Windy City Roster Outlook: Center, Ian Chiles, Nazr Mohammed

The NBA is almost back! With that realization comes another – the inaugural Windy City Bulls season is also just around the corner and with it comes the Windy City roster.

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There’s a little more time before the D-League gets underway, but last week we got started by guessing at some potential coaching options for the Bulls when the season starts in November. This week, we’ll be running through a look at some of the roster candidates for each position on the D-League roster.

You can find the point guard outlook, here.
You can find the shooting guard outlook, here.
You can find the small forward outlook, here.
You can find the power forward outlook, here.

Center

Ian Chiles – Chiles was one of the Windy City selections in the D-League expansion draft that recently took place. The 26-year-old Chiles stands at 7’2” and played his college ball for Morgan State. He began his post-collegiate journey toward the pros after going undrafted in 2014.

Chiles has had two brushes with pro basketball since that summer. First he played in two summer league games for the Washington Wizards in 2014. Chiles also played for the Idaho Stampede in 2015-16 for a total of 10 games, coming off the bench in each. He is the only center the Bulls hold the D-League rights to heading into the season. They’ll need to add others or rely heavily on a combination of Ralph Sampson III and small ball with a series of forwards on the roster.

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Perhaps, Windy City is going to give Chiles a run at some serious minutes and as many games as he can handle. That is unlikely, however, and it is reasonable to assume that Chiles might not even make the roster based on what other moves Windy City makes over the next few weeks.

Aleksandar Marcius – Marcius already has a deal in Europe, but was part of the Bulls squad in Las Vegas this summer. You can read our Las Vegas profile on Marcius right here. A lot of players sign contracts in other countries that are contingent on their NBA status. Most players would prefer a more substantial wage and perceived higher level of competition, so the D-League really doesn’t carry enough weight with a lot of those players. Mostly, it comes down to the money. It’s just better in Europe for pretty much every potential baller.

Shevon Thompson – Thompson played two years at George Mason. The 6’11” Jamaican center posted solid numbers in college. During the 2014-15 season, he averaged a double-double with 12.5 points and 11.3 rebounds on 30.2 minutes per game. He slid a little during the 2015-16 campaign at George Mason, but not by much. His playing time dropped to 22.5 minutes, but his peripherals stayed solid. He averaged 9.9 points and 10.6 rebounds before declaring eligibility for the draft.

Thompson went undrafted, but did snag a pre-summer league tryout with the New Orleans Pelicans. Unfortunately, he appeared to miss the cut. It doesn’t appear that Thompson has a deal anywhere right now and the Windy City Bulls don’t really have many options at center based on their D-League draft or their summer league roster. Taking a shot on a guy who averaged a double-double over 62 career games in the A-10 might not be a bad idea.

Nazr Mohammed – Nasty Nazr! The Chicago native and NBA veteran has played over 1,000 career games, including many with his hometown Bulls. Mohammed is currently an unsigned free agent. The big man just turned 39 this week – Happy birthday, Nazr! – and is probably much closer to ending his career than signing a veteran’s minimum deal with a team looking to fill cap space.

Really, there isn’t much of a chance the Mohammed would ever be part of a D-League team. It definitely wouldn’t happen in his age 39 season. However, if he did want to ease out of basketball while getting a chance to mentor younger players looking to get their shot in the big league, Windy City would be a nice option. As a Chicago native, the chance to collect a very modest paycheck in exchange for spending a season playing for the Bulls might be fun. Really, it would have to be fun. If it doesn’t have the potential for fun, there is zero reason for a guy like Nazr to settle for a D-League contract. Did I mention this is totally not happening?

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