Don’t try to do too much
This is really the least of my concerns with Wendell Carter Jr., but it’s still worth mentioning.
He needs to make sure he doesn’t compare himself to the likes of other top big men (Deandre Ayton, Marvin Bagley III, Mo Bamba and Jaren Jackson Jr.) because those players are likely to have far different roles than Carter.
Ayton and Bagley are both expected to be 20/10 guys right off the bat. Bamba and Jackson are both expected to be elite rim protectors immediately for their respective franchises. Carter Jr. will not likely be asked to do either of those two things.
He’s the guy the Bulls need to do the little things. Yes, he needs to score and defend the basket, but he also needs to set good screens, make the right pass, space the floor and be an excellent teammate – the things that don’t show up on the box score.
If Carter Jr. does these things, he likely won’t jump off the page statistically, but that’s perfectly fine. The Bulls don’t need him for numbers. They have players like LaVine and Markkanen who already fill up the stat sheet. Carter’s role is going to be making those guys’ jobs easier – and he’s the perfect man for that role.
The reason this doesn’t concern me in the slightest with Wendell is because he played next to, in my opinion, the best big man in college basketball last year (Marvin Bagley III). That worked out quite well as the Duke Blue Devils had an extremely successful season led by the nations top frontcourt (something the Bulls will likely try to emulate).
"He's going to be in the league for a long time."@bwood_33 believes Wendell Carter Jr. might be flying under the radar after being overshadowed at Duke. pic.twitter.com/KSutMfX5Mp
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) June 19, 2018
Carter Jr. and Markkanen are a frontcourt match made in basketball heaven. Bulls fans should be ecstatic about this.