If the Chicago Bulls are a little fortunate in the 2016 NBA Draft, the can draft a guard in Notre Dame’s Demetrius Jackson, a 6’1″ point guard that may remind the Bulls of another explosive guard.
Remember Nate Robinson, the undersized point guard who helped the 2013 Chicago Bulls go as far as the second round in the playoffs off spunky basketball and pure luck?
Robinson has been moved all around the NBA and was finally waived by the New Orleans Pelicans in favor of younger guards on their roster. He’s now terrorizing the competition in Israel, playing for Maccabi Rishon Le Zion.
Back in 2013, Robinson was able to provide some “wow” moments playing for the Bulls as a fearless scoring point guard.
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Once again, just like three years ago, the Bulls need extra hands at the point guard position. Hoiball is a punishing offensive system if ran for a full 82 games.
If you look back to Rick Pitino running a full-court press, run-and-gun system with Boston and wearing down his star players by playoff time or Mike D’Antoni running the notorious “Seven Seconds or Less” offense and aggravating Dwight Howard‘s back injury in the process, you know that a fast-paced system needs extra bodies with balanced minutes.
Even the best bench players need their minutes to be staggered.
Enter Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson.
Jackson is built like a tank for his 6’1″ body (195 pounds) like Nate Robinson, but he’s bigger than Robinson with a 6’5″ wingspan. He possesses the same intense attitude as Robinson on offense, yet he controls the game with poise. He can explode to the rim off a dribble and a step to slam it home against passive post defenders (even taking contact and finishing strong).
Draft Express‘ description of him fits the Bulls backup guard need best: “It’s difficult to find point guards who display the same level of potential he does as a shooter, scorer, playmaker and defender, especially with his athletic tools.”
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Jackson averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and shot 38 percent from long range last season. He played as a catch-and-shoot guard initially, which honed his game as a three-point shooter, but he was given the point guard mantle when current New York Knicks guard Jerian Grant graduated. Jackson is deadly attacking from the wing using his explosive first step to get to the rim.
If the Bulls drafting guards this summer will be one of the priorities, getting Demetrius Jackson should round out the roster’s backup point guard needs nicely.
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Jackson can make plays passing off to shooters, using re-screens or denying the pick-and-roll sets and driving strong to the hoop to score, get to the free throw line, or kick out to the Bulls shooters.
Unlike Aaron Brooks, Jackson can play hard-nosed on-ball defense and hound the opposing ball carrier to force turnovers. If Fred Hoiberg wants the team to pick up full-court defense at times — given that they have Justin Holiday and Bobby Portis for the role — Jackson makes a perfect fit.
As a backup point guard, he also allows E’Twaun Moore to move to his natural spot at shooting guard.
If you’ve been watching this year’s playoffs, you’ve probably saw Kemba Walker almost single-handedly win a closeout game for Charlotte in their series against Miami. Unfortunately for the Hornets, Walker ran out of gas at the end of Game 6 and was on fumes in their Game 7 loss.
That’s an example that clearly underlines the point of having backup players that are equal to the task of keeping the team’s best starters from losing their edge in a grinding 82-game season playing a fast offense and in the playoffs when you need your A-game.
The Bulls need at least two or three backup guards to control the pace of the game for the front line to avoid fatigue injuries and to keep Derrick Rose well-rested and peaking by playoff time. Having guard depth also shores up defense against All-Star caliber backcourts, too.
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The Bulls drafting guards potentially off the windfall of picks from a Jimmy Butler trade could solve half of last season’s disappointing performance problems.