Chicago Bulls: Boylen’s nine man rotation may not be what we think
By Abe Rotbart
No. 2 Thad Young and Kris Dunn
The Chicago Bulls clearly made the signing of Thad Young a top priority during free agency. They signed him to a three-year $41 million contract banking that his defense and rebounding will set the tone for the younger players.
The Chicago Sun-Times ran a story this week that Young already is embracing his role and has the ability to change the culture in the locker room. The obvious position for Young is power forward. However, there has been speculation that he could even move to center with Lauri Markkanen playing the role of a stretch 4 on offense and a center on defense.
Jay Patt wrote a piece for SB Nation back in April quoting Bulls Vice President John Paxson as saying that Lauri could move to center with Otto Porter at power forward. Unfortunately, as Patt points out, Markkanen did not do well without Robin Lopez on the court.
A strong defender up front with him is the key for any success he would have at center. Thad Young, who is much tougher than Porter, would now solve that problem in a small ball lineup.
The other player certain to be part of the second unit is Kris Dunn. That may not be the case after the trade deadline, but until that time the Bulls will have Dunn leading the reserves. The Bulls want him to have more value on the trade market and for that to happen he needs to show he can still play at a high level.
Since Dunn likes the ball in his hands he actually may be more productive than if he had to share the ball with Zach LaVine, as he did last year. All indications at this time are that Dunn will have every chance to compete as Satoransky’s backup.
The Chicago Bulls obviously want to give rookie Coby White time to develop before handing him the keys to the offense, even if it is the second unit. But having Dunn at backup point guard is a win-win for the Bulls, Kris Dunn and White. The only questions are who will Dunn and Young take the court with to complete the initial nine man rotation and where does Coby fit in?