- After reports indicated Bulls forward Thaddeus Young was unhappy with his playing time in Chicago, he logged more minutes on Wednesday against the Hawks and on Friday against the Hornets. K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes that Young’s increased playing time has cut into starting power forward Lauri Markkanen‘s minutes. Young played more minutes than Markkanen during Chicago’s 83-73 loss to Charlotte. Young signed a three-year, $41MM contract with the Bulls this summer to be a veteran mentor to the young team.
It appears Bulls coach Jim Boylen doesn’t have to worry about job security despite a disappointing 9-18 start. Executive vice president John Paxson expressed full confidence in his coach today in separate interviews with several media outlets.
“We’re committed to Jim. There’s no quick fix to this,” Paxson told K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “We’re not thinking of making any changes. Jim is a grinder. He’s going to keep grinding. One thing I respect immensely about him is he’s willing to listen to ideas. The thing he and I do is talk basketball. When I see things, he listens to what I have to say. Not that I’m making the decisions and I don’t tell him to play, but we talk basketball. And he’s open. He’s going to continue to grow and get better.”
Boylen has compiled a 26-59 record since taking over for Fred Hoiberg last December. His early days as head coach were met with a near mutiny by some of his players, who weren’t fond of the tough-guy tactics he brought to the role. Since then, there have been ups and downs in his relationship with the team, including public comments last month from Zach LaVine questioning whether Boylen is showing enough trust in him.
“There’s always some conflict,” Paxson said. “It can be teammate to teammate or coaches to players. That’s inevitable in this business. I don’t expect this group to fracture. I’d be disappointed if they did. All the guys in that locker room expressed to us their character and that’s not where they want to go or would ever go. I believe when they tell me that. I know that when things are bad or you’re not winning as much as you should, people want to point fingers. I’m not doing that internally. And we can’t do that internally. Once you do that, you’re in trouble.”
Paxson said at Media Day that he expected the Bulls to challenge for the playoffs. However, the team has stumbled out of the gate and is currently in 11th place, although just three games out of the eighth spot. There have been grumblings about Boylen’s new offense, which places a larger emphasis on 3-point shooting, and about his tendency to use more players than other coaches do, resulting in decreased minutes for LaVine and Lauri Markkanen.
Paxson still believes the Bulls can reach the postseason and told Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times that he accepts the blame for the rocky start.
“I’ll say this again, I thought — and we all did — we would have a better record than we do right now,” Paxson said. “I do believe we have talent. It’s young and not a lot of experience, but I do believe we have talent. So we’ve underperformed in that area, but there’s no quick fix in this right now. That’s the view I have to take.’’
He added that he’s not worried about his own job, even though many Bulls fans have been pleading for a front office shakeup for several years.
“I never worry about that,’’ he said. “I communicate with Jerry and Michael [Reinsdorf], and they know where my head is at, my heart is at and what I’m trying to do. Look, that’s a ‘what if’, and I’m not working on a ‘what-if.’’’
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Bulls assigned swingman Chandler Hutchison and forward Cristiano Felicio to the Windy City Bulls, the team’s PR department tweets. Hutchison is rehabbing from a shoulder injury which has limited him to nine games this season. Felicio, who has averaged 17.4 PPG and 11.4 RPG in 34.7 MPG with Windy City in eight starts, is recovering from a wrist injury.
As we reported earlier this week, it may be difficult for the rival teams to pry Davis Bertans from Washington, as the Wizards are strongly considering keeping the big man through the season and re-signing him this summer.
GM Tommy Sheppard believed that Bertans was “one of the top 3-point shooters in the league last season” when he dealt for the big man this past offseason, Jackson Filyo of NBA.com relays. The team thought that Bertans was someone who would add depth to the frontcourt with his “shooting ability, basketball IQ and work ethic.”
It’s turned out to be one of better under-the-radar moves as Bertans has been pacing the NBA in threes. Over his past six games, the Latvian Laser has 36 triples, which tops the league over that stretch. Washington doesn’t play again until Saturday. Perhaps time away is the only thing that can cool Bertans off.
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- One executive tells David Aldridge of The Athletic that the Wizards‘ game plan has increased Bertans’ stock as a trade chip and a 2020 free agent. “The way Washington is using him will certainly increase his value,” a longtime NBA front office executive, currently unaffiliated, said via text. “The [3-pointer] in today’s game is a huge commodity now. I think he is a mix between [Kyle Korver and [Ryan Anderson].”
- One former front office executive (in that same piece) tells Aldridge that Bertans could make a substantial raise on his current $7MM salary in free agency this summer. “He will get between $15M and $20M (per year) this summer.” the former executive said. “Most likely for a two-year deal. Don’t see him getting a four-year deal.” It’s worth noting that one current GM thought that valuation was high, given how few teams will have cap space this summer.
- Hawks forward Jabari Parker has no hard feelings toward the Bulls despite his tenure in Chicago not working out as planned. “I just had to move on, but that never changed about how I feel about my city because I have more street cred than that organization period,” Parker said this week, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel wonders if Bam Adebayo is the second star the Heat have been looking for. The center is having his most efficient season as a professional and is a top contender for the Most Improved Player award.
Even after playing a season-high 33 minutes on Wednesday, Bulls forward Thaddeus Young is averaging just 21.6 minutes per contest so far this season, his lowest mark since he was a rookie in 2007/08. According to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times and K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, Young thought he’d be playing more in Chicago and has shared his desire for increased minutes with people in the organization.
Cowley suggests that it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Young’s camp asks for a trade once he’s eligible to be dealt on December 15. However, both Cowley and Johnson note that the 31-year-old is a consummate professional and is unlikely to publicly express any unhappiness. In fact, he told Cowley that he’s willing to accept whatever role head coach Jim Boylen envisions.
“I’m good with whatever Coach sees fit to do with me,” Young said. “Obviously everybody wants to be on the court more, everybody wants to be on the floor as much as possible. For me it’s just be productive with the time I am given.”
With Otto Porter on the shelf until at least the new year and Chandler Hutchison battling a shoulder issue, the Bulls have talked about getting Young some minutes at the three, according to Boylen (link via Cowley). However, it’s not a solution the club has explored extensively on the court.
Young, who has started 671 regular season games in his career, is coming off the bench this season, and while he doesn’t seem to have a problem with that, he admits he’d like to be part of more end-of-game lineups, as Cowley relays.
“Of course,” Young said. “I’ve been closing for years. But like I said, if Coach decides to go with a different unit, different guys, then I have to go with that and try and be one of the guys that’s ready to go when my number is called.”
- It has been up-and-down season so far for Denzel Valentine, who was out of the Bulls‘ rotation until late November. As Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago notes, Valentine has been playing his best ball of the year recently, making at least three 3-pointers and scoring in double-digits in each of his last three games. The 26-year-old shooting guard will be a restricted free agent at season’s end.
Otto Porter Jr. was expected to be back on the court prior to Christmas. However, his left foot woes are going to keep him out of the lineup for at least four more weeks, according to the team’s website. The Bulls indicated that Porter will “continue his period of immobilization and progress as tolerated” during that time.
That four-week mark is when the team plans on re-evaluating the small fracture in his foot, so expect Porter to sit out well into January. The wing has only played in nine games for Chicago this season because of the ailment. His averages thus far as 11.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per contest.
The Bulls enter the night 8-17 on the season. They could certainly use their starting small forward back in the lineup if they are going to make a run at the postseason, as I mentioned on the Turning Points podcast.
Chicago had high hopes for the season, but without Porter Jr. for much of the year, the team has struggled to score efficiently. Only the Knicks have a worse offensive rating than the Bulls, per NBA.com.
- League sources tell The Athletic that Bulls head of basketball operations John Paxson continues to be a fan of Jim Boylen and his “tough-love approach.” However, Boylen’s defensive scheme has drawn some criticism and Chicago has the league’s 29th-ranked offense. According to Hollinger and Amick, Boylen also remains unpopular in the Bulls’ locker room. The Athletic duo wonders if an organizational overhaul that affects both Boylen and the front office could be in the cards next year if the team’s struggles continue.
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An MRI conducted Wednesday on Otto Porter Jr..’s injured left foot revealed “continued bone edema,” the Bulls announced in a press release. His condition will be reassessed in two weeks.
The team plans for Porter to eventually resume non-impact activities and targeted therapy. He is being evaluated by foot and ankle specialist Dr. Bob Anderson, who K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago notes also performed surgery on Denzel Valentine‘s ankle (Twitter link).
Porter hasn’t played since leaving the November 6 game in Atlanta with a bruised foot. He has appeared in just nine games in his first full season with the team.
Porter provided a boost to Chicago’s offense last season after being acquired in a February trade, averaging a career-best 17.5 points in 15 games. His scoring average is down to 11.2 PPG so far this year and his shooting percentage has fallen from 47.9% to 43.2%.
- Otto Porter is the Bulls‘ highest-paid player and the team has badly missed his experience on both ends of the floor during his absence with a foot injury, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “He settles us down a bit, maybe at times we need that,” head coach Jim Boylen said of the veteran forward. “He makes timely shots. He’s one of our better shooters. And he has positional size, which is a huge part of that big wing position. We miss those things.”