3. Lack of wing depth
The most glaring reason why the Chicago Bulls could sign any talented wing in free agency, or land them via the trade route, this summer is their lack of depth at this spot. The Bulls rotation was void of a true small forward for much of the 2019-20 regular season. Head coach Jim Boylen doesn’t have a true small forward in the lineup right now either.
Second-year former Boise State Broncos small forward Chandler Hutchison didn’t do much to prove he can stay healthy or be a core part of the Bulls rotation to date. He’s currently dealing with that nagging shoulder injury that hasn’t gone away since the Bulls selected him with one of their two first round picks in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Moreover, Hutch stayed very healthy this season compared to how long the former Washington Wizards 6-foot-8 and 200 pound small forward Otto Porter Jr. remained out for. We still don’t have a concrete timeline for the return of OPJ from this lingering foot fracture that he’s recovering from.
Up to this point, Porter Jr. played in a single-digit number of games this season. With how much the Bulls are paying him after this season (around $28 million per year), ditching the OPJ experiment and finding another option at the position might be the way to go.
Even when he was healthy this season, the Bulls didn’t get much out of OPJ. He averaged 11.2 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists, while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three-point range in the nine games he’s played in so far. That amounts to a subpar player efficiency rating of 13.5.