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Bulls Need to Add Three Backup Guards Next Year

By Michael RENE KANOY

Mar 23, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg (L) talks with guard Derrick Rose (1) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg (L) talks with guard Derrick Rose (1) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /
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If the Bulls are running Hoiball for 82 games again next year, they need to have ball handlers or backup guards who can spell both Derrick Rose and E’Twaun Moore from burning out.

The pending second year of Fred Hoiberg‘s is expected to be better for the much-vaunted offense that Iowa State became renown for: winning against ranked teams with marquee players in their conference by playing smarter basketball.

In contrast, this Bulls season was a rollercoaster ride that showed the front office, the players and Hoiberg himself that their prized players can get hurt if you attempt to play quicker for 82 games without good substitute players to keep the starters fresh each game.

Deeper Reserves at Guard

The Bulls absolutely need more than one backup guard or even that reserve playmaker will get injured from running the ball up the court and scrambling back on defense on a nightly basis. Lost player minutes can spell the difference between making the playoffs at peak form and being ready to demolish the likes of Cleveland or any comer. The Bulls had Derrick Rose, E’Twaun Moore and even Aaron Brooks getting hurt almost two at a time this season. An extra guard or two can really spell the difference, especially when playing weaker teams.

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Looking at the crippling injuries incurred over the season — hamstring soreness and aching knees — the Bulls obviously require more able-bodied reserves than a regular NBA roster would keep to play full-throttle Hoiball. Racing up and down the court all the time can wear down even the best conditioned players. (Look at what happened to Jimmy Butler overextending himself to play hero.)

With Hoiberg’s system, the team has to scramble back on defense to stop the opponent’s transition offense, as well as run the ball at every opportunity when the opponent misses shots. Chicago should already expect opponents to run every time they miss shots. Rose and Moore simply cannot play 36-40 minutes on back-to-back nights and still have the legs to play the next game. GarPax and Hoiberg should be stricter about starters getting enough rest after playing big minutes several games in a row.

The Bulls might actually have to pull in up to three more backup guards or point-forwards who can also drive to the basket and shoot from deep. The additional reserves might round out the roster to the maximum of 15 players.

D-League and Free Agents

The easiest choice would be Jimmer Fredette, a former Bull and a backup guard in 2013, but he could have spelled the difference in scoring against Washington in the postseason at the time. Fredette can play with pace, can shoot from anywhere and can be a decent playmaker if partnered with a good defensive guard like Moore or wing defender Justin Holiday. He wouldn’t be as expensive as the other NBA free agents, yet he possesses better offensive skills than most of them.

Never underestimate the D-League. Justin Holiday cut his teeth there before Golden State picked him up for a championship run. Fredette is like a guard version of Nikola Mirotic with a higher offensive efficiency which includes an array of transition threes and mid-court threes.

In free agency, Chicago can sign Gerald Green, a true shooting guard as the veteran guard back-up to replace Jimmy Butler if the Bulls really ship him out. Miami has overlapping roles at their shooting guard spot and they look likely to keep the younger Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow. Green is peaking with his game and would be good for a short-term stint. He plays decent enough defense and has good size at 6’7″. He can score in bunches like a microwave and is an exciting rim attacker.

Situation Improves if Bulls Trade Jimmy for Picks

The ongoing rumor of Jimmy Butler possibly being traded and Fred Hoiberg intimating some resistance among players accepting a team offense over hero-ball ISOs might boil over in the summer if a team like the Boston Celtics offer again. Butler not making a team flight to New Orleans might also indicate plans of moving.

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    • With the emergence of Justin Holiday as a viable two-way wing who can be groomed to get better on offense, Butler’s value in a trade for much needed role players for the team will be too good to pass up. Butler did start out as a low-pick role player, so the exchange would still be a smarter idea than building the team around him.

    Options for a defensive guard situation for the Bulls include Malcolm Brogdon, a defensive guard who can shoot from range or Gary Payton II, who plays like Holiday. Both of these players won their conference’s defensive player of the year awards this season. Holiday himself was the Pac-12 DPOY when he got drafted.

    Going on upside of players who have shown a defensive background, the Bulls have seen how good a fit Holidayy was alongside their resident shooters with just February to April to find his game.

    If the Bulls opt for multi-skill wings, they can pick up Hoiberg’s protege Georges Niang  as a point-forward in the NBA.

    The front office also looks favorably upon mainstays of the under-18 international tournaments. Look at their winning players from that pool: Nikola Mirotic and Cristiano Felicio. The best prospect in the draft from that pool right now is 18-year-old Furkan Korkmaz, a 6’7″ shooting guard from Turkey who plays in the EuroLeague. He can be the kind of player the Bulls groom as a big point guard and a future rotation player; the way the Spurs groomed Manu Ginobili into a starting NBA guard.

    If Marcus Paige is still available, which he should be in the second round, he would be the perfect passing guard who is also scouted as a shooter. Paige single-handedly got North Carolina back into their championship game before Villanova scored a miracle three to win it all. Paige is a smaller guard, but could be an option for the Bulls if they want a decent backup guard. If any teams are offering their second-rounders, the Bulls might want to buy one more second-round pick to get one more backup guard in the second round.

    Next: The Bulls may have something in Cristiano Felicio

    Jimmy Butler is a defensive guard who has already maxed out his ceiling and he knows so, too.  He’s as good as he will ever be right now, so it would be better to trade him for players who fit Hoiberg’s team offense concept than build the team around him.  The Bulls have five amazing young players who could break out next year as a “Fab Five” if they get the other pieces right.

    And, they worry less about who needs to recover from sore knees or hamstring hurts.

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