Chicago Bulls: Otto Porter Jr. was the missing piece all along

The Chicago Bulls might’ve really found their missing piece this season with the return to health of small forward Otto Porter Jr.

While the Chicago Bulls definitely needed more help than just from former Washington Wizards small forward Otto Porter Jr. this season to make an actual push to the playoffs, his return to the lineup on March 2 definitely gave this team a boost.

The Bulls went 20-40 in their first 60 games of the regular season, only nine of which OPJ had played in previous to finally suiting back up against the Mavericks on Monday night. And the Bulls had won just one of their last 11 games coming into this game. The addition of OPJ back to the rotation clearly made an enormous impact.

This wasn’t the first time in the last 13-14 months that the addition of OPJ to the rotation made a huge difference. When the Bulls initially dealt the forward duo of Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis to the Wizards in exchange for OPJ, they got red hot during the month of February. Head coach Jim Boylen had his best month to date in February 2019, where OPJ, shooting guard Zach LaVine, and power forward Lauri Markkanen all heated up at the same time.

Maybe the Bulls can parlay the returns of center Wendell Carter Jr., OPJ, and eventually Markkanen into the rotation into some wins before season’s end. Granted do we really want the Bulls to win more games considering they look to be way too far back of the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn Nets to claim the eight seed in the Eastern Conference standings?

Stand pat and the Bulls don’t risk the injury status of any of their best players down the stretch. Markkanen, Carter Jr., OPJ, LaVine, rookie point guard Coby White, and defensive stopper point guard Kris Dunn have all dealt with various ailments of some degree over the course of the last month.

Maybe it’s time for John Paxson and Gar Forman to pump the brakes on playing these guys so hard this season and make Boylen give them a rest every once in a while. The Bulls get such a bad reputation around the NBA that they aren’t a player-friendly atmosphere and culture. There’s not much this organization did of late to prove otherwise, though.

However, the Bulls did find something out in this 109-107 win over the Mavericks at home at the United Center to tip off the March slate. Porter Jr. means more to this team than most likely anticipated ahead of tip against the Mavericks.

When the Bulls had to roll with small forward Chandler Hutchison starting at the three, or LaVine or combo guard Tomas Satoransky in that spot, then Boylen was forced to mix up the rotations in ways that looked to even confuse him. The guard-heavy lineups that the Bulls constantly put out on the floor can be put to rest with more playing time getting handed back to OPJ.

In the very shocking win over the Mavericks alone on March 2, OPJ posted 18 points off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. He also tallied up three assists, one rebound, and one block. The presence he brings to the table on both ends of the floor is hard to match by any other player on this roster.

Since the Bulls need so much help with their wing depth, getting OPJ back from this foot fracture was about the best news they could get right now. It seems too little too late for the Bulls to make a legit playoff run, but if this trend keeps of OPJ making a massive impact to get them on the right side of the win column this year, it makes his massive contract more worth it when he picks up his player option.

The Bulls now take their 20-41 record into a battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 4. That will be interesting to see how the Bulls can configure their rotation against D’Angelo Russell and this Karl-Anthony Towns-less Timberwolves team later this week.