Chicago Bulls: What Is Erik Murphy’s Role?
When the Chicago Bulls selected Tony Snell with their first pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, they were aiming to improve their 3-point shooting while also ensuring they had someone who could play the gritty kind of defense Tom Thibodeau’s team is known for. As the 20th overall pick in a historically weak draft, Snell seems to be a pretty good fit and showed as much during the NBA Summer League. But surprisingly, another rookie by the name of Erik Murphy may find just as many minutes this season as Snell.
With the 49th pick in the draft, the Bulls took Murphy, a 6’10”, 230-pound power forward out of the University of Florida. Whereas Snell has a number of players ahead of him on the depth chart, Murphy may have a shot at cracking Chicago’s rotation. Although Snell should develop his game and add a much-needed 3-point element to the Bulls’ offense down the road, Murphy immediately adds a coveted dimension that every team is looking for these days. As a stretch-4, Murphy can spread the floor with his perimeter shot on one end while still being able to defend more traditional power forwards on the other end (once Tom Thibodeau refines his defense, that is). Ever since the Miami Heat pretty much perfected small-ball lineups, teams have been clamoring for stretch-4s to try and keep up. The Bulls aren’t exactly doing that, but they certainly added Murphy for that reason.
Erik Murphy probably won’t see too many minutes off the bench this season unless Carlos Boozer gets injured. Boozer’s clearly still a starter and just turned in another season that is statistically on par with his career averages. Boozer’s defense can be downright lazy at times, but he still gives Chicago 16 points and 10 boards a night. Meanwhile, Taj Gibson has proven himself to be a gifted backup who demands minutes for his defense. Some would go as far as saying he makes Carlos Boozer expendable because Chicago’s defense is actually better with Gibson on the floor. I wouldn’t take it that far since Gibson’s offense still needs fine tuning and consistency, but the point is, Murphy probably won’t work his way past Boozer or Gibson on the depth chart despite his well-rounded game.
Luckily for Murphy, though, the need and desire for a stretch-4 is still there for Chicago. The Bulls brought in Vladimir Radmanovich last season to fill that very need, with disappointing results in the form of 30 percent shooting from the floor and 19 percent from downtown. Murphy is 10 years younger than 32-year-old Vlad Rad and posted outstanding field goal and 3-point percentages last season with the Gators (52 and 45 percent, respectively). Murphy averaged 12.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as well. The Bulls were even playing around with the idea of trading for LaMarcus Aldridge to team up with Derrick Rose in a pick-and-pop type of situation. Murphy could very well save them the trouble.
Obviously Thibodeau would like Murphy’s rebounding numbers to be a bit higher if he were to crack Chicago’s rotation. For a 6’10” power forward, 5.5 rebounds per game is about as insignificant as the 2.6 rebounds per game Tony Snell averaged in his last season at New Mexico. But in addition to his outside touch, Murphy has a decent post game and can score in the paint. He sets solid screens and plays with energy like his fellow Gators-alum-turned-Chicago-Bull Joakim Noah. There are a lot of positive aspects to Murphy’s game, so between him and Snell, the Bulls have to feel pretty good about what they got from a weaker draft class.
Thibodeau isn’t known for giving rookies much playing time and the Bulls already have a pretty solid nucleus of Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler, Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson. But if these past few years have taught us anything, it’s that the Chicago Bulls aren’t always a lock to stay healthy. If anything were to happen to Boozer or Gibson, Murphy’s responsibilities would multiply. Right now, his role is the spread the floor and knock down 3-point shots in limited minutes, and Murphy understands that. It’ll be a long road to finding minutes for both Murphy and Snell, but as Jimmy Butler showed us last season, it’s entirely possible to rise to the occasion and earn playing time on this team.
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