Power ranking Chicago Bulls players through the first 30 games
By Luke Askew
2. Wendell Carter Jr.
Previous ranking: 1
Wendell Carter Jr. was the best overall player on the Bulls for the first 20 games of the season, but he’s losing his spot at the top of the power rankings. It’s not because Wendell took a step backward, though. It’s because a different guy (more on that guy soon) finally took his game to the level it belongs at.
Defense is still Carter’s calling card. He’s a fierce rim protector who isn’t afraid to meet anyone at the rim. He’s also a solid team defender, often in the right place at the right time. Offensively, though, Wendell has finally taken a step forward.
After a stretch of games where Carter was passing up unbelievably open jumpers, he’s finally started to shoot them, leaving Bulls fans teary-eyed with joy. He’ll even catch the ball and face up with it now, often shooting a mid-range jumper over his defender — something he refused to do until recently.
Carter’s nearly averaging a double-double at 11.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. I’d love to seem him shooting even more than he has been, hopefully getting his scoring into the 14-16 points per game range.