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Don’t Overlook Bobby Portis For Rookie Of The Year

By Jeremy Karll

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It may seem crazy to think that the 22nd pick in a loaded draft has a shot at winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award, but Bobby Portis shouldn’t be overlooked.

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Portis is definitely not one of the front-runners entering the 2015-16 season. There are a lot of players like Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns that will get to start right away and seem to have superstar written all over them, while Portis is a part of a loaded Chicago Bulls frontcourt.

Bobby Portis won’t have the most impressive numbers among rookies this year, but you don’t have to as Nikola Mirotic showed last year. Mirotic only averaged 10.2 points (fourth among rookies) and 4.9 rebounds per contest (sixth among rookies) in 20.2 minutes a game (15th among rookies) last season for the Bulls but still managed to finish second in the rookie of the year voting.

The Bulls are an older team than most of the teams that picked in the lottery this year and have had injury problems in the past, especially in their frontcourt. I’d expect Fred Hoiberg to give guys like Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol more rest this year and that will mean more minutes for Portis and possibly an occasional start.

It may not matter but Portis won SEC Player Of The Year last year when he played for Arkansas. The SEC was easily the weakest major conference in college basketball, but it still had Kentucky in it who went undefeated in the regular season. Kentucky also had 4 players drafted higher than Portis in this year’s draft, including the number one overall pick (Towns). Willie Cauley-Stein of Kentucky was also named a First Team All-American while Portis was named to the second team.

Portis’ SEC play stood out last season and was the reason he was named the SEC Player of the Year over more talented big men. That says a lot about the way Portis plays. He has an unbelievable motor, doesn’t give up on any plays and is a factor on both offense and defense.

During his two seasons at Arkansas, Portis proved he could do a little bit of everything for the ‘Hogs. Portis played an inside-out game as a big, and still shot 53.6 percent from the field last season. Portis never takes a play off and that will help him earn respect from both his coaches and teammates. He may not be as dominant of a scorer in the NBA right away as he was at Arkansas, but his ability to run the floor should give Hoiberg more of a reason to give him a chance at the beginning of the year. Taj Gibson is also coming off an injury and may not be ready for the start of the season. Either way, easing Gibson back into play and giving Portis a chance early in the season may not be the worst idea.

Portis tried to develop a three-point shot at Arkansas, but only shot 23 for 63 (36.5 percent) in his two years at Arkansas, although his jumper did see major improvement during his sophomore year. The NBA’s three-point line is farther, which means we shouldn’t see Portis attempting too many threes. Even if Portis isn’t draining threes, he had a solid mid-range game at Arkansas, and Gasol and Mirotic will be able to take him under their wing and show him how to use his mid-range game to his advantage. To go along with his jump shot, Portis can take opponents off the dribble and get to the basket, which is just another element to his game a lot of big men coming out of college don’t have.

Gibson and Noah are the players that bring the most energy to the Bulls lineup and you can now add Bobby Portis to that mix. Portis is a little crazy, but in a good way. While playing defense in the NBA is different from college, it’s still the same goal; don’t let the other team score and Portis did a good job doing that at Arkansas. Having a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner mentor also should help ease the transition. Portis has great size at 6’11” and can be a force down low defensively. He’s quick on his feet and that allows him to switch onto guards and be able to stay with them. He was a force defensively at Arkansas and while the Bulls know about his offensive potential, they are also aware of how good he can be defensively as well.

Simply put: Portis is a lottery pick talent that fell to the Bulls. If he went to a lottery team, there’s a chance that he wouldn’t have the established veterans that the Bulls have. While Okafor, Towns and other top picks may all have a ton of talent, they’re all getting thrown into the fire and being asked to learn on their own. It’s hard for some young players to pick up the NBA game quickly and the frustration can sometimes get to young players.

There are always exceptions like Andrew Wiggins last year, who was able to find his footing quickly. A lot of the top picks also came out as freshmen, while Portis played an extra season that helped him mature more and work on his game. (Again, Wiggins proved to be an exception last year as he only played one season at Kansas before declaring for the draft.)

Bobby Portis is far from being the most talented player in this year’s draft class, but if he is given minutes at the beginning of the year and shows promise, then he might be able to stick in the Bulls rotation. The Bulls are also an aging team that could be looking at younger guys to help give their older veterans more rest throughout the season to be healthier for the postseason.

Despite being the 22nd overall pick in the draft this year, Portis is a lot more talented than given credit for and if given the opportunity, he should be able to show that. This is one of the most talented draft classes in years and Portis might get lost in the mix as some rookies may see close to 30 minutes a game. Portis is coming off the bench, but to say he has no shot at being the a rookie of the year candidate is crazy. Portis did a little of everything in college and that’s rare. The biggest question is whether he’ll get enough playing time on a deep Bulls team to get recognition around the league.

Next: What to do with Taj Gibson after ankle surgery?

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