Chicago Bulls: 3 takeaways from 2019 NBA Trade Deadline
2. Portis became expendable despite solid 2017-18 campaign
During the first two years of his NBA career, Portis showed glimpses of potential, but most of those first two seasons were filled with inconsistent play. However, in 2017-18, Portis had the best season of his career in a Bulls uniform.
He posted career highs in points (13.2), rebounds (6.8) and assists per game (1.7). Along with that, Portis also shot 47.1 percent from the floor and knocked down 35.9 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
As impressive as those numbers were from a year ago, Portis increased his production this season despite being limited by injuries. In 22 appearances, he averaged 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per outing on shooting splits of .450/.375/.780.
Even though Portis was one of the more consistent producers for Chicago’s second unit, the front office felt there was a greater need to address the starting small forward spot than there was for possibly overpaying for a player who was never going to be a long-time starter being buried in the rotation behind Markkanen and Wendell Carter Jr.
#Bulls were hesitant to invest too much money in a backup big man in Bobby Portis, John Paxson indicates, when they needed a starting-caliber small forward still.
— Cody Westerlund (@CodyWesterlund) February 7, 2019
While the Bulls may have not considered Portis as a key piece of the rebuild, his energy and tenacity will certainly be missed for a squad that has been lacking a real identity over the past two seasons.