Free agents that could help Chicago Bulls defensively: Ian Mahinmi
Another veteran option that would be a safe and intriguing move for the Bulls’ new front office regime to turn to on the free agent market at this point of the regular season is the longtime Indiana Pacers and Washington Wizards big man Ian Mahinmi.
While Theis and former Orlando Magic star center Nikola Vucevic have stepped it up of late for the Bulls, they don’t have much of anything to rely upon in the frontcourt rotation beyond those two. Veteran forward Thaddeus Young is a solid two-way player, whether he’s in the starting five or holding a reserve role, but he doesn’t bring much size to the table compared to other bigs.
And fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen has found a solid offensive spark of late, but he doesn’t contribute much on the defensive end of the floor.
Adding a center like the towering 6-foot-11 and 260 pound 34-year-old Mahinmi could bring a lot of value right away to the Bulls’ frontcourt rotation. They could use a defensive anchor down low that could protect the rim off the bench and hit the glass hard. It would be nice to have that insurance policy behind the likes of Vooch and Theis.
The last team that Mahinmi played for was the Wizards last season, in 38 games (35 of which he started in). And he averaged 7.4 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.2 blocks. He also has a career 1.2 defensive box plus/minus rating, stout 102 defensive rating, more than 17 defensive win shares, 1.7 steal percentage, and 3.4 block percentage, under his belt.