Chicago Bulls: Wendell Carter Jr. flashing potential early in 2018-19

Chicago Bulls rookie big man Wendell Carter Jr. has been one of the few bright spots for an injury-ravaged squad early in the 2018-19 NBA season.

The Chicago Bulls wanted to improve upon a 2017-18 campaign that saw them win just 27 games. Following an offseason in which they landed two solid rookies, along with retaining Zach LaVine and signing Jabari Parker, the team appeared to be on its way to doing exactly that.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. With four key players — Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn, Bobby Portis and Denzel Valentine sidelined with injuries — Chicago has produced only three wins in its first 11 games.

The fact that injuries have prevented this young squad from living up to its fullest potential and being one of the worst defensive teams in the league, it would be reasonable to presume that there isn’t much to be excited about after the first few weeks of the season.

Not so fast.

Sure, LaVine has proven he is the athletic shooting guard the Bulls hoped they were getting when they included him in a draft-night trade back in 2017, but he isn’t the only Bulls player that deserves recognition.

The other player in question is rookie big man Wendell Carter Jr. When the Bulls took him with the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the consensus was he was just a safe pick, which essentially meant he would be a role player that would take a while to make a significant impact.

Through the first five games, that assessment appeared to be somewhat accurate, as Carter averaged 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per outing. Since that time though, he has started to turn things around, and in a big way.

For example, in a home game against the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Oct. 29, Carter scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, pulled down seven rebounds and handed out four assists in 27 minutes of action. In a contest in which the Bulls gave up 92 points in the first half in en route to a 149-124 loss, Carter was one of the few reasons Bulls fans had something to cheer about.

Two nights later, Carter was at it again when the Bulls hosted the Denver Nuggets. Although Chicago would go on to lose the game on a put-back basket by Paul Millsap with 0.2 seconds to play, Carter had his finest performance of the young season, pumping in 25 points to go along with eight boards, five dimes, three blocks and three steals — a very impressive stat line, to say the least.

Not only has Carter reached double figures in each of the last six games, he is averaging 14.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game during that stretch. And if you thought his game on the offensive end is fun to watch, that is only half of the story.

Carter is also getting the job done from a defensive standpoint. In fact, he has posted at least two blocks in seven of Chicago’s 11 games this season.

Check out this swat against Houston Rockets’ big man Clint Capela:

And how about this defensive sequence from the same game against P.J. Tucker?

Carter finished that outing against the Rockets with four blocks and is averaging 1.9 blocks per contest on the season. To put this stat into its proper perspective, how many Bulls’ players do you think averaged one block per outing last season?

Zero.

That’s right, none. Robin Lopez came close, averaging 0.8 blocks per contest. Bearing that in mind, Carter is making his presence felt at both ends of the floor

"“I know that my time is going to come,’’ Carter told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I don’t want to force anything. I just need to be patient with it, make sure that I assert myself the right way. That’s been the obstacle, asserting myself.’’"

To be objective, his recent stretch of outings is a small sample size as there is plenty of basketball left to be played. However, if Carter continues to prove he can impact the game at both ends of the floor, he and Markkanen will give the team a formidable frontcourt for many years to come.