Chicago Bulls: What to watch for in preseason battle with Indiana

Tonight, the Chicago Bulls will head to Indiana to take on Malcolm Brogdon and Co. Here are four things you should watch for.

The Chicago Bulls are 0-2 in the 2019-20 preseason, but both losses have featured some promising signs of what’s to come. Zach LaVine looks like an All-Star, Coby White looks like he’ll be an immediate force off the bench and Tomas Satoransky looks like the perfect guy to be the lead ball-handler on the starting unit.

When the Bulls take on the Pacers tonight, the result of the game won’t matter. We have three more preseason games to get through before wins and losses start counting for something. The individual performances and style of play are what make the preseason worth watching, though.

Here are four things I’ll be paying close attention to tonight when the Bulls play the Pacers.

Myles Turner vs. Wendell Carter Jr.

If Wendell Carter Jr. plays tonight, fans will be in for a treat. Carter and Myles Turner are two of the league’s best young big men, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they go at one another.

Turner spent his summer playing with Team USA in China, and Carter is coming off multiple injuries. In other words: Turner’s much more prepared for the battle than Carter.

But I actually think Carter is the better player. What he lacks in height, he makes up for in strength. What he lacks in shooting range, he makes up for in court vision.

Regardless of how the battle shakes out, it’ll be fun to watch.

The Bulls’ offense

Chicago’s only played two preseason games, so it’s important to not overreact, but man… their offense has looked good. They’re getting the ball up the floor in a quick fashion, they’re passing it around and they’re taking a lot of threes. It almost looks like their an NBA team in 2019.

Obviously, their new offensive style only matters if it translates to the regular season, but if they look sharp for the third preseason game in a row, it’ll be super encouraging.

Daniel Gafford’s finishing ability

Look, Daniel Gafford is awesome. He works his tail off, blocks shots and dunks ferociously. But if he wants to beat out Luke Kornet for the backup center spot, he’ll have to improve his finishing around the bucket.

I know, I know. He’s always shown on highlight reels dunking the life out of the ball – and that’s great. So why does he need to work on finishing? Because when he’s not dunking, he’s alarmingly bad around the rim.

He just turned 21 years old on October 1, so I’m not worried about him long term. He’s still an NBA baby. But if he can learn how to finish more efficiently around the rim when dunking the ball isn’t an option, he’ll quickly see his role increase.

Zach LaVine

Zach LaVine has gotten to the point where I’m just thrilled whenever he touches the ball. I can’t wait to see him play tonight.

Nothing fancy here – I just want to watch him dunk the rock and shoot some threes.