At this point of the regular season, the Chicago Bulls put themselves in a difficult spot if they’re still hoping to reach the playoffs.
Once the Chicago Bulls return to action out of the All-Star Break, they face a critical stretch if the front office and coaching staff still wants any shot at making the playoffs. But trying to contend for a playoff spot seems like a moot point by now. The Bulls made no moves to inch toward playoff contention at the trade deadline and the schedule looks just too difficult and they’re too injured right now to make a spirited run.
Still if this team is able to get healthy and find its groove before the end of the month of February, then all hope is not completely gone to challenge for the eight seed in the Eastern Conference. Getting back power forward Lauri Markkanen, center Wendell Carter Jr., and small forward Otto Porter Jr. at similar points in time would definitely give the Bulls a monumental boost.
One player that the Bulls could have back by the first game out of the All-Star Break is WCJ. He apparently is hopeful that he will return from the ankle sprain he suffered last month on the road against the Dallas Mavericks for the Bulls Feb. 20 meeting with the Charlotte Hornets. That would be big to get him back in what will be a winnable game against another team in the East on the outside looking in for the playoff picture.
So far this season, Carter Jr. is averaging 11.7 points per game, 9.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, while shooting 53.7 percent from the field, 21.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 73.6 percent from the charity stripe. The problem that exists for Carter Jr. this season is the way he was being utilized prior to going down with this ankle injury.
Carter Jr.’s assist numbers per game are dropping while his turnovers are rising. Given the solid court vision that many Bulls fans know Carter Jr. possesses, his assist-to-turnover ratio should not be trending in the direction that it is. He is currently averaging those aforementioned 1.2 assists per game compared to 1.8 turnovers.
This all correlates back to the way that head coach Jim Boylen is running the offense of the Bulls this season. The Bulls run the multi-ball handler system, which doesn’t work well given their personnel situation. Shooting guard Zach LaVine winds up taking on most of the possessions. He’s rolling with a career-high usage rate of over 31 percent so far this season.
Combo guard Tomas Satoransky and rookie point guard Coby White could be more capable of facilitating the offense. White does have to improve his assist-to-turnover ratio next season, but that should come along with time. The Bulls could also initiate the offense via feeding the ball to Carter Jr. down low and letting him draw out to beyond the free-throw line.
Carter Jr. has a natural shooting stroke, and his shooting from range should only continue over the course of the next year or two. I do have to give credit to whoever is making him take more shots from outside of the paint and beyond the arc. His shooting percentages should increase as time moves along.
But the lack of floor spacing that exists within the Bulls offense right now is also a hindrance to Carter Jr. improving his confidence and rhythm in shooting from beyond 12-feet from the rim. It is no mistake that the Bulls rank 26th in the NBA in offensive rating (106) and also 26th in turnover rate (13.6 percent). The ball movement and lack of floor spacing at times in the Bulls offense can get downright atrocious.
There’s also not enough movement off-ball on offense to get the assist numbers where they should be. The Bulls rank 24th in the NBA in total assists this season (1,272).
Let a capable floor spacing big man like Carter Jr. run the offense through himself at times. And that will let other capable offensive weapons for the Bulls like Markkanen and LaVine get more space to create their own looks. Markkanen is a good shooter from beyond the arc and could do well working outside-in if Carter Jr. gives him clean looks.
LaVine could better utilize his insane athleticism and deep-shot making ability if the middle of the lane isn’t clogged with opposing defenders. Even other Bulls players like Sato and veteran forward Thaddeus Young would have more room to do their thing on offense.
Floor spacing is a beautiful thing when schemed up correctly in the modern NBA. But Boylen does a pretty bad job of scheming up any offense, and the Bulls young core will continue to suffer because of it. Hopefully there is a noticeable change in the way he’s utilizing his best young players when a few of them return from injury later this season.