3. Continue to improve 3-point shooting
When the Bulls hired Hoiberg back in the summer of 2015, his goal was to implement an offense that was similar to what he utilized during his five-year tenure at Iowa State.
The only problem with that strategy is the roster he inherited didn’t have a lot of players who could shoot the ball from long range.
In fact, in Hoiberg’s first two seasons, the Bulls were ranked 21st and 28th in 3-point makes, while finishing 24th and 29th, respectively, in 3-point attempts.
Last year, though, the trend changed for the better as the Bulls were sixth in 3-point attempts (31.1 per contest) and they finished 10th in 3-point shots made (11.0 per outing).
Although Hutchison didn’t quite make the grade in this area a few years ago, he shot a career best 37.7 percent from deep in his junior season and 35.9 percent from 3-point range last season.
I’m going to go out on a limb somewhat and predict that Lauri Markkanen and Carter will draw a lot of attention from opposing defenses. If that assessment proves to be accurate, there will be ample opportunities for Hutchison to get a few easy looks from 3-point range.
As long as he can continue shooting the long ball at a respectable rate, he should have little trouble carving out a spot in the rotation.