Chicago Bulls: Nikola Vucevic opening up opportunities for Thaddeus Young

The Chicago Bulls offense welcomed obvious changes with the addition of Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline. It was clear a player of Vucevic’s ability would be altering how the team played in the half-court.

A big assumption, and one that is certainly correct, was how much more the team would feature post-up opportunities. The reasoning is obvious – Vucevic is a special offensive player so getting him the ball in the post makes a ton of sense. That’s where he exploits defenders most easily and is a key to his offensive game.

There seems to be another development related to Bulls post-up opportunities, though. At least that is the case through six games. That player would be veteran Thaddeus Young, who is being used in a new way and once again is displaying his versatility on the basketball court for all to see.

According to NBA.com, Vucevic is third in the NBA in post-ups per game (8.3) since joining the Bulls. One spot behind him is teammate Thaddeus Young (8.2), which is quite the change from how he was utilized early in the season.

When looked into further, this makes sense and is another example of Billy Donovan maximizing his players and putting them in the best positions to help the team. Vucevic spreads the floor a lot better and more efficiently than former center Wendell Carter Jr. While Carter Jr. shot 36.4 percent from deep this season for the Chicago Bulls, he shot just .7 3’s per game.

Vuc, on the other hand, is a knockdown shooter that must be respected off the ball at all times. The added space gives Young more space to work his sometimes unorthodox offense and take advantage of mismatches.

For example, an underrated thing Young does on the court is seal his defender very low under the basket. By the time he receives the pass, he is at the rim and there’s little his defender can do to prevent him from finishing.

The nicest part of this development in the Bulls offense, though, is the passes it creates for Young’s teammates when the opposing team helps too much. In the past six games since Vucevic arrived, Young is credited for 20 passes out of the post. Half of those ended in assists for Young.

Prior to Vucevic arriving, Young had received credit for 49 passes from the post with just 12 of them winding up in an assist. It seems the Bulls may be going from a team that almost never got the ball to the post to a team that installs it as a featured part of the offense. It makes sense and would be helpful in the team installing the most lethal offense moving forward.

One thing we know is that the Chicago Bulls have a lot of ways they can attack opposing defenses on any given night.