Recently the Bulls have seemingly accepted that they don't have an isolation scorer on the roster and that they need to focus on ball movement in order to be effective. That's a fine plan if this was 1975, but in the modern NBA, for teams to be successful, they need at least one guy who can consistently take over single-handedly. If the Bulls want to be competitive in the next few years, they have to focus on developing that iso scorer this year.
The Bulls' ball movement plan has a ceiling
Tiago Splitter recently acknowledged that the team doesn't have any top-level iso scorers and will instead focus on pace and ball movement within the half court. It's good that he's acknowledging it, but the focus is in the wrong place.
I'm not saying ball movement is a bad thing. So far in the preseason there have been very promising stretches with their half court offense. Continuing to improve on that is going to help the team in both the short and long term. But it isn't enough to take them to the level of actually competing in the playoffs anytime soon.
Look at the teams that were the most successful last year. Of the final four in the conference finals, three of them had a top-tier isolation player. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a multiple MVP based on his ability to do just that. Donovan Mitchell is also one of the best off the dribble in the game right now. And the Knicks wouldn't have been nearly as dominant without Jalen Brunson's ability to take over the game in the fourth quarter. While Victor Wembanyama isn't that same type of player, the Spurs were at their best in the playoffs when Dylan Harper's isolation game was at its best. That is likely going to be even more of a focus for the Spurs this year.
The Spurs teams that Splitter was a player on focused heavily on ball movement, but that was also a very different NBA than we're currently watching, even just a decade later. And while the Bulls haven't been elite in recent years, they were at their best when DeMar DeRozan was taking over late in the game. So what is the answer?
Well for this season, Norm Powell has that ability for sure. But no one is fooling themselves into thinking Powell is some long-term part of this team's future. There are two guys on the roster who are best suited to develop a dominant isolation game: Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis.
Buzelis showed glimpses of being able to beat defenders off the dribble last year. Still, he was a far cry from being considered a top iso scorer. Oddly enough, an increased midrange rate could be just the answer for that. When defenders know that a player is either going to shoot a 3 or drive to the rim, they're able to prepare much better. If a player could pull up anywhere from 30 feet to 5 feet from the basket, that makes things far more unpredictable.
As far as Wilson goes, a handful of summer league and preseason games really isn't enough to get a read on how effective he can be as an off-the-dribble scoring threat. In a few months we'll have a better idea of how much development is needed to reach that level.
Regardless of whether Buzelis or Wilson or someone else takes that step, it's absolutely essential that the young Bulls show development in that department if this team is going to ever make a playoff run. Ball movement is great and can win a lot of games, but you still need an answer for when the movement stalls.
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