While the rest of the world was focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ acquisition of LeBron James and Kevin Love, adding the pair to Kyrie Irving to form a new “Big Three,” the Chicago Bulls quietly assembled their own by very different means.
A recovered Derrick Rose, rejuvenated and newly acquired Pau Gasol and improved Jimmy Butler have made the Bulls “Big Three” the class of the East, if not the NBA.
In fact, in the NBA only one team has three starters with a Player Efficiency Rating (PER) better than 20 is the Chicago Bulls.
Here is how the Bulls trio compares with the Cavaliers’ group.
Some would argue that the Bulls’ trio can’t realistically continue their pace. They will say that Butler’s numbers are inflated and his touches will drop now that Rose is back. And they will say that the Cavaliers’ chemistry is still a work in progress.
All of those arguments aren’t quite as valid as they seem up front.
First, among the Bulls, only Butler’s numbers are even that unusual. Gasol’s 22.1 PER is in line with his career number, 21.5. Rose’s is actually down from the 23.5 he enjoyed his last healthy season.
The lone question is: Is Butler having a breakout year or merely a hot start? Which bleeds over into the next argument.
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As I explain here, probably some of that is merely “hot start” but by no means all of it. He’s playing differently, and that’s leading to his better numbers. He’s getting to the stripe and to the rim. That leads to an increase in efficiency.
He’s healthy and his jumper is showing that it’s back to where it was in 2012-13. He’s now had eight 20-point games this season, and he only nine in his career coming into this season. There is is clearly more at work than just getting hot.
Probably the most valid argument that the Cleveland Cavaliers “Big Three’ is a bigger work in progress. The Bulls have an established system to work with, whereas the Cavaliers entire team is learning to play for a new coach, with a new offense. That said, the Bulls’ Big Three has room for improvement, as well.
Rose is still not all the way back. He and Butler have played a total of just 314 minutes together—in their entire careers! In fact, James, and Irving, with 399 minutes, have played 27 percent more minutes together than the Bulls’ backcourt.
So while it’s true that the Cavaliers have room to grow together, it’s equally true that the Bulls trio does, too.
And, one other thing to bear in mind is that PER is primarily about offense. The difference on defense is even more dramatic. Per Seth Partnow of Nylon Calculus, Pau Gasol is saving up the most points per game of anyone in the league, 3.3.
On the other hand, the only big man worse at the rim than Love (minus-2.89) is DeMarre Carroll.
The Cavaliers’ defensive rating improves by 10 points every time Irving sits down. By contrast, the Bulls shave off 11 points from their defensive rating whenever Rose takes the court.
And while LeBron James is an elite defensive player when he tries to be, he’s not always trying, as Coach Nick from BBallBreakdwon demonstrates:
And right after that, look at this LeBron defense. It's like Harden. https://t.co/oQQ31bsBsO
— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) November 23, 2014
And Jimmy Butler is one of the few defenders in the league who is on par with James defensively, even when he’s engaged.
As such the Bulls’ Musketeers have an offensive rating of 111.7 when they share the court and a defensive rating of just 95.7. The King of Cleveland and his men, though, are just 107.2 and 105.9 respectively.
They may catch up on offense, but it’s tough to see how they shave 10 points off of their defense. So, even if you want to give the slight tip to the Cavaliers trio offensively, in spite of the numbers, the Bulls trio plays both ends of the court and Cleveland’s doesn’t.
And in that sense, they are far more like the Miami Heat than the oft-compared Cleveland troupe.
If you’re looking for a new Big Three to be the class of the East, it could very well be the Chicago Bulls if Rose and Gasol can stay on the court. And, if you want a tie-breaker, Joakim Noah.