Chicago Bulls: Wendell Carter Jr. could be marquee player with new role

Appearing in just 44 games in his rookie season,Chicago Bulls C Wendell Carter Jr. could make the leap to become the team’s marquee talent.

The 2019-2020 NBA Season is incredibly important for the Chicago Bulls.

Heading into the season, they’ve added in free agency like they haven’t since they aligned the three alphas in 2016. They’re noticeably more well rounded than they’ve been since the some of the Derrick Rose runs; they might even have more collective talent than those squads. The biggest problem with this team compared to those? There’s no Derrick Rose, no locked-in superstar.

Fans are looking at two primary players to be the ones to make that leap, however; Zach LaVine and/or Lauri Markkanen are the guys being looked at to become the marquee Bulls. However, with what fans have seen from Wendell Carter Jr. so far, they should really add him to that class.

Over the offseason, we’ve seen and heard all the right things from Carter. Found on both his personal social media stories and the Chicago Bulls Instagram accounts have pictured the sophomore center logging hours on the court and around the gym.

Having one of the hardest-to-watch offenses over the last few campaigns, Carter has been a bright spot, at least when he’s been given opportunities. He only averaged 10.3 points over 25.2 minutes a night and was often ignored by a Bulls offense lacking shot discipline. Partially due to injury and partially due to coaching change, Carter didn’t have the sparkling rookie numbers some anticipated. He still, however, managed to put up a few marquee outings.

The coaching change 24 games into the season isn’t ideal for settling a rookie into an offense, but it’s the footwork and creativity in the paint that shined through Carter’s game. Even though he averaged an extra couple points (11.4 in 24 games with Hoiberg; 9.1 in 20 games with Boylen), he should certainly find himself more touches in year two.

Expanding the team’s arsenal of distributors is key to that formula; Kris Dunn wasn’t getting the job done for Carter, but neither was Shaq Harrison, Ryan Arcidiacono, or Justin Holiday. They added their third straight seventh-overall pick in the form of point guard Coby White and Tomas Satoransky in free agency. Satoransky averaged 6.6 assists per 36 minutes in Washington last season, but never really had a marquee big like Carter to feed in a starting role. White averaged 4.1 assists at North Carolina, but he was also much more of a primary scorer on that roster.

Between Satoransky and White, someone’s got to find a way to get Carter the ball in the paint and let the big man go to work; his footwork and shotmaking ability have hints of utter brilliance when he’s had opportunities.

Ideally, Carter finds himself on the back end of a lot of Coby White lobs this season, as the down-hill point guard can catch some of the tapes from Clint Capela’s universal feeding from the Houston Rockets. If he’s on the end of a lot of ally-oops, it’s instantly a way to become a fan favorite and a guy the Bulls can instantly put on the marquee.

Overall, the team would benefit greatly from Carter’s holistic skillset.

Once upon a time, many teams around the league wondered if it might be Carter toping the historic 2018 NBA Draft Class.

However, Carter spent his lone season at Duke doing a lot of the dirty work, which is why a lot of teams around the NBA might’ve been so high on him entering the 2018 draft. Marvin Bagley III was the team’s go-to guy, where Carter learned to pick his spots. In the AAU era, guys like Carter are the outliers, they’re elite-level talents who help win games in the margins.

During his rookie summer league showing, his intangibles and basketball IQ had a lot of fans clamoring; The Ringer‘s Bill Simmons once anointed him the 23rd-highest trade value in the NBA. Simply put, the guy can hoop.

Both at Duke and during his rookie season, Carter regularly acted as the Bulls’ anchor on defense. While his 110 defensive rating isn’t that appealing, it’s even worse to imagine how those early-season games would’ve gon without their rookie to protect the paint.

Plus, once he gets his footing, Carter is going to be one of the league’s finest shot blockers. While he only averaged 1.3 per game, he’s got a knack for sending the ball the other way.

Carter isn’t much of an intimidator now, but no one enjoys seeing their shot go the other way; not your little brother in the driveway and not LeBron James. There is an art to getting in the head of opponents and blocking their shots is a pillar of that discipline; Carter blocking shots is more impactful than it simply states on a stat sheet.

Grabbing rebounds will be different for all the Bulls this season. Robin Lopez’s legendary box-out ability created the third-most rebounds (4.1 per game) for the rest of the club after the All-Star break. Instead of the 11-year veteran Lopez, Carter now has an inexperienced bunch with Cristiano Felicio, free agent signing Luke Kornet, and second-round pick Daniel Gafford behind him on the depth chart. The four total for only seven years of combined NBA experience.

Heading into the 2019-2020 NBA season, Carter will be the team’s primary and best rebounder; even though Lauri Markannen finished with the team-high 9.1 RPG last year, it’s going to be up to the team’s starting center. Besides, per 36 minutes, Markkanen averaged 10.1 to Carter’s 10 RPG (ranking third and fourth on the team). In all likelihood, Lauri is destined to rebound less as he takes on a greater perimeter scoring role, thus Carter will be doing most of the action inside.

Critical to a jump in Carter’s performance will be his willingness to be a leading contributor on the offensive end of the floor. Last season, he ranked 10th in the team in shot attempts, taking just 8.4 looks per game, which is a shame, because he shot fourth-best the squad at a 48.5 percent rate. He also gets to the line with regularity, attempting 2.5 free throws per game and shoots 79.5 percent from the line. Attempting more shots and getting to the line, like Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert do for their squads, would be a huge bonus for the Chicago offense.

Maybe most importantly, Wendell Carter seems like a leader on a team still searching for guiding voices in the locker room. Last year’s insane leadership committee can’t happen again, neither can a player punching another player in the face right before the season starts (Carter wasn’t around for that one, but WE were).

Carter seems like a genuinely kind and caring human being, plus being one of the better players on the team has a tendency to make a personal message a tad more convincing. Carter stepping up as an elite player and locker room leader can get this Bulls team aligned for the next decade. Having his name on the marquee would be great for the fans, the team, and the player himself.