3) Chicago Bulls players to blame for 4-game skid
Thaddeus Young, Forward
On the night of Jan. 15, we saw one of the worst performances of the season so far from the veteran forward Thaddeus Young. The 6-foot-8 and 235 pound 32-year-old isn’t off to his best star to this regular season slate, which is not a great sign for the future of Young playing in the Windy City through the remainder of his current contract.
It just doesn’t feel like the fit between Young and the Bulls is very good. He’s still do more than $12 million per year through the last two seasons of his current contract. And his skill set could definitely be better utilized elsewhere. There’s just a rotation forming around Young in Chicago that isn’t conducive to what he brings to the table night in and night out.
In eight games played so far this season (none of which he’s started in), Young averaged 9.6 points per game, 3.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks. And he’s shot 57.6 percent from the field, 27.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 66.7 percent from the free-throw line. That has amounted to a career-low -4.0 box plus/minus rating, .033 win shares per 48 minutes, 61.1 true shooting percentage, and 12.1 player efficiency rating.
Through the last four games alone, the efficiency and per game stats of Young actually got worse. In the last four games, Young has yet to post a game score of 14.0 or better, and was a net negative on the floor on two occasions. He has also turned the ball over a whopping eight times combined during this four-game losing streak.
Donovan and the Bulls current coaching staff is getting Young’s role in this rotation back closer to what is was prior to him landing in the Windy City last offseason. That could bode well for his game in the near future, but the adjustment looks to be slow in general. And the general movement of the rotation with the in and out nature of power forward Lauri Markkanen with the lineup is wreaking havoc on the consistency (or lack thereof) for Young with the team.