Chicago Bulls 2016-17 NBA Training Camp Roster Rankings
The Chicago Bulls enter training camp with one of the most unsettled depth charts in the league. An offseason of moves involved big trades and big signings in free agency, but ended with even bigger questions.
The Bulls have accrued an a la carte roster, snatching up the best players available without much regard for how the pieces fit together. In turn, they're a team largely devoid of three-point shooting in an era where the deep ball has never been more important.
The Bulls will try to work around this by moving the ball. Head coach Fred Hoiberg told the Athletic's Jon Greenberg:
""You know we’ve got to have good ball movement with this group," Hoiberg said. "We’ve got to be able to throw ahead to our wings and attack, and use the strength of our backcourt to make plays for this team. I’m really excited about the multiple play-makers that we’ll have. This league right now is all about breaking down the defense, getting into the paint and making the right plays."
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The rotation is completely unsettled, so Hoiberg will use training camp and the preseason games to figure out what works and what doesn’t. For now, this is how the players should rank in importance, based on current skill level, expected improvement and likely playing time.
End of Bench: 11-15
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15. Spencer Dinwiddie (PG)
Spencer Dinwiddie, obtained in a trade for Cameron Bairstow, is one of a few point guards who will be vying for the backup duties to Rajon Rondo. He's big (6'6") but slow for a point. If for no other reason than the Bulls' low investment in him—no draft pick and a minimum salary—he’s unlikely to get much playing time unless there are injuries.
14. Paul Zipser (SG/SF)
The Bulls’ second-round pick in the 2016 draft played everything from the 2 to the 4 in Germany. According to DraftExpress.com, “Zipser made a strong case for himself to be considered the best prospect at this camp (Adidas Camp in German), and is at the very least the most 'ready' to play the role he would be asked to in the NBA, as a 3'n'D combo forward.”
If Tony Snell stumbles, there’s a good chance Paul Zipser swoops in. Until then, he could play some minutes with the Windy City Bulls, the franchise's new D-League affiliate.
13. Jerian Grant (PG)
One of the key returns from the Derrick Rose trade with the Knicks, Jerian Grant was the No. 19 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He faltered during his rookie year, averaging just 5.6 points and 2.3 assists in 16.6 minutes per game. But that was in a floundering, misguided offense. He has a high basketball IQ and should be a good pupil to Rajon Rondo.
12. Isaiah Canaan (PG)
The Bulls need shooting in the backcourt; Isaiah Canaan’s 184 treys were more than the 133 that Rondo, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler had combined last year. For all the shooting woes, the Bulls own several top-notch passers, and Canaan hit 40.1 percent from deep on catch-and-shoots, according to NBA.com. That should get him more minutes than the other backup point guards.
11. Cristiano Felicio (C)
Cristiano Felicio was every Bulls fan's biggest man crush last year, and he may be destined to climb these rankings. He came out of nowhere to post a 20.8 player efficiency rating over the last 10 games, according to RealGM.com, and some of those were “real minutes” as opposed to mere garbage time. The problem is whether he’ll get enough time as the fifth big on the depth chart.
Top of Bench: 6-10
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10. Tony Snell (SG/SF)
Snell is a bit of an enigma. He’s a 3-and-D wing to an extreme: He was one of the better players in the league at guarding the pick-and-roll (85.3 percentile) and hit 36.1 percent from deep. But he offers almost nothing else. He gets lost in off-ball defense and shot 38.0 percent from two. If he doesn’t show improvement early on, he could be gone or sent down to Windy City.
9. Bobby Portis (PF/C)
According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, there’s an open contest for the starting power forward spot. Portis is allegedly in competition to fill that, but it’s unlikely he wins. With the lack of shooting elsewhere, it seems to be Nikola Mirotic’s job, and Taj Gibson is a better all-around player than Portis right now.
Portis should get time at the backup 5, though, where he played about 25.4 percent of his minutes last year, according to Nylon Calculus.
8. Denzel Valentine (PG/SG/SF)
The Bulls rookie, taken with the No. 14 pick of this year's draft, told Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune:
"Being able to guard multiple positions and play multiple positions on offense. The way the game's going now it's small ball. I kind of fit that mold. I can play 1, I can play 2, I can play 3 and even guard some 4 sometimes. I'm going to be able to do a lot of things as far as shooting, playmaking and playing defense and rebounding. I pretty much do it all and do what I can to help my team win.
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That kind of versatility should get him plenty of playing time, even if he’s just a rookie. He is one of the most NBA-ready players to be drafted, if not the most.
7. Doug McDermott (SF/PF)
McDermott’s offensive talents aren’t in dispute. He had a handful of spectacular games last season, which included a career-high 30 points against the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 19. He could be in for a big breakout season, particularly with Rondo setting him up. However, that’s only going to happen if he can also make big gains on defense.
Fortunately, he spent a chunk of the summer working on that with Butler.
6. Taj Gibson (PF/C)
Taj Gibson is the Bulls' best defensive big at this point and has improved his jumper over the years. His spot-up was worth an average 1.19 points per play last season and ranked in the 93.5 percentile, which sounds great until you realize he only took 36 such shots.
If he’s in the first unit, there just isn’t any shooting there, which is why Mirotic will probably start regardless of how “open” the completion appears right now.
5. Robin Lopez (C)
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The Bulls had rebounding "issues" last season. Throw in all the shooting woes the team may face this year, and a lack of offensive rebounding could be highly problematic.
That’s where Robin Lopez can help the most.
Last season, only Andre Drummond secured more contested offensive rebounds than Lopez. Of the players who grabbed at least 100 of them, only JaMychal Green fought for a higher percentage than Lopez’s 84.0. While he’s not quite as good on the defensive end, his 26.3 rebounding percentage there still exceeds the now-departed Pau Gasol’s 22.6 percent.
That is what the Bulls needed so much of last season.
When he's not getting rebounds, Lopez boxes out. He defends the post-up well, giving up just 0.77 points per possession on those opportunities, which placed him in the 71.9 percentile. He sets solid screens, and while he’s not quick, he’s quicker than Gasol.
In essence, he brings toughness, intangibles and a little more mobility inside, which is what the Bulls sorely want.
4. Nikola Mirotic (PF)
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Mirotic started last season badly but finished strong. One of the factors behind that might have been playing with Derrick Rose. According to NBAWowy.com, when Mirotic played with the former MVP, he averaged just 1.06 points per shot. But without Rose, that number climbed all the way to 1.18.
Thus, the Bulls’ offensive rating with Mirotic on and Rose off was 113.1, while it was only 104.2 with both players on the court together. By contrast, when Jimmy Butler was on the court with Mirotic but sans Rose, the Bulls’ offensive rating soared to 117.6.
So what could account for this?
First, “Threekola” hit 41.8 percent from deep on catch-and-shoots versus 17.2 percent on pull-ups, according to NBA.com. Second, 118 of his 135 threes came when he was open or wide open. While his percentages were fine when covered (17-of-39 with a defender within four feet), he just doesn’t take many contested shots. Third, when he released the ball within two seconds, he made 40.8 percent from deep. When he didn’t, he shot 19.2 percent.
All of this indicates that he relies on pass-oriented, intelligent point guard play. Adding Rondo should bring out the best in him.
3. Rajon Rondo (PG)
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Rajon Rondo's big red flag was his history of not getting along with coaches. One of the worries with Hoiberg in his rookie season as head coach was not winning over players.
Put those two together, and it raised a lot of eyebrows.
Oddly enough, it seems to be working out incredibly well. Nick Friedell of ESPN quotes Hoiberg:
""The biggest thing that I’ve been most impressed with with Rajon is the minute he stepped on this floor when he got back here in August is he pulled everybody together,” Hoiberg said.
“If you have a guy not only offensively getting you into something but defensively making sure guys are pointing and talking and getting back and matched up in transition, that’s where it starts. He’s been here. He’s been great. He’s a guy who you can watch film with in September before we got rolling here in camp. He got us off to a great start.”
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There’s a “so-crazy-it-just-might-work” element to this, with the soft-spoken Hoiberg imparting his offense to a brilliant point guard, who, feeling entrusted with that, might run it and be the on-court leader. Having a player who can understand its complexities and is willing to execute are two big improvements on last year.
Of course, this comes with a giant “it’s-just-preseason” caveat.
Everyone is happy in September.
Let’s see how things are going in December; discontent is always a fear with Rondo.
2. Dwyane Wade (SG)
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Wade comes to his hometown Chicago at the tail end of his career and after a bitter feud with his old Miami Heat. How much he has left in the tank will mean a lot.
But what he brings as a presumed future Hall of Famer is worth more, even past his prime.
Wade brings a culture change from the fractious episodes of last season, as he told The Athletic's Sean Highkin:
"“You talk about last year, but at the same time, last year doesn’t matter,” Wade said. “We have a different core, and I think our culture is fairly different. We have guys now, Rondo’s won a championship, I’ve won championships, we demand respect on the court. But we’ve got a lot of young guys as well, so they’ll listen. We’re not a team with a lot of veteran guys that are kind of stuck in their ways. They’re all ears, and that’s a good thing for this team right now."
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Wade will still contribute on the court—probably along the lines of the 19.0 points, 4.1 boards and 4.6 assists he averaged for the Miami Heat last year—but his greater impact comes from him just being a player that everyone in the locker room must respect.
1. Jimmy Butler (SF)
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Butler works on an area to improve every offseason. During 2014-15, he made a jump in scoring from 13.1 points to 20.0 and was named the league’s Most Improved Player. Last summer, he worked on his point guard skills and his assist percentage vaulted from 14.4 to 21.4 (up to 28.8 after the All-Star break).
This year, he seems to be working on leadership. His play for the Olympic team undoubtedly helped, and we’ve seen enough players pass through that experience and come back more mature. There are also the comments he made on media day, reported by CSNChicago.com.
"“I told Fred, ‘As much as you can, use me as an example,’” Butler said during the team’s media day on Monday.
“I want you to really get on my tail about every little thing because if Doug (McDermott) or Tony (Snell) or whoever it may be, if watching coach talk to me like that he’s going to be like ‘If he can talk to Jimmy like that I know he’s going to come at me a certain way.’ So that’s what I try to remind him everyday. I think he’s ready for that. I’m a player. I’m coachable like everybody else, but I want that. I need that.”
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There’s a big difference between that and last year’s comments. It’s the distinction between "coaching them harder" and "coaching me harder."
Butler is aware that he is the best player on the team. He’s also aware that if he takes the coaching, he’s setting a pattern for everyone else to follow, just as someone like Tim Duncan was known for doing. If this indicates Butler is making the same jump in leadership this year as he has in other areas before, it’s a very good thing for the Bulls.
All stats for this article were obtained from Basketball-Reference.com or NBA.com unless otherwise noted.
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