Albeit cryptic at times, Chicago Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson told fans exactly what to expect from their roster moving forward this season.
First things first: Anyone who has been watching Chicago Bulls basketball up until this point is fully aware that the best has yet to come, a euphemism for “this season will not be a winning season, and it’s time to tank.”
Any amount of optimism about the Bulls young core doesn’t exclude that fact. So let’s break down some of the key points made by vice president of basketball operations John Paxson, per CBS Chicago, and read between the lines for the real takeaways.
The biggest splash made was that Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday will be replaced in the starting lineup by Cristiano Felício and David Nwaba.
This is a great move, but leaves us with a few head-scratching thoughts.
First: Robin Lopez being replaced makes sense, but why not by Bobby Portis? Felício’s per 36 numbers are frankly disappointing. Meanwhile, Portis’ per 36 stats are over 20 and 10 a night. Free Bobby Portis already!
Pippen Ain't Easy
Second: Replacing Holiday with David Nwaba is putting all the faith in him. Denzel Valentine will be chomping at the bit for minutes after this move and Nwaba has earned the start with his defense. At just 6’4″, Nwaba is going to be an undersized lead perimeter defender for Chicago, and GarPax hardly like to color outside the lines. Their usual airtight prudence combined with this move means that Nwaba might just be the real deal.
Third, according to Paxson, “It’s not a tryout.”
Wrong. It is absolutely a tryout.
Chicago struck gold with high-upside players this season and has plenty to go around. Make no bones about it, this is indeed a tryout and the losers will be “cut,” or relegated to the bench.
Just ask Cameron Payne, who got the snubbed of virtually any playing time so far this season (despite injuries). Now, Payne should look lively as he is being considered the temporary first backup point guard to come off the bench. This is kind of surprising move considering Jerian Grant nearly triple-doubled a mere week ago.
Fourth, Paxson said on length of the starting lineup change: “It’s going to be a sufficient time.”
Translation: Lopez isn’t going to touch the floor again unless Bobby Portis, Cristiano Felicio and newly acquired Noah Vonleh collectively punch each other out during a practice. (Never say never.)
The truth is that there are just too many players on this roster that have flashed great upside in this season alone. For certain players, it just doesn’t make any sense to give them minutes.
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The cool part that Chicago Bulls fans everywhere can be happy about is that a big reason for jumpstarted rebuild that Paxson cites is that this group has bonded as a unit — a testament to the culture and commitment to winning that is happening in Chicago.