Chicago Bulls: 3 solutions to the thinning frontcourt depth

2. Small ball

This is where the skill set of Young is able to be parlayed into the idea of how the Chicago Bulls could play more modern basketball schemes. The NBA is trending toward the emphasis of three-and-D wings and solid point guard play becoming more important than anything else.

The Bulls did have that three-and-D wing that could make a huge impact in the starting five after they landed small forward Otto Porter Jr. from the Washington Wizards at the 2019 trade deadline. But OPJ has played in just nine games this season, and it could be another month before he returns from his lingering foot fracture.

And beyond OPJ, the Bulls don’t have any wings that can make that much of an impact on both ends of the floor.

In effect, the Bulls have to either play a three-guard lineup and run Young at the four and Markkanen at the five or give Felicio more playing time behind Kornet. The aforementioned idea of playing Felicio more often is one that Boylen should not be pondering. He is already giving Felicio about 5-10 minutes more of playing time per game, though.

What Boylen should be doing is downsizing the lineup and finding more effective uses of players like 6-foot-7 guard Tomas Satoransky, shooting guard/wing Denzel Valentine, and second-year small forward Chandler Hutchison. All three of those Bulls players can make a positive impact on the wing when used correctly.

Allow either shooting guard Zach LaVine or rookie point guard Coby White to facilitate the offense more often instead of using the multi-ball handler system and let the pace flow around them.