In the trade that sent Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis to the Washington Wizards, the Chicago Bulls got Otto Porter Jr. in return.
The Chicago Bulls are rebuilding with a revised team now that Otto Porter Jr. is part of the roster. Porter made his NBA debut in 2013 as a 20-year old and since 2015-16 has been a regular starter in his days with the Wizards. He has been with the Bulls for one week and is transitioning well with his new team.
“I think he is ,’’ Bulls coach Jim Boylen said. “Sometimes you get a new guy or you add a person and maybe you sense some fear that they’re overloaded in their mind or they’re overwhelmed. I haven’t felt that from him at all. He just takes it as it comes. He understands what we’re doing.”
Porter has played three games for the Chicago Bulls and in his first game at Brooklyn, he scored 18, in his first home game, he scored 17 against his former team and scored 18 against the Bucks. He is a player that doesn’t get the headlines a superstar does, but is consistent and that is something the Bulls desperately need in order to turn the franchise around. Also, he can play multiple positions, which is valuable and can be overlooked.
Porter will be used mainly as a small forward, where he can supplement the scoring of Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen. Porter is 6-foot-8 and can be a power forward in addition to being a small forward, which can come into play when the Bulls work to improve on their defensive issues that have been well documented all season.
In his days with the Wizards, Porter was the third scoring choice behind John Wall and Bradley Beal. Looking at his career stats, Porter does not shoot many free throws on average and to take his game to the next level, getting to the foul line 7 or 8 times a game will make him more of a scoring threat, which should increase his scoring.
Some of his weaknesses go hand in hand with the issues plaguing the offensive numbers. The Bulls rank in the bottom in assist and percentage of points from the foul line and how much will Porter’s addition make those numbers better? The Chicago Bulls have committed nearly $50 million to two players for next season, Porter and LaVine, thus the decisions that have been made are making it difficult for the Bulls to actually improve on the point guard spot.
The Bulls gave up something valuable in Portis to get Porter, Parker on the other hand did not live up to playing for his hometown team. With the decisions the front office has made, the team is not in a great position to add and improve, does that mean building the team from the NBA draft?
The Chicago Bulls have only 13 wins with two months to play, it is not going to improve very much. If there is any silver lining come mid-April, it will hopefully be that individual players are showing progress because it is very likely that the Bulls will not win 20 games. If his play is indicative of his first 3 games, this will be a good move.