Chicago Bulls: Jarred Vanderbilt the perfect FA no one is talking about

The Chicago Bulls got a big deal done late in the morning of Aug. 27 to finally ship off the restricted free agent and fourth-year power forward Lauri Markkanen. Executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley got a three-team sign-and-trade deal done heading into the weekend with the Portland Trail Blazers and Cleveland Cavaliers.

What the Bulls got in this sign-and-trade deal was the former Trail Blazers and Miami Heat small forward Derrick Jones Jr., a lottery-protected future first-round draft pick from Portland, and a future second-round draft pick from Cleveland. Markkanen winds up with the Cavs on a four-year contract worth a total of around $67 million.

And last but not least, the Blazers get forward Larry Nance Jr. from the Cavaliers to complete this three-team sign-and-trade.

Moreover, it’s good for the Bulls to get one more spot officially filled in the rotation for head coach Billy Donovan heading into Training Camp and the preseason. But the Bulls do still have a need to find a backup power forward behind either star shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan or second-year forward Patrick Williams (whoever starts at the four).

And with some intriguing names still left in free agency this offseason, the Bulls do have options to fill what roster spots remain after landing Jones in this sign-and-trade deal. A name to watch in this regard for the Bulls should be the former Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves 22-year-old power forward Jarred Vanderbilt.

Chicago Bulls could find a good free agent target to fill a need at the four in Jarred Vanderbilt

The former Kentucky Wildcats big man and the 41st overall pick in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft of the Orland Magic actually played for Karnisovas before when he was the Nuggets general manager prior to the start of last season. So there is a certain level of familiarity between Vanderbilt and Karnisovas.

Vanderbilt has continuously improved his game over the course of the last three seasons. And he could be an intriguing reserve power forward for the Bulls that could play in either the second or third unit heading into next season.

Although Vanderbilt didn’t get off to the most efficient start of his career during the 2018-19 season, he’s improved a lot since then. His improvement in box plus/minus highlights just how much better he got since his rookie season three years ago.

During his rookie campaign, Vanderbilt registered a poor -6.0 box plus/minus. And then he improved to a still bad -4.2 box plus/minus. But last season saw him show flashes of becoming a pretty efficient big man when he posted a career-best -0.6 box plus/minus.

Vanderbilt also registered a career-best 16.2 player efficiency rating and more than .130 win shares per 48 minutes.

The evidence is there that the Bulls could get a solid value out of signing a big man like Vanderbilt. He’s turning into the type of power forward that could give the Bulls 18-25 minutes on the floor per night off the bench.

Last season, Vanderbilt played in a career-high 17.8 minutes per game (and he even got 30 starts out of 64 games played) for the Timberwolves.

The Bulls could do much worse in free agency this offseason to fill the still-looming need at the four than by signing Vanderbilt. He’s one of the names to watch, without a doubt, from what’s left at this position group in free agency.

Vanderbilt should be considered in a group of about four or five other power forwards left in free agency that the Bulls could sign. Some other names to watch includes Paul Millsap, Patrick Patterson, DJ Wilson, and Nicolo Melli.