Pippen Ain’t Easy Roundtable: Discussing the Biggest Chicago Bulls Stories Heading Into December

Bobby Portis or Cristiano Felicio: Who ya got?

MP: There’s a lot of debate amongst Bulls fans between Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio, who are both earning similar minutes (11.4 to 9.5). Who’s the better prospect?

AK: Felicio. Beyond just the raw on- and off-court numbers (which clearly favor the burly Brazilian), there is the eye test: Portis has looked absolutely overwhelmed on both sides of the ball. He’ll occasionally spread his legs too wide and keeps his hands down while defending, he has no sense of where the rebound is coming from, and he lacks the confidence to shoot much. Felicio plays totally in control, he can run the floor, he’s a solid but not great defender, and he can make jumpers and put-back dunks. I’m not saying he necessarily projects as much more than a great back-up center, but Portis’s floor is way, way lower.

I appreciate that the hypothetical ceiling for Portis is as one of these next-gen 3-and-D power forwards, but he has shown so little evidence of that to this point that I am just frustrated with his adverse impact on the Bulls this season, to the point where I’m going to downgrade him as a prospect in favor of Felicio.

Fred Hoiberg also stubbornly plays Portis at backup center a lot, sometimes in lineups with Nikola Mirotic, despite all evidence pointing to the fact that Bobby Portis is not a backup center at all! Rather, he and Mirotic are both perimeter oriented power forwards who don’t like defending down low.

MW: It’s easier to say Portis because he’s young, learning and actually playing, but if Felicio steals some minutes as the season goes along, I think people will be surprised as to how well Felicio can not only get up and down the floor, but that he has good touch around the paint, he’s a good pick-and-roll defender with his hedging at times, and he can roll to the basket on the other end as a screener.

So, to clarify my answer: Portis is probably the better prospect, but I think Felicio can definitely change that with more playing time. (Also, #FreeFelicio.)

HK: I won’t say much on this as I wrote a whole post about it, but just to summarize: Felicio needs way more minutes than he’s getting. Because of the loss of Doug for the last ten games or so, Hoiberg has been playing Bobby Portis at center to try and recover some modicum of spacing, but it’s not working, and Portis is even more of a sieve than usual at center. Meanwhile Felicio has recorded 5 DNPs. It seems that Portis’s development is being prioritized over Felicio’s, and while I don’t think Portis is completely hopeless, I do think that Felicio has the potential to be the better prospect. He needs to play, even if that mean Portis sits more.

RP: Besides points, Cristiano edges OG Bobby Portis is every category per 36 minutes. I’m a big fan of Portis, but he still seems uneasy in game situations. Felicio seems more comfortable and aware of what his role in both protecting and rolling to the rim.