Chicago Bulls: Takeaways From Taj Gibson, Doug McDermott Trade
Taj Gibson
There aren’t enough adjectives one can use to describe how valuable Gibson was to the Bulls.
For starters, he was the consummate professional through good times and bad. Although he could have started for most teams during the years when the Bulls felt he was best suited coming off the bench, Gibson always remained positive and consistently thrived as both a starter and as a member of the second unit.
When he was finally inserted into the starting lineup prior to this season — and rightfully so — he didn’t miss a beat, as his averages included 11.6 points (the second-highest scoring average of his career) and a career-best 7.0 rebounds per contest on an efficient 52 percent from the field.
Even after hearing about the trade, Gibson’s attitude was again, nothing short of professional.
From Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson:
"“The moment I got my jersey and I had my draft cap it was hell because nobody knew who I was or what I was capable of doing. But as the years went on, just playing hard and playing competitive and leaving it on the court each and every night, the fans became my family. It sucks to have to depart, but I’m going into a great situation and I’m looking forward to competing and doing my job.”"
A class act to say the least.
With Gibson now playing for another team, the question becomes: who will get the minutes at the starting power forward position?
Nikola Mirotic is having the worst season of his career in a Bulls uniform. Not only is his scoring (9.2 PPG) down from his average of 11.8 points from a year ago, the third-year forward has also struggled with shooting the ball at an efficient clip. In fact, he is converting just 38 percent of his attempts overall and just 30.7 percent of his attempts from three-point range.
The other option is Bobby Portis, who had a solid rookie season with averages of 7.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. In year two, though, he has been in out and of rotation and is playing just 12 minutes per contest. As you can imagine, his production has fallen off a bit in the process as the second-year forward is averaging 4.8 points 3.5 rebounds per contest.
While there will be more minutes available for both players, neither option instills much confidence at this point in time.