Three Questions the Bulls Need to Answer, Sooner Rather Than Later
There is uncertainty about the future of the Bulls’ front office structure, and who will be calling plays from the bench as the head coach.
Still, there are questions that can be answered that will shape the future makeup of this team as year 3 of the rebuild comes to a grinding halt.
3) What Should Coby White’s Future Be as a Member of the Chicago Bulls Moving Forward?
Coby White is averaging 28.3 points 4 rebounds 3 ast in his last 4 games. White is getting a lot of separation on his moves … look how how much time he gets off the separation. The Rookie is killing ? @CobyWhite pic.twitter.com/yTUgKnGozr
— Swish Cultures (@swishcultures_) February 28, 2020
Well if we’re looking into the immediate future of Coby as the starting point guard with these final games looming, it is no longer a question of if he is a starter, but when. The numbers bear out that White certainly deserves a chance to run with the 1st unit.
With an uptick in minutes played per game, White has seen his points per game increase to 25.8 since the All-Star break. He is a natural scorer that doesn’t appear to be fazed by the big moment while carrying the scoring duties with Zach LaVine sidelined.
The bigger question is whether he and LaVine can coexist on the court and provide the Bulls with a scoring dynamic duo that was thought to be LaVine and Lauri Markkanen. White has proved valuable in settling into the sixth man role, but the Bulls need to now find out if they have found their backcourt of the future.
Coby has the look of a young guard who is finally starting to figure things out at the ripe old age of 19. It’s time for the Bulls to take the reigns off of him and see if they have a future star in the making.
2) Is Lauri Markkanen a Part of the Young Core Moving Forward?
To say that Markkanen has struggled this year has been a bit of an understatement. It has been hard to pinpoint exactly what is wrong with Markkanen as he has been plagued by injury, poor usage, and just being plain awful on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
In Friday’s loss to the Pacers, Markkanen tied his career-low with 3 points and shot a career-worst 1 of 10 from the field. As was the case throughout most of the year, he drifted around the perimeter, didn’t attack mismatches, and rebounded the ball poorly.
Markkanen was pretty blunt in his assessment of his performance to NBC Sports Chicago. “Just try to find in our system the spots that I can get to and try to defensive rebound and push it. You get in a rhythm like that,” Markkanen said. “When you shoot like that, it’s not supposed to come to you either.”
And there lies the rub. Markkanen has been playing abysmal basketball for the better part of the year. But in order to evaluate him and prove that his career scoring numbers weren’t an aberration, he will need to be force-fed the ball to see if he can regain the form that had many people declaring he was the steal of his draft class.
1) Is Wendell Carter the Best Option for the Bulls at Power Forward?
If we realize that Wendell Carter is playing out of position, you had best understand that he realizes it as well. Carter is a defensive presence that can anchor a team on that side of the ball. But perhaps Carter’s true calling might be at the 4, which means that if Markkanen doesn’t up to his game, the Bulls might want to deploy a lineup featuring Carter playing the 4 and Daniel Gafford seeing more starters minutes.
The problem with gauging whether Markkanen and Carter are a true tandem that can work together stems from the fact that neither can stay healthy in their short careers. If Carter is best playing the 4, the Bulls would have to trust that he can be a key player in their offensive sets, which means he needs to show he can stretch the floor from the three-point line.
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