The Chicago Bulls won’t just be battling the competition.
There will also be compelling battles within the roster for minutes and roles, and how they are allocated will tell us a lot about where the Bulls are headed.
These head-to-head competitions on the Bulls will help define the identity of the team moving forward and may also decide which players are eventually traded.
Nikola Vucevic vs. Jalen Smith
We’ve talked about this one already, so I won’t belabor the point. Vucevic will go into training camp with a clear advantage as the established veteran, but given the Bulls’ lack of depth at center, both guys should get plenty of minutes.
Smith makes the Bulls a little more dynamic on both ends, as he’s more athletic, can hit 3-point shots and is far more efficient around the rim than Vucevic.
Smith is also better at defending in space, so we could see him used frequently in small-ball lineups when the Bulls are trying to get maximum shooting and athleticism on the floor.
If Smith is playing as much as Vucevic and playing well, it might speed up the process of trading Vooch.
Smith may not be the center of the future, but he could potentially supplant Vucevic if he can stay healthy, as the Bulls need better efficiency from center than a guy who shot 48 percent last season.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see these two split minutes. The early edge will go to Vucevic until Smith shows he can be more than just a backup playing 17 minutes per game.
Patrick Williams vs. Matas Buzelis
This one depends on how you view these two players but both are currently listed as power forwards.
Buzelis is already more dynamic with the ball in his hands than Williams, who has been nothing more than a spot-up shooter for the Bulls. Williams has hit more than 40 percent of his 3-point shots, but on low volume, so he’ll have to increase his attempts for it to matter.
The Bulls are in an awkward spot here, as they just committed $90 million to Patrick Williams for some reason and drafted a guy who plays the same position.
They can certainly play some together, but can either of them stay in front of quicker wings? Do the Bulls see Buzelis playing some at small forward?
The two players do have different skillsets and both of them can defend, so this may be a good problem to have for the Bulls, but you do have to wonder which one of these players will be in the starting lineup at the beginning of the season vs. the end of it.
Will Buzelis be the starter? Will Williams be an expensive backup? The answers will provide more insight to how and if the rebuild can work around this group.
Coby White vs. Zach LaVine
This is more a battle for role than minutes, as both of these players are likely to start and play a lot if they are healthy.
LaVine is going to get his chances, if for no other reason than to raise his trade value for an eventual move. Until he shows he can play at a high level, the Bulls won’t be able to trade him, so they have to get LaVine his minutes and shots.
But will Coby White emerge as the team’s go-to scorer? He has more of a long-term future with the Bulls and made progress towards that role last season. With DeMar DeRozan gone, the primary scoring option is open and likely to be filled by White or LaVine.
Is this Coby White’s team? Will LaVine accept a more complementary role off the ball as a high-volume 3-point shooter? And how does Josh Giddey (another high usage player) fit into all of this?
It would be nice to see White grasp the opportunity here and for LaVine to re-invent himself as an off-the-ball high-volume 3-point shooter, but we could see a lot of back and forth with no real alpha-dog emerging.
There are a lot of moving parts when you consider the Bulls’ desire to trade LaVine and Vucevic and these positional battles will help define that timeline.