A path that lies ahead for the 20-year-old Chicago Bulls center Wendell Carter Jr. could be easily followed from a Sixers veteran Al Horford.
An ideal modern NBA big man for the Chicago Bulls would obviously be one like Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets or Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers. But one name that is often overlooked is the recently signed Philadelphia 76ers center and former Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks standout Al Horford.
How could the Bulls second-year center Wendell Carter Jr. fit his game into the modern NBA?
Finding a solid player for Carter Jr. to model his game after could be key to his development. Horford is an established center that sticks out as a veteran that has legit similarities between his game and what Carter Jr. would ideally progress into. As a very proven former All-Star selection, Horford is a great example of what talented two-way center in today’s NBA should bring to the table.
The Sixers are going to be a very difficult team to deal with in the Eastern Conference this season on both ends of the floor partly thanks to the arrival of Horford from Boston. That offense is going to be very sizable (literally) between Horford, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Tobias Harris. There’s four players that could all play at the two positions in the Sixers’ frontcourt.
However, tracing back to the tangible similarities between Horford and Carter Jr., just look back to the rookie season for each big man. Carter Jr. averaged 10.3 points per game, 7.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 blocks. When Horford was a rookie with the Hawks back in 2007-08, he averaged 10.1 points per game, 9.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.9 blocks.
There’s pretty crazy comparisons even beyond the basic stat lines for Horford and Carter Jr. as rookies. Carter Jr. struggled with getting into foul trouble last season, as he averaged 3.5 personal fouls per game. Horford had the same issues, as he averaged 3.3 personal fouls per game as a rookie.
Where Horford needed to improve beyond his rookie season, and he did, was with his facilitating ability. He averages between four and five assists per game for the better part of the last seven seasons. Carter Jr. could use an improved distributing ability to increase his offensive arsenal. He wound up averaging just 0.3 less turnovers per game than he did assists as a rookie.
Another strength of Horford’s that Carter Jr. could definitely take something away from is his three-point shooting range. Horford shot an insane 43 percent from downtown back in 2017-18 on more than seven attempts per game. Carter Jr. shot just 19 percent from three-point range last season. He started to get a better jump shot a few months in, but injuries halted that progress that we saw.
Expecting Carter Jr. to just magically blossom into a premier big man and legit MVP contender like AD or Jokic just isn’t very realistic. But if the Bulls get him to fit into that mould that Horford created for himself, this could be a sparkling career for the 2018 first round pick.