3) Questions for Chicago Bulls new HC Billy Donovan: More three-guard lineups?
A staple of the Thunder attack in 2020 was their three-guard lineup. Featuring future Hall of Famer Chris Paul, OKC put Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and former Atlanta Hawk Dennis Schroder on the floor with him and the results were very promising.
The trio was used sparingly together during the regular season, averaging just 6.7 minutes per contest together over 60 games. That was their 19th most-used lineup but was also their most effective, outscoring opponents by more than 26 points per 100 possessions. In the playoffs, their time together more than doubled, growing to 15.6 minutes per game and they were the Thunder’s seventh-highest scoring three-man group at 37.1 points per game.
Chicago made use of the three-guard lineup in 2020 as well, though their deployment was out of necessity after the injury suffered by Otto Porter knocked him out for the majority of the season.
The Bulls version (consisting of Zach LaVine, Coby White, and Tomas Satoransky) weren’t particularly effective, though, getting outscored by 3.2 points over 100 possessions. Scoring is what LaVine and White do best so much of that disparity can be attributed to Satoransky; a player who looks to set his teammates up even at the detriment to his offense.
It should also be mentioned that the Bulls most-used starting lineup featured three guards, though it was Kris Dunn in place of White so the scoring issues were that much worse. For OKC, three-guard lineups (with Terrance Ferguson or Luguentz Dort occupying one of the spots) were their three most-frequent starting groupings.
All that is to say, if the Bulls liked what they saw out of these types of looks, they got the right person to expand upon what they were already doing.
The obvious question, which is also our next one, is can the Bulls be more effective in three-guard sets? Or do they need someone to bring it all together and make it work on the floor?