this group can do it effectively, but last season didn’t instill me with the most optimism.
