How should Chicago Bulls fans feel about Otto Porter Jr.?

Now that Chicago Bulls fans have had some time to think about Otto Porter Jr. and his fit with the Bulls, how should they feel about the 25-year-old wing?

The Chicago Bulls made a surprisingly aggressive trade prior to the 2019 trade deadline that sent Jabari Parker, Bobby Portis and a future second-round pick to Washington in exchange for Otto Porter Jr.

Immediately after the trade, some Bulls fans were up in arms. Porter was a good player for Washington, but he makes All-Star money, he has a tendency to disappear on the court and his massive contract limits the Bulls’ future flexibility. At the same time, though, Porter provided the Bulls with a lengthy wing that can stretch the floor – something they were desperately in need of.

Before acquiring Porter, the small forward position was, for the most part, played by Justin Holiday and Chandler Hutchison. Holiday was (somewhat) solid, but he took far too many jumpers. It was difficult to watch at times. He’s a fine NBA player, but he’s much better as a quality backup, not a starter. Hutchison, on the other hand, has the potential to be a starter someday, but he definitely isn’t ready yet. He simply looks uncomfortable on offense.

As previously mentioned, Otto’s contract – not his skill – is the biggest concern. Next season, he’s set to make just over $27 million (yikes) and the season after that, he has a player option for $28 million, which he’ll likely accept because no other team is going to pay him that much money. If you’re following along, that means that over the next two seasons, he’ll be tying up roughly $55 million dollars of the Bulls’ cap space. Yes – that’s a lot. For reference, DeMar DeRozan, a 4x All-Star and one of the league’s best wings, is also set to make roughly $55 million over the next two seasons.

None of this is to say, though, that the Bulls made the wrong choice by bringing in Porter and his hefty paychecks. Sure, the Bulls could’ve offered that money to one of 2019’s premier free agents like Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler (lol), Tobias Harris or Kawhi Leonard, but there’s virtually no chance that they’d convince one of those stars to come play for their growing and painful franchise. Otto Porter Jr. is significantly better than any guy they could realistically sign this summer.

So now, as the Bulls will look to make a push for the 2020 playoffs, they have a young, talented frontcourt (Lauri Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr.), a quality scoring guard (Zach LaVine) and a team-first wing that can shoot the lights out (Porter) to go along with whoever they take in the 2019 draft (fingers crossed for Zion Williamson). If nothing else, that’s a pretty fun team.

Another reason Bulls fans should feel good about Otto Porter Jr. likely being a Bull for the next two seasons is that he impacts the game without having to put up a ton of shots.

It’s easy to look at the box score after a game and think Otto was useless if he had a poor shooting night, but that’s simply not the case. Even if he isn’t knocking down his shots, his mere presence on the court spaces the floor for other guys to get good looks. He’s also an incredible team defender. He’s smart, he rotates well and he uses his length to close out on shooters. He’s the type of player that fits perfectly with guys like Markkanen and LaVine – guys who need to score to be effective.

If Porter continues to improve as a pick-and-roll ballhandler,* he’ll be an incredible tool for the Bulls and their sometimes-stagnant offense moving forward.

*Sidenote: Porter’s ability to be a playmaker in the pick-and-roll was one of the best somewhat-surprises of the season. 

So how should Bulls fans feel about Porter being a Bull? Pretty – nay – really good.