Mark to Markkanen Accounting with the Chicago Bulls
After a nauseating 3-20 start, the egalitarian
Bulls have 10 wins in the last 13 games, including a streak of 7 wins before
the Cavaliers topped them near Christmas. Their 17-18 roster is an amalgamation
of streaky role players and unproven young guys, many being stunningly mediocre
in their designated positional requirements. However, Hoiberg’s swirling
offense has let a few players shine among this crop.
The X-Factor, as many have observed, is Montenegrin
stretch 4 Nikola Mirotic, flashing an unprecedented amount of dynamism in his 2017-18
play. Mirotic is in near-constant motion, rolling down the floor to set up the
offense, shifting and spotting up, then moving to his much-improved post play.
Niko plays a delightfully simple game, juicing the Bulls offense off the bench
as an all-around scoring big. Many backup big men aren’t prepared for such
complete offensive players, and Mirotic lights it up at nearly every scoring
level, shooting 50% from the field and a red-hot (if unsustainable) 47% from
beyond.
Mirotic isn’t anywhere close to a perfect player.
Like in the Washington Wizards matchup on New Year’s, he’s still prone to
completely bonkers heat-check shots from deep. But his season thus far goes to
show how improved decision-making can revolutionize a player’s game and value.
A definite 6MOY candidate to monitor. He definitely has narrative on his side.
Punched In The Face to Punch Off The Bench? Count me in.
Also, Kris Dunn is doing starting point guard
stuff. His deep shooting has taken an expected dip, but since Thanksgiving,
Dunn is averaging 15.6 points and 7.8 assists per game (and 3 to 1 assist to
turnover ratio) as well as 1.9 steals per contest, good for 5th in
the entire NBA. Dunn isn’t a sharpshooter by most means, but he has made dozens
of clutch buckets in his coveted midrange area over the past few weeks. In 18 clutch-time
performances, he has shot an impressive 50% from the field. Can he be a wiggly
closing guard that fills the D-Rose portion of every late Bulls fan’s heart?
Nah. Rose won MVP at the age Dunn was drafted. But Kristofer’s confidence
warrants a seat an ever-tenuous tanking
team “core.”
Markkanen is hitting threes again for the time
being. He’s 11 for 22 from distance in the last 3 games, which is pretty sick
if you ask me. I may or may not have splayed my middle, ring, and pinky fingers
of my right hand and swirled them around when he hit them. Bobby “Robert”
Portis has been fantastic at being forgotten. Felicio is torching the D-League
(for $8 million a year). Justin Holiday is better, but still bricking at
inopportune times. Hoping for Zach LaVine to eat up some of his looks when he
returns (soon!). Robin Lopez is still lofting some gross hook shots and making
some of them. Valentine is still afraid of making layups. Ethan is still
watching games.
These Bulls aren’t really that good. Lopez can’t
guard the P&R, Lauri gets lit up by random guards every single game, and
Valentine may be hitting threes at a 40% clip, but he didn’t grab that board in
the Wizards game so I’m heated. They’ll transition to playing like a .500 team
soon enough, and what happens after that is anyone’s guess. All this winning
has switched my tanking fanboyism into optimistic indifference, so every game
right now is a win. Basketball heaven.
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