Chicago Bulls: Optimistic floors and ceilings for draft prospects part two
The Chicago Bulls NBA draft hype train continues with Duke Center Wendell Carter Jr.
We’re less than a month away from the 2018 NBA draft, and the smokescreens and hot takes are in full swing.
With the Bulls picking seventh in the lottery after a long season of tanking, a fair dose of pessimism has surrounded the draft. As of late, only two prospects have started to escape the distrustful eye of Chicago fans: Michael Porter Jr. of Mizzou and Mohamed Bamba out of Texas.
It is still worthwhile, however, to take into account the other potential prospects who may end up being on the board for the Bulls to take. Getting tunnel vision for two players who could easily be gone by the time Chicago picks is a recipe for disappointment
Continuing from yesterday’s article, which evaluated the upside of Sooners point guard Trae Young, part two centers around Duke center Wendell Carter Jr. As before, Carter will be evaluated with an optimistic approach.
Fair warning: this piece is centered on the unbridled optimism that whoever the Bulls pick will be the right pick. These aren’t realistic projections of players’ floors or ceilings, but rather best-case scenarios.
Wendell Carter Jr
Whereas Trae Young is perhaps the most polarizing player in this draft, Wendell Carter Jr. might be the least.
The general outlook seems to be that Carter can be a solid player with limited athleticism, and not much more. You would be hard pressed to find many hot takes either way about the big man.
The Al Horford comparison is thrown around a lot. Carter is a do-it-all big man who does the right things on offense. He screens well, rolls to the basket with excellent timing, throws thoughtful passes, and can spot up as needed.
The biggest knocks against Carter are most likely his defense and athleticism.
Due to Carter and fellow future lottery pick Marvin Bagley’s defensive inabilities, Duke had to switch to a 2-3 zone this season. Carter manned the middle of the zone, but got cut up in pick-and-rolls by less-than-NBA-caliber guards, and underwhelmed as a rim protector. He’s not an explosive player, at least not without space to accelerate.
He just turned 19 this past April and has plenty of room to grow as a player. He has solid length on defense, alongside a great basketball IQ, that can help compensate for some of his other physical deficiencies, and offensively he can be a versatile center in the modern era.
Optimistic Floor
His floor is likely becoming a very matchup-dependent big. Somebody who can do well on defense against the right lineups and teams, while providing steady production on offense regardless of the opposition.
He’s not the type of prototypical rim running big that you’ll see throwing down those slightly-too-high-lobs so many point guards throw up; Carter lays the ball in more than you’d probably like when he’s finishing in traffic. But he’s smart, and good at finding space to either draw the defense out or get his own shot.
Carter, at his worst, can still move the ball well and create flow within an offense. He very well may be the bland big man that some project him to be and that’s okay. Even falling short of expectations, Carter can be a key piece to a very good Bulls team.
Optimistic Ceiling
Much of Carter’s ceiling is dependent on his defensive growth and development. And most of the questions surrounding his defense also revolve around his athleticism.
Carter has already lost around 10 pounds in the past year based on his measurements at the combine, a change he attributes to becomes conscious of his diet and body. Continuing to get in better shape will allow him to adapt to the pace of the NBA, and better combat teams running small ball lineups.
Getting slimmer will let Carter become more of a terror on the perimeter and give him a better chance to recover on pick-and-rolls after fronting. He’ll never become a player who wows you the same way centers like Clint Capela and DeAndre Jordan do, but he can certainly shorten the gap. He will need to get used to the sheer speed of NBA players, but his already-present ability to read offenses ahead of time should alleviate any transitional difficulties.
The big draw for Carter is his ability on the offensive end
If you envision a future where Lauri Markkanen becomes as aggressive as a scorer as he needs to be to reach his full potential, then you’ll also find a future where Carter is the perfect fit next to him.
Carter showed an ability to hit jumpshots when open, and shot a reassuring 73.8% from the free throw line last season. He doesn’t need to speed up his jumper to become a consistent threat, as his height should allow him to be a shooting threat in pick-and-pops and spot ups.
He can compliment Markkanen as a second big that can space the floor, giving Markkanen room to post up and use his (hopefully) developed handle to create for himself. Carter is already an excellent rebounder, and should be able to bolster Markkanen’s lackluster offensive rebounding.
Carter can also become a player teams can throw the ball into at the end of the shot clock, facing up or backing his man down as the clock ticks down. He is also a good passer that you can use to run sets out of the high post, somewhat like we saw with Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons this year.
He’s special partly because he can do as much or as little as you need him to do on offense, making the people around better all the while. He is a player that can elevate his teammates, especially a player like Markkanen.