Former Chicago Bulls: Imagining Michael Carter-Williams round two

It would not be an ideal scenario for the Chicago Bulls to try another round of Michael Carter-Williams running the point.

The idea that the former NBA Draft selection of the Philadelphia 76ers, point guard Michael Carter-Williams, could’ve ever played for the Chicago Bulls is a bit mind-bending. Most Chicago Bulls fans didn’t want Michael Carter-Williams to ever suit up in the red and play in the Windy City this season. But, the chances that happened were pretty good earlier during this past regular season.

The Chicago Bulls made quite a few moves that could’ve brought interesting players to the Windy City this past regular season. Alongside Michael Carter-Williams, the Bulls had the opportunity to have former Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony play for this team.

This would be round two for Michael Carter-Williams in a Chicago Bulls uniform, as he played here for a stretch of 45 games back during the 2016-17 season. During his time in the Windy City, MCW posted some of his worst numbers of his NBA career to date.

However, it definitely made the most sense for the Bulls to waive Michael Carter-Williams and Melo. A few years back, acquiring both of those players would seem a lot more intriguing to the Chicago Bulls fan base. Yet, Melo had age catch up with him, and didn’t adjust his playing style accordingly. MCW just seems like he fell out of relevance pretty fast.

After the Bulls made an early January deal to bring Michael Carter-Williams over from the Houston Rockets, he was almost immediately waived. The Bulls sent a protected and conditional second round draft pick in exchange for Carter-Williams and some additional cash. As a result, two names that stuck around for a while the past few years were waived in MCW and MarShon Brooks.

Now, the intriguing part about looking back on the disastrous 2018-19 regular season that was for the Bulls is what could happen if anyone like Michael Carter-Williams or Melo ever suited up for them. Melo would be fun to see in the Windy City just to say that it happened. But, MCW doesn’t fit the scheme that the Bulls like to run very well.

The outside shooting difficulties and turnover issues that he had at times of late makes it hard to imagine MCW panning out with the Chicago Bulls backcourt rotation. He shot well below 30 percent from three-point range in 28 games played this season and barely over 60 percent from the free-throw line.

Although, the intriguing part about MCW playing for the Bulls is his defensive prowess. He posted a defensive rating of 109 in 16 games with the Rockets during the regular season. He also had a defensive box plus/minus and win share rating that were much higher than he registered on the offensive end.

MCW playing for head coach Jim Boylen would likely involve him getting very little outside looks and showing a lot of effort on the defensive end of the floor. In general, Boylen’s style doesn’t promote a bevy of outside shooting looks. That could benefit him while also continuing the outside shooting woes in the Windy City.

The Orlando Magic currently have Michael Carter-Williams rostered in a playoff series against the two-seed Toronto Raptors. That is a much better spot for him at the moment than with the Chicago Bulls. What MCW brings to the table at this point of his NBA career doesn’t benefit the Bulls, and it wouldn’t make much sense for him either.