Chicago Bulls: Bobby Portis making the most of sixth man role

Following an early season eight-game suspension, Chicago Bulls forward Bobby Portis is flourishing in his sixth man role.

When the Chicago Bulls selected Bobby Portis at No. 22 in the 2015 NBA Draft, their selection raised a few eyebrows considering their most glaring need at the time was finding a player at the backup point guard position.

Unfortunately for both sides, although Portis showed glimpses of potential during his first two seasons with the Bulls, playing behind the likes of Taj Gibson, Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic often left him as the odd man out in the frontcourt rotation.

Bearing that in mind, there was an air of uncertainty for Portis coming into his third season in the Windy City. That uncertainty increased when Mirotic — who didn’t practice with the team during the offseason — was given the nod as the team’s starting power forward.

This may have led to the well-documented altercation between the two players before the season began. Despite the aftermath of the incident that resulted in Portis being suspended for eight games, the Bulls opted to pick up the fourth year of his contract, which essentially meant they viewed him a valuable player in Fred Hoiberg’s offense.

Considering Portis’ role in the altercation led to Mirotic missing 23 games, he was viewed as the bad guy to some extent and although he attempted to make the best of a bad situation, Mirotic requested a trade and was subsequently dealt to the New Orleans Pelicans.

Shortly after the trade, Portis expressed that he was ready to look beyond the incident that took place between him and his former teammate and focus on his future.

"“Honestly, man, I’m just over the situation, talking about Niko,” Portis told the Chicago Tribune. “I just want to talk about the Chicago Bulls, try and be the best basketball player I can be.“I feel like I’ve said it every time I talk to you, but I truly am sorry for what happened. I don’t really want to talk about that anymore. I’m just worried about my future.’’"

To say that Portis has moved forward would be an understatement, to say the least. Not only has the third-year forward posted career highs in scoring (13.0 points per game) rebounding (6.4 per contest) and assists (1.7 per contest), he has played exceptionally well following Mirotic’s departure to the Big Easy.

In fact, following a two-game stretch in which he scored just 15 points on 5-for-24 shooting from the field to close out January, Portis has been playing at an entirely different level this month. For starters, he has reached the double-digit plateau in each of his last seven games. This includes 19- and 18-point outings against the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors.

While those outings were impressive, Portis had a night to remember in the Bulls’ heartbreaking one-point loss to the Philadelphia 76ers Thursday night. Thanks to Portis playing like a man possessed, the Bulls managed to dig themselves out of an 18-point hole and were in position to win before a few late-game miscues allowed the Sixers to escape with the victory.

In that contest, Portis scored a career-high 38 points on an efficient 15-for-26 shooting from the field. He also pulled down eight boards, recorded a pair of assists and converted six of his nine attempts from 3-point range, which also marked a career high.

While it may be a while before Portis has another outing of this magnitude, he kept his memorable performance in perspective, stating his production wasn’t really important because of the game’s final outcome.

Needless to say, Portis is flourishing in the sixth man role, showing he can play at either the 4- or 5-spot in the rotation.

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Furthermore, Portis is quickly showing that while Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen are considered the cornerstones of the franchise, they aren’t the only key pieces of the team’s long-awaited rebuild.