Assessing the Indiana Pacers’ Divisional opponents: Chicago Bulls

Let’s continue to check in on some of the Indiana Pacers divisional opponents. In this edition, we examine the Chicago Bulls.

In our first edition of this series, we broke down how the Indiana Pacers matched up with the Milwaukee Bucks. In this installment, let’s check in on the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago Bulls

The Bulls are a tough team to wrap your head around. Their roster is weird, their situation is weird, and their outlook is weird. Chicago won only 27 games last season, they were deep in the taking race that was the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The current Bulls roster has a similar makeup to that of last season but some key additions and subtractions will make a big difference in 2018.

Drafting Wendell Carter Jr. with the seventh pick in the NBA draft was an excellent move. He isn’t the flashiest prospect, but he does so much well, enough to have him ranked above Marvin Bagley on my personal board. He is a smart player, an excellent defender and rebounder, a refined post scorer, and a solid three-point shooter. His excellent defense will compliment breakout second-year player Lauri Markkanen‘s skill set well. Chandler Hutchison was an excellent value pick at 22. He’s a four year veteran with an all-around game, he will be an asset for Chicago on both sides of the ball.

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Chicago matched the Sacramento King’s four-year, $72M offer sheet for Zach LaVine. I’m impartial on this contract. If LaVine can return to his form during his last season in Minnesota, he’d be an excellent offensive option for the Bulls. He is athletic and scores well but struggles on defense and isn’t yet a capable playmaker. Meeting that value will be hard, but it is certainly possible.

The Jabari Parker contract is intriguing. His two-year, $40M deal with a team option on year two is nothing like the deal I expected Parker to find himself signing. Due to his injury concerns, I expected Parker to look for a deal with more long-term security in the $15-$18M range. Parker makes a very solid $20M this year, which will only be justified if Parker can stay healthy. His 20.1 point, 6.2 rebounds 2016-17 season showed us how talented a scorer he can really be. However, a multitude of detrimental injuries has hurt his value. If Parker plays well in 2019, the Bulls can accept his team option. If not, they can let him walk and not take any hit next offseason. It’s a very team friendly deal for a talented player.

I question the Bulls letting go of David Nwaba and Jerian Grant. Both were cheap, solid bench players who provided excellent defense and energy.

Chicago’s projected rotation looks something like this:

PG: Kris Dunn/Cameron Payne

SG: Zach LaVine/Justin Holiday/Antonio Blakeney

SF: Jabari Parker/Chandler Hutchison/Denzel Valentine

PF: Lauri Markkanen/Wendell Carter Jr/Bobby Portis

C: Robin Lopez/Cristiano Felicio/Omer Asik

Hopefully, Fred Hoiberg will play Carter and Markkanen together for stretches. It would be great for the future of the Bulls, but this lineup could prove to be problematic defensively; leading to my coining of this Bulls team as “Nuggets North.” Kris Dunn is a great defensive point guard and Carter will defend well eventually but opposing wings will dice up Chicago.

If the Bulls want to start all of their best players, Jabari Parker will have to play the three. This will create a bevy of problems, as Parker leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive side of the ball.

Parker’s lack of effort is on full display here. After a Parker turnover, he fails to acknowledge the gravity of a fast break situation. His man, Aaron Gordon, is one of the most athletic players in the NBA and easily blows by the lagging Parker, scoring an easy and-one. Parker resorts to fouling here after being beat, to no avail. Indiana loves to run in transition and can easily exploit Parker’s lack of effort off of turnovers:

Here’s a case of Parker not knowing who his assignment is in semi-transition. Every man is clearly marked, with Parker being responsible for Justin Anderson. Inexplicably, Parker overhelps in the paint, looking clueless as to what he needs to be doing. The trailing Anderson nets a three off of Parker’s lapse:

On the flip side, Parker under helps here. I understand that nobody wants to check LeBron James barreling to the rim, but he needs to recognize that Thon Maker is beat and he needs to step up and stop the ball. He is unaware that Tony Snell has Parker’s man covered and he is free to help at the rim, and he rotates way too late:

Parker gets caught ball watching here, his eyes stuck on the Valentine pick-and-roll. He has two feet in the paint when Markkanen catches the ball and can’t do anything to contest the wide open triple:

Miscommunications kill Parker in pick-and-roll defense. Thon Maker sinks back to contain James, assuming Parker will go over the screen. Parker goes under and gives James a free straight line drive. This play is the fault of both Parker and Maker, as Maker does nothing to cover for Parker’s mistake. Still, this is poor defense.

Exploiting Parker in the pick and roll will be key for the Indiana Pacers. The ideal pick and roll duo for the Pacers to attack would be the Parker-Markkanen combo. The lack of athleticism and defensive IQ there should make for easy buckets for Victor Oladipo on drives and all of Indiana’s bigs on rolls. Playing Chandler Hutchison more minutes than Parker would help Chicago’s defensive woes, but, despite all of my angry letters, the chances of that seem slim.

Defending Lauri Markkanen will be a priority for Indiana, making Thaddeus Young’s play at a premium whenever Indiana and Chicago match up. Markkanen had an electric rookie season, averaging 15.2 points per game on 36.2% from deep. He is an excellent three-point threat and scores in a multitude of ways.

Markkanen is a deadly pick-and-pop threat and commands respect. Victor Oladipo rightfully runs Markkanen off of the three-point line here, but the Finnish giant has great footwork and attacks the closeout well. Despite his lack of functional strength, Markkanen finishes strong over Myles Turner:

The Bulls commonly get Markkanen open three-point shots as a trailer after the inbound. The Grant-Lopez PNR sucks Thaddeus Young in, allowing Robin Lopez to back screen him, freeing up Markkanen for a wide open three on the trail. Young, or any Pacer defender, must be conscious of Markkanen’s whereabouts at all times:

Markkanen’s 32 points guard against Indiana last December should be enough of a wake-up call for the Pacers to contain him well every night. If they don’t, they could get burned.

The Bulls’ season could go a few ways. Anywhere from 20-40 wins seems feasible. Vegas has the Bulls at 30 wins, but I believe they will be a near 35-win team. Using plenty of pick and roll offense and a fast pace, the Indiana Pacers should be able to put up points on the Bulls with relative ease, though, making this matchup a good one for Indiana. Defending their multitude of offensive weapons will be the key to winning their matchups against the club from the Windy City.