With the 7th pick in the NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected big man Wendell Carter Jr. out of Duke. What are the pros and cons of this selection?
The Chicago Bulls continued their rebuild this year with the seventh pick in the draft following a long year of tanking. Despite being truly terrible during the 2017-2018 season, Chicago was unable to get into the top three of the draft. Rather than swing for the fences with riskier pick, the Bulls took the dependable center, Wendell Carter Jr.
Strengths
Carter is an incredibly agile big, and moves gracefully on the court on offense. His positioning is excellent, and he knows when and where to cut, making him a great target to create good looks at the basket.
Despite his agility, Carter still has great size for the center position. He’s 6’10 with a 7’4.5″ wingspan, and is a stocky 250 lbs.
His post-game is underrated, largely due to the talent he was sharing the court with in college. Carter can bully his defender with his frame, or finesse them with a impressive array of post moves. The most exciting part of his post game is his face up skills.
Carter can get past his man on the dribble and finish inside with both his left and right hand. There’s a good chance that Carter’s offensive game could shine even more in a spread-out NBA offense that gives him better spacing to work.
Carter should be a good floor spacer at the next level. He has good mechanics and a high release that should allow him to be a quick pick-and-pop threat immediately.
Carter is a really good rebounder
At Duke, Carter proved himself to be an excellent rebounder on both ends of the floor. While his court mate, Marvin Bagley, wowed with his explosiveness pulling down rebounds, Carter got his more through technique. He has excellent anticipation and timing, and Carter hustles hard to box out his man on the boards.
Carter checks the box for all the intangibles. He’s an incredibly intelligent prospect, both on and off the court. He’s a great screener, makes good reads within the flow of the offense, and is rarely out of position on offense. He can be a low maintenance big who fits in a variety of situations throughout his career.
Weaknesses
While his defensive potential is hard to miss, Carter’s work on that end in college was one of the reasons Duke had to switch to a zone. He can get caught trying to do too much on rotations, and will need to improve his timing a lot in the NBA.
The biggest knock against Carter is his athleticism. He’s not an explosive player, and plays below the rim as a result. He’s not likely to be a lob threat in traffic, which will limit him a bit in the pick-and-roll. His impact on the game will always be capped because of his athleticism. In a league trending toward uber-athletic bigs, Carter needs to prove he can be effective enough in other areas to be a consistent starter.
On the perimeter, Carter’s agility didn’t always fully translate into playing tight defense. He still frequently got beat off the step. He will need to improve his ability to move, react, and recover when guarding smaller players. As of now, he’s mobile when moving laterally, but not necessarily quick enough to hang with faster players.
Carter’s work defensively on the pick-and-roll was a mixed bag. He always looked more comfortable when he had time to read the offense and react, but struggled when he had to quickly make decisions. He’s lateral mobility will need to improve if he’s going to start in the playoffs when teams try to abuse slower bigs on switches.
Outside of his face up game and attacking on closeouts, Carter likely won’t be much of a threat on the dribble. His handle isn’t tight enough to survive in traffic, and his jump shot doesn’t lend itself to off-the-dribble shooting. He will likely need players around him who can get the ball to him for perimeter scoring.
Impact
Carter isn’t the most attractive pick for Chicago, and selecting him may be a hard pill for Chicago fans to swallow after such a dreadful season. Carter’s future helps moves the needle towards becoming a playoff contender.
Players like Carter can still contribute to championship basketball, even if their games lack a certain amount of flash. He may not be a primary option or a star, but he’s somebody who be the foundation of a team. Carter’s skill set is an excellent fit for the Bulls, and if he can improve his interior defense, him and Lauri Markkanen will be an ideal pairing.
Next: Chicago Bulls: 2018 NBA draft recap
It’s easy to point to players like Mohamed Bamba and Michael Porter Jr. as the type of players the Bulls, who lack concrete star power, should be pursuing. But we could very well look back on this draft and realize that, despite Carter’s more vanilla game, his impact on the game is far bigger than those drafted around him.