If we're assuming Josh Giddey, Coby White, Matas Buzelis and Nikola Vucevic will all be starting for the Chicago Bulls when the regular season tips off, I think the best bet they have for a fifth starter is none other than Isaac Okoro.
There's a few different directions the coaching staff could end up going here, but Okoro may just be the most well-rounded option. Zach Lowe and Nekias Duncan recently discussed this topic on The Zach Lowe Show, and Duncan made a few solid points that I would agree with.
"I would probably go Okoro," Duncan said. "We have, what, a two and a half year sample now that he has just kind of shot fine from three, and particularly from the corners. If you get enough of that, you have the cutting which Josh Giddey's going to hit you on cuts if nothing else, and he is someone that you can at least give the top-billing defensive assignment to.
"So I think if you go with Kevin Huerter, the shooting obviously helps, the playmaking quietly is very good. He has put some fun passes on film dating back to the Atlanta days. Like, it juices the offense but you're still in the same loop of, 'okay, are we just asking Matas Buzelis to defend number one's?'
"I am much more intrigued by Matas as like, weak-side roamer, I will throw your shot into the third row, I can jump start transition opportunities there, versus, 'we need you to guard Kawhi tonight.' I don't want that for him. And so even within that infrastructure, I'd much rather see let's get Okoro in. It could be 22-minute starter, it could be the Keith Bogans thing ... But I would probably want him in the starting lineup to take on those assignments, hit corner threes, cut, and then get out of the way."
Starting Okoro could be Chicago's best course of action
I think this is a spot-on analysis from Duncan. I believe most fans already thought prior to preseason that Okoro would end up being this team's most reliable stopper on the perimeter. He's a great point-of-attack, one-on-one defender that navigates screens effectively and handles switches well. Bulls fans should feel confident in him taking on talented opposing offensive players on a nightly basis.
It's not a stretch to say Isaac has already been putting his fingerprints all over the Bulls' defensive identity. His unwavering effort and overall reliability on defense will give Chicago a way to counter offenses carried by singular strong scoring wings.
And as Duncan points out, Okoro has proven over the last couple of seasons that his shooting from beyond the arc is respectable enough for him to allow the Bulls to retain spacing and keep the flow of the offense going without major stoppages. Isaac's shooting volume probably doesn't have to increase at all, as I'm sure the coaching staff would be fine with him putting up his usual two to three threes per game on open looks.
Should Chicago go in this direction, it would be reasonable to think Okoro could become like a default starter that ends playing in that 20 to 25 minute range while Huerter and Ayo Dosunmu end up getting on the floor more over the course of the game. If the Bulls can get what they want out of him in this limited-minutes starter kind of role, this acquisition could end up being a way bigger win than it initially appeared.