In the team’s 50th season as an NBA franchise, the Chicago Bulls have had quite a year, albeit plagued by injuries at times. The talent of the young Bulls came as a welcoming surprise to those looking toward the future.
At the season’s start, it was unclear how much game time would be available for the likes of Bobby Portis, Cristiano Felicio and Doug McDermott, just to name a few.
Because the end of the season is approaching, it’s time to evaluate the rising stars—those in their first and second years in the NBA – looking at their strengths and weaknesses.
Next: Bobby Portis
Bobby Portis
First up, Bobby Portis.
Portis has been effective in his first year in the NBA after being drafted out of Arkansas and is showing time and time again how driven he is to making a name for himself.
Strengths
Portis was virtually a steal for Bulls in the 2015 NBA Draft, considering the value he adds as a wing player in today’s world. He brings effort on every play, shoots a mid-range jump shot and bullies his opponent with his post-up play. What we didn’t always know is how much time he’d play in his first year with the squad when looking at the Bulls’ depth in the front court. In seeing the threat of injuries hit Chicago, Portis stepped up to fill the role and is making the case that he belongs in the NBA.
More from Bulls News
- The dream starting 5 for the Chicago Bulls 5 years from now
- Bulls’ Ayo Dosunmu inspires the future with new school program
- Chicago Bulls NBA 2K24 full roster ratings, risers, and fallers
- Bulls sign a pair of promising guards to Exhibit 10 contracts
- When does NBA Training Camp start? Dates Bulls fans need to know
Weaknesses
Portis struggles to fit in his role as a force in the post, especially when it comes to providing the Bulls with a sense of defensive prowess and hitting the boards for rebounds. This is a skill he’s clearly working on at this point in his young career and is exhibiting great improvement in every game he suits up and plays.
For all the hype surrounding Portis, he plays well into Fred Hoiberg’s system, but needs to develop skills that will make him more of a threat inside the paint. If Portis can develop the skills that make veteran center Pau Gasol famous, the Chicago Bulls will be dangerous.
Final Grade
B
Next: Doug McDermott
Doug McDermott
Second-year forward Doug McDermott was picked up by the Chicago Bulls in the 2014 NBA Draft and is showing a lot of promise, in which furthers the Bulls’ hope to have him regularly playing in the rotation moving forward.
Strengths
McDermott has shown the most significant improvement since coming into the league last year. He entered his rookie season after playing ball at Creighton, having been known as an offensive force to be reckoned with. This was not the case for the second-year player last season. McDermott struggled to find his way partly because of an injury he endured and a learning curve that all rookies experience.
This season, McDermott has shown a lot of promise as a scorer the team can rely on. He moves well without the ball and put himself in situations to make buckets. While McDermott is not known for his defense in the NBA, he is showing some promise down the stretch in his second year. He’s moving much quicker with his feet and is learning what it means to play team defense.
Weaknesses
McDermott finds himself being a target of the opposing team’s offense for a number of reasons. For one thing, he’s a second-year player who is still learning the ropes. Secondly, there are times where McDermott needs to recognize there is help at the defensive end when his man beats him off the dribble. It’s been an issue for the Bulls this season partly because they cannot have McDermott on the floor if he cannot stick to his matchup on defense. While he is a gifted scorer, he is still learning how to become the complete package.
Final Grade
A-
Next: Nikola Mirotic
Nikola Mirotic
Nikola Mitotic has shown a lot of growth recently in his second year with the Chicago Bulls and is showing how valuable he can be down the stretch as a role player coming off the bench.
Strengths
Mirotic entered this season with a lot of promise and praise after the way he performed in his rookie season for the Bulls. Hoiberg made a tough decision early on in the year placing the forward in the starting lineup. While Mirotic has since lost that job to Taj Gibson, he’s shows improvement and continues to develop the skills necessary to be a good cornerstone in pace-and-space offense.
He would suffer a setback this season with an emergency appendectomy, but his ability to score has shown to be less streaky since returning to the rotation. As we’ve become accustomed to the way Mirotic plays, it become clear that he’s most effective when he puts the ball on the floor and shoots without hesitation in the flow of the offense. He’s doing all of that and more down the stretch.
Weaknesses
Mirotic was a streaky shooter prior to undergoing an appendectomy. Some days, he would perform noticeably well and on other nights, he would fade into the background. As a young player, it’s true that Mirotic can and has made some costly mistakes, but he’s learning from them and putting himself in a better position in moving forward. As much of a handicap he presents on the defensive end at times, it cannot go without saying how better he is moving his feet since the surgery.
Even as Mirotic still has some learning to do at the defensive end, it would come as a ray of hope if he starts to recognize how he can use his long, lengthy body to disrupt the opposing team’s offense.
Final Grade
B
Next: Cristiano Felicio
Cristiano Felicio
Rookie Cristiano Felicio may have gone undrafted, but since being acquired by the team, he has shown a high basketball IQ in the limited amount of time he’s seen game action, and is making the case that he belongs in the future plans of the Bulls.
Strengths
Despite what many called early on an NBA big man with raw talent and abilities, CFelicio is starting to get the feel for the game and is helping to solidify the squad’s secondary lineup in the absence of Joakim Noah. Some even questioned whether the 6’10” Felicio could get up and down the court with enough speed and quickness to compete at the professional level. This is not proving to be a problem for the rookie.
Felicio has shown a knack for rolling to the basket on cuts for buckets, getting after rebounds and bullying his opponents with his low-post game. He packages all of this together with an understanding of team defense and a nice mid-range jump shot.
Weaknesses
The first-year player hasn’t had as much exposure as Bobby Portis, but down the stretch, Felicio has shown a ton of growth. It was unclear when he first started getting playing time how efficient he could be on the offensive end. At times, he shows a skill set comparable to the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon. That’s pretty good company to have for the big man. There are times where Felicio comes off as a rookie learning the ropes as he goes, but this isn’t so much a concern as it is sign of hope that we, as fans, should have greater understanding and patience.
Final Grade
B+
Next: Cameron Bairstow
Cameron Bairstow
In his second year, Cameron Bairstow has shown growth in limited action, but is also struggling to find a regular spot in the Chicago Bulls’ rotation.
Strengths
Bairstow has a nice mid-range game that works well in the pace-and-space offense that Hoiberg is famous for. While he is a young player that is adapting to the game, he has shown in flashes that he can play under control in a limited role.
Weaknesses
Bairstow has spent time playing in the D-League throughout portions of this season. In the absence of Noah, he would suit with the rest of his teammates and even find himself playing as a starter, but he hasn’t been able to capitalize on the opportunities thrown his way. Bairstow demonstrates rawness in his level of play that is complicated whenever he makes costly mistakes on the court.
Final Grade
C-