Player Features

Sam Smith

The Bulls are not planning a video tribute Tuesday for LeBron James when he makes what will now become an annual appearance in Chicago with the Los Angeles Lakers. Perhaps in James’ final appearance for a player who never seems to age it will be voodoo doll night.

Because like Michael Jordan in the 90s when Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing and Karl Malone among others were denied opportunities for titles because of Jordan’s greatness, James more than anyone in the last decade has stood between the Bulls and their dreams, with Cleveland in 2010 and Miami in 2011 and 2013. Most of the most memorable games of the Bulls last decade involved James, and mostly unhappy memories.

Which is also why like it was for Jordan, especially in the last championship run in 1997-98 and his two seasons in Washington, LeBron’s denouement deserves an ongoing celebration.

I’ve said and written that There is No Next regarding Jordan, a player infinitely skilled and dominant, but equally impactful in society. Jordan’s emergence at the intersection of his basketball brilliance and society’s acceptance and desire for such a commercial spokesman and model likely cannot be duplicated. James has been influential off the basketball court, though not to Jordan’s extent. And it long will be debated how his play compares with Jordan’s.

And though there’s always someone to come along who does something so unexpected, we likely will never see anyone again like the sinewy 6-8, 275-pound James with that alchemy of potent body and probing mind that helped produce a golden era for the game.

James’ presence as he starts a four-year contract with the Lakers at 34 years old is just beginning to eclipse the great achievements of the game. James last week passed Jordan on the all-time scoring list and probably will get to No. 1 some day. Ahead of Wilt and Kareem, to go where no one has gone before, or generally dared consider.

It seems inconceivable in this developing era of the sport with moderation of the body and not so much in payroll that anyone again will even try to play that much and that long at this level.

“He’s the best still, in my opinion,” Zach LaVine, who remains questionable for Tuesday with knee soreness, said after Bulls practice Monday. “He’s just a stat breaker. He’s having a career year almost right now, just in the way he’s scoring the ball and his rebounds and assists. His percentages are still the same. Dude is a freak. He dunks on the same amount of people still. He’s shooting the three-ball way better. He pulls up from like 35 feet every other game. He’s a freak of nature.”

James’ Lakers are something of a freak show as well, though with not such a kindly connotation.

The Lakers are 30-36, about seven games out of the last Western Conference playoff spot and in 11th place. They have almost no chance to make the playoffs with now an abundance of injuries. Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, their main young core from last season, are out for the season injured. Kyle Kuzma may return Tuesday. But the Lakers already are talking about cutting James’ playing time as a result.

Even as James averages 27.1 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.1 assists. Somewhat dismissed because of the Lakers’ record, though not in media conversation, James is tied for his best season rebounding, his fourth best in assists and second best scoring season in the last nine years.

The Lakers were in reasonable playoff position in late December when James was injured. He didn’t return until early February, and then with the team slipping he apparently decided to gamble by trying to persuade Anthony Davis to force a trade. It didn’t work, his teammates apparently disconnected, and the Lakers have lost their last five games and seven of eight.

Remember, Jordan didn’t come close to the playoffs in two seasons with the Wizards.

It did little to dim his legacy or inhibit the jubilation fans felt both in giving thanks for past excitement and being able one more time to experience being in his presence. To be able to say years from then that you were there.

That’s often what sports and much human experience is about.

I once went to see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre and it looked OK. But it was really small and lots of people were milling around it and hardly any of the other paintings because, well, it was something to say we saw. Like being at that playoff football game in four degrees sitting in the upper deck end zone. “Yeah, I was there!” This is that time with LeBron because he’s not coming back too many more times.

I remember when he was a rookie after ESPN had devoted most of its programing the previous year to his high school games. It became a big deal, so The Chicago Tribune sent me to Sacramento to see his first game (I’m taking a moment while I dab my eyes in remembrance of the newspaper industry.)

OK, it was the Kings — and I don’t think he was calling himself the king quite yet — but that high school team of his was some minor class team so he could play with his buddies. You’re playing against Olmsted Falls and Beavercreek and then you’re in the NBA. So let’s see. Talk about pressure and everyone waiting (and wanting?) for you to fail. And he supposedly couldn’t shoot. And this still was a pretty good Kings team with Peja, Vlade, Doug Christie and Mike Bibby.

So LeBron leads his team with 25 points and nine assists, and they had Carlos Boozer and Ilgauskas, makes 12 of 20 shots, mostly jumpers. Then goes to Phoenix the next night and almost gets a triple with 21 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

I remember doing an interview show not long after that with Sonny Vaccaro, the sneaker/huckster legend. He’d had a split with Nike, so I assumed he was upset. He said James would be better than Jordan and certainly score more than Jordan ever did. I did some big time pooh poohing.

I was there when James scored those 25 consecutive points against a champion Pistons team in the conference finals and that playoff buzzer beater against the Bulls in 2015 that was the Derrick Rose team’s last act.

He didn’t make the playoffs his first two seasons, but when he got there he never left. James had a triple double in his first playoff game with 32 points and though everyone points to the remarkable eight consecutive Finals appearances, in 239 playoff games he averaged 42 minutes per game, almost 45 per game his first seven years. And for a guy who was not supposed to be a scorer but a Magic Johnson/Scottie Pippen type facilitator, James has averaged just under 30 points his playoff career.

James perhaps most reflected the icon of the era in a similarly polarizing manner. He was castigated for leaving Cleveland, and then for returning; well, at least by Pat Riley. His peccadilloes were held up to a magnifying glass, and sometimes he missed the reflection in the mirror. Yet, he’s been one of the more gracious and accommodating athletes to media in his era, seemingly a devoted friend and family man and a model of competitive aspiration.

It’s likely he won’t win a championship again. It’s hard and it takes a long time. You never doubt it with the all-time elite, and the plan remains open, supported by the equally optimistic Magic Johnson, that the Lakers can attract a top star free agent, make a big trade, and LeBron leads them back there for one more as Wilt did at the end, Kareem and Kobe, too. You never say never with the best.

But this is starting to feel like a last long red carpet, still in the spotlight but with that final act starting to come into focus. It’s a good time to still enjoy it while we can.

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LeBron James - There Likely Will Be No Next

It’s unlikely anyone had an Otto Porter Jr. highlight or favorite memory when the Bulls acquired the 25-year-old veteran Feb. 7 for likable Bobby Portis and Jabari Parker.

But as the Bulls 2:30 p.m. Sunday resume the extended matters with the Atlanta Hawks after Friday’s historic quadruple overtime victory, the acquisition of the Bulls Big O is looking like, for now, it could become one of the most significant trades in franchise history.

“We started playing for each other and we started winning,” Porter said the other day about his new team. “Of course you’re going to start having fun. Once I got here, I wanted to spread my knowledge of the game, bring my winning attitude to this team as far as being a leader and just a player. And for me being able to adjust my game to the style of play and the different coaching staff and the players. They welcomed me with open arms and open mindedness. So I was able to just share my attitude for the game and my love for the game. I’m going to always continue to be better no matter where I am. I want to continue to work on all my craft.

“I’ve always known what I can do,” Porter says. “It’s just a matter of opportunity where I can be showcased. This is a great opportunity for me to show my knowledge and love for the game with this organization.”

Yes, so is everyone else, including probably Porter’s former coach, Scott Brooks. Brooks always had high regard for Porter, for whom the Wizards matched a free agent offer in 2017 from Brooklyn. But even when the Bulls and Washington Wizards played just a few days after the trade, Brooks admitted it was difficult to get Porter to be more aggressive.

Though Brooks didn’t say so, the image of Porter in six NBA seasons mostly has been standing in the right baseline corner waiting for a pass from John Wall or watching Bradley Beal trying to get the ball away from John Wall.

Porter, a genial sort from rural southern Missouri, has hardly been phlegmatic with the Bulls. He sent Friday’s game into overtime with three pressure free throws with four tenths of a second left and finished the game with 31 points and 10 rebounds, including seven of 13 threes as the Bulls set franchise records with 21 of 48 threes.

It was Porter’s second game of at least 30 points in the last five, including the one he was hurt against Boston and played just 14 scoreless minutes. Porter is averaging 19.8 points and 7.5 rebounds with the Bulls while shooting an impressive 52 percent on threes with at least six attempts per game.

The Bulls are 6-2 in games Porter has played and 6-3 overall since the trade, though 18-45 overall. In those nine games, the Bulls, a team last in offense most of the season and 26th last season, are first in the league in scoring at 121.1 per game. They're sixth in overall shooting and making threes. Though the Bulls are giving up about 119 points per game. Hey, it's an offensive league now!

The Wizards are 3-5 since the trade, and in the last six games Portis and Parker have combined to score 131 points. The supposedly reticent Porter has scored 123 in that same stretch, and that includes the scoreless game in 14 minutes against Boston.

Though perhaps more significantly has been Porter’s impact on his teammates, especially Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine.

Porter’s presence as a feared three-point shooter who can make plays has forced the defense to concentrate less on Markkanen and LaVine. Since the trade, Markkanen is averaging 25.7 points per game and LaVine is averaging 27.3. That’s a trio averaging more than 70 points per game.

It’s barely a month since the trade, so it’s too soon to begin considering championship rally plans. But it also suggests it was perhaps appropriate to make a peremptory strike for a quality player rather than waiting until summer when so many teams will be making NBA free agency look like the New York stock exchange floor. Plus, players will be coming off the market, like Milwaukee’s Eric Bledsoe did last week with a contract extension.

The Bulls historically have made many of their most significant trades as draft time transactions, like the moves for Scottie Pippen and Joakim Noah. The trade of Will Perdue for Dennis Rodman in 1995 was perhaps the most consequential. But it was more similar to a waiver move as Rodman had made himself off limits to most of the NBA with his destructive antics in San Antonio. The Bill Cartwright acquisition for Charles Oakley filled out the championship roster, though Cartwright was more of a defensive role player then.

The Bulls 2009 midseason acquisition of John Salmons appeared to be meaningful when the Bulls made a run to the playoffs and the memorable seven-game series with Boston. But Salmons’ effectiveness waned quickly and he was traded the following season. Stacey King for Luc Longley?

Probably the most significant additions in franchise history were the separate early 1970s trades for Norm Van Lier, Bob Love and Chet Walker that built a conference finals team and perennial contenders for five years. Though some will say the Reggie Theus trade in 1984 for Steve Johnson was the best because it enabled the Bulls to become bad enough to get the No. 3 draft pick and Michael Jordan. So you think the 76ers invented tanking?

Too much happens in a basketball game to reconsider in the moment. And then a team plays four overtime periods.

There were hustle plays, some defense from Wayne Selden and offense from Shaquille Harrison and a Timothy Luwawu-Cabarrot sighting on a fast break in a 13-2 late third quarter run that opened up the Bulls biggest lead of a game with 22 lead changes and seven ties.

Though had there only been regulation, a part of the story would have been the play of Kris Dunn. He was having his best shooting game of the season with three of five three pointers. He fouled out in the first overtime with almost an entire game played after that. But through three quarters he seemed his most energetic and engaged since scoring 24 points in a December win in San Antonio.

Dunn was playing up aggressively on Trae Young or shooter Kevin Huerter. He was back in his new rotation joining the reserves to start the second quarter and driving the ball into the paint. The Hawks are good at driving and swinging the ball to search out threes while Dunn was a big part of the Bulls third quarter 10-0 start that gave the Bulls a lead. He also wasn’t hesitating on his shot. That is until the fourth quarter when he began to play more deliberately and more cautiously on offense.

Though Dunn often wears a mask of inscrutability, there’s been so much speculation and discussion about the point guard position he undoubtedly understands he probably is under the most scrutiny these last 19 games.

Though for the Bulls these days, it’s mostly their version of the Ottonian renaissance.

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What Has Otto Porter Jr. Brought to the Bulls?

It’s unfortunate the Bulls play just one game before the trade deadline this week, Wednesday in the United Center against the New Orleans Pelicans. Because then it gives everyone too much time to think and perhaps worry, though Robin Lopez says none of that really troubles him.

“I’m just going out there, particularly defensively I am trying to help my teammates,” Lopez said. “I am trying to get my guys open with screens and such. No thoughts on the (Thursday) trade deadline, honestly.”

I believe the 11-year veteran in the final season of a four-year contract with the Bulls, which also is one big reason why his name has been mentioned in trade speculation. The other reason is the growing narrative around the NBA that a player like Lopez is a dinosaur, a lumbering seven footer who doesn’t much shoot three pointers and isn’t particularly adept at switching on screen/roll, the basic defensive philosophy of most NBA teams these days.

So as the Bulls were concluding their three-game road trip last week, I asked Lopez about being a dinosaur. Though, more specifically: If he were a dinosaur, which dinosaur would he be?

Lopez brightened with that inquiry since after a decade in the NBA he’s heard all the questions he wants to hear and responded mostly dryly and out of habit.

But the best part is Lopez didn’t have to hesitate much at all.

Which is another reason why players like Robin Lopez are more valuable than they appear as an object in a rear view mirror. And why even as some believe his species is growing extinct, you might want to wait before you begin to dig for the bones of this 275-pound seven-footer.

“What kind of a dinosaur am I?” Lopez repeated, his eyes widening with curiosity. “I guess something like a triceratops,” Lopez answered. "A triceratops is not too dynamic, but has a little strength. Some horns, will gore you kind of a little bit.”

Something more colossal? I wondered. Which also tells you that you may not be missing much in these media/player conversations.

“Would not want to be a T-Rex with the short arms,” Lopez said. "I have some visible gifts.”

As for the triceratops comparison by Lopez, it was a slam dunk.

The triceratops is that horn-faced dinosaur that somewhat resembles a modern rhinoceros. Sort of the ancient version of Lopez since the triceratops’ horns were believed to have been mainly used as a defensive weapon. It was a bulky creature, faster than you expected and equally dangerous.

Somewhat like the fierce, defensive-oriented Bulls center whom the team basically has been trying to replace for the last two years, and who keeps coming back because he’s not as obsolete as it’s seemed.

“He impacted the game the other night,” Bulls coach Jim Boylen noted about the Bulls victory in Miami. “He protected the rim, caught the ball in the pocket and made plays. His size was very important against (Hassan) Whiteside. When he was out of the game, Whiteside was dominating in the second quarter. When we put him back in, for whatever reason, we got the game back under control. He blocked two shots at the rim and he is a big body that matches up good with a big body.

“Rolo is a professional, a wonderful person, well liked by his teammates and I feel like Bulls across his chest means a lot to him,” said Boylen. “I feel he’s having a good season for what I am asking him to do and his role. Where he might start and not finish the game or he might play eight minutes and not play again or might play another eight minutes, he’s ready to play, respectful and for me he’s having a good season.”

So why so quick to move on from Lopez? not that the Bulls ever have said they are or intend to, at least for now.

It’s just that with an expiring contract, the belief the team has to move on with young players (Lopez will be 31 in April), top draft pick Wendell Carter Jr. a center with Cristiano Felicio under contact two more seasons and the possibility of obtaining a draft pick in return, Lopez often is asked about the upcoming trading deadline.

Though it’s nothing unusual for a player with his fifth team. Been there, experienced that.

But there’s perhaps more value to Lopez than the naked eye can see, and for the Bulls, too. The Miami/Whiteside experience was a good example.

Without Lopez, the Bulls aren’t very big at center. Felicio has mostly been out of the rotation. Carter is hurt and out for the rest of the season. But at 6-10 he has had difficulties with the taller centers. Likewise, the Bulls have tried Bobby Portis, who isn’t a particularly big rebounder and also about 6-10. Seven footer Lauri Markkanen isn’t strong or physical enough against the league’s big centers.

And there are many more of them than the conventional wisdom suggested the last few years.

The NBA dream in recent seasons modeled on the successful Golden State Warriors was this so called “positionless” basketball where a team would have five players all about 6-7 or 6-8 who would switch every screen and thus remain in defensive position, all to shoot threes and rebound and run. Having three of the best three-point shooters in NBA history made them something of an exception. And then in the middle of all this perfect scenario came guys like Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan and a heck of a lot more of these talented ultrasaurus types. They were free to romp over the smaller guys unless someone were in their way, like perhaps a bony, hard edged physical triceratops type.

There is a place for players like Robin Lopez.

“By players like me, I assume you mean exceedingly well rounded players off the court,” said Lopez when asked if his type has disappeared. “There’s always going to be a place for those kinds of players. The pendulum swings a little bit, but as long as you are an intelligent player, have some skill down there, I think you’ll be OK.

“I think the game evolves,” Lopez added. “I think there will always be a place. Who knows how players are going to develop in the future? I work on developing my own game. So hopefully in the next few years I’ll be taking more three pointers; so who knows. There are a lot of young, dominant centers in the league, not a dearth at all. So I think there always is going to be a role for those kinds of players.”

But, I protested, what about what everybody is saying?

“You don’t go into a battle of wits with people unarmed,” Lopez warned.

Lopez has also been the remarkably good teammate and team member the last two seasons, benched last season to perhaps make way for the young talent, and then again to start this season when then coach Fred Hoiberg wanted to play a more free flowing style. But with injuries and need, Lopez found his way back in and again as a starter. And in an ever more important role, like the game in Miami.

Lopez plays with passion and enthusiasm. He may play with more joy than any of his younger teammates. He still engages the hostile team mascot. He leads the team in technical fouls, refusing to accept blatant inequality and injustice. He’s something of the Bulls George Washington, first in war, first in peace and in the hearts of his teammates.

Lopez is averaging a seven-year low 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds this season as he’s been rotated in and out of the rotation. But since his last benching in Los Angeles in January, the bearded and shaggy haired iconoclast is averaging in the last nine games 7.8 points and 4.9 rebounds in about 19 minutes per game. He is shooting 56 percent and with 1.2 blocks per game. He also made a three. Plus, he’s scored at least 13 points three times with 17 points against Denver All-Star Nikola Jokic.

Lopez has become in some respects a vital last line of defense against a growing number of physical seven footers around the NBA. If you have to face the tyrannosaurus types that roam the NBA landscape, it helps to have your own version of the triceratops. They’re not all fossils quite yet.

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Are Players Like Robin Lopez Really Becoming Extinct in Today's NBA?

Sometimes these days you almost think of Lauri Markkanen wearing a long sleeve polo shirt with horizontal red and white stripes, a stocking cap and glasses. You know, like where’s Vallu? Where’s Waldo?

“Got to look in the mirror at myself and how can I do better,” Markkanen was saying Thursday after Bulls practice at Portland State U. “It starts with that. If there are times guys don’t find me, they will find me once I am more aggressive; it can be a little bit of both. It is still a new system and the sample size is not too big. We are all trying to stay positive and keep an open mind.”

The Bulls certainly will need that - or at least a closed memory of the 92-point first half beating they took in November — with Friday’s game against the Golden State Warriors. The Bulls at 10-31 are coming off a late fade in Wednesday’s loss in Portland. It was a big game for Wendell Carter Jr. with 22 points, but another mystery about the whereabouts of Markkanen, who was sixth on the team in scoring and attempted just two more shots than Antonio Blakeney.

“I think it takes time,” said the unflappable Markkanen. “We work on it everyday. There are games I get the ball a lot and there are games I don’t. But I try to control what I can control, which is to play defense and do my best on that end of the court. I know the offense will follow. It hasn’t been consistent yet, but I am sure it will come.”

It’s not like Markkanen is having a bad season except for, well, being injured for 10 weeks. Which may have something to do with some offensive sputters.

“In fairness to him, I think its safe to say that thing isn’t 100 percent yet,” said Bulls coach Jim Boylen. “Is he close? Yeah. It’s got to stick in his mind. That was a very serious injury; that’s a very painful injury. It’s going to take some time. But we still have him try to play the right way, be aggressive and handle his moments.”

Markkanen isn’t having a poor season, even if it started so late.

He is averaging 17 points and 7.3 rebounds and shooting 39 percent on threes. In 68 games as a rookie last season, he averaged 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 36 percent on threes.

But the concern, though not serious quite yet, is Markkanen is regarded as perhaps the primary core player in the Bulls rebuild, a grateful seven footer with a picture shooting stroke, a seeming mismatch nightmare with size and elusiveness. So perhaps attempting 12 shots in one game like in Portland is an outlier. But since Markkanen had back to back 30-plus scoring games just before Christmas, he’s scored 20 points just once in seven games and is averaging fewer points in January compared with during his return in December.

Of course, defenses are going to focus on Markkanen when the Bulls are playing such non scoring options as Chandler Hutchison, Ryan Arcidiacono and Shaw Harrison.

But often Markkanen is seen standing around on the perimeter and going long stretches without being a primary feature of the offense. No one, especially Markkanen, thinks anyone is avoiding him. And everyone is trying to adapt to a new offensive system focused more on playing inside/out and driving the ball.

Having a varied offense is a fine concept in theory, but most teams seem to want their best players taking most of the shots. Especially the way Markkanen shoots.

Though part of the problem, if you can call it that, rests with Markkanen because he is too good a teammate. He has this quaint notion about passing to an open teammate. Which sounds fine in principle, though we often see those open teammates pass up those shots because they don’t shoot them so well.

“I saw something about green light,” Markkanen said with a laugh. “I have to talk to coach about that, but I’d rather have plays where I get good shots rather than trying to force something up. I think it all starts from being aggressive and getting to my spots, try to make the right basketball plays. Whatever it is to make the team better that’s how I’ve been as long as I can remember. I’d rather take those good shots and make the team better that way.”

Concepts which haven’t generally filtered down to the likes of James Harden, Russell Westbrook and most of the top scorers in the NBA.

It’s principled to be a good teammate. But sometimes you have to be a little selfish for the good of your team.

Which seems to be the dilemma for Markkanen, who grew up doing the right thing instead of what sometimes is considered the NBA thing.

Not that your Dunn and LaVine and Carter and Portis are just faces in a crowd of Whitebeards, Wendas and Wilmas. They need to stand out in their way and all have this season.

Markkanen is just 21, and as Boylen noted with injuries basically just finishing one full NBA season of games. But he also is too good and too talented, and much too good a shooter and scorer, to often be lost among them.

“We saw that a few weeks ago when he had those big games and people have adjusted,” Boylen noted. “We have to adjust again; he has to adjust. He’s a huge part of what we are doing and where we are going and we need to help him and he needs to help himself and we need to play better when he’s out there.

“I talk to him about where we are today and getting better,” said Boylen. “I am sure there’s some of that (disappointment about this season). We’re all human. But we have to keep pushing forward and he has to be ready to play (Friday) and be ready to have his best performance of the year and the next game have the same thing.”

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Markkanen Still Finding His Offensive Feet in Disjointed Sophomore Season

Being ranked No. 430 isn’t bad when it’s a list of the brightest people in the country or the most popular cheeses in Wisconsin. But when it’s the NBA list of real plus/minus, it’s not so good. Because there are a lot of people in the country and a lot of cheese in Wisconsin. But only 430 rated players in the NBA, and going into the week the Bulls’ Jabari Parker was rated No. 430.

No, not really. After all, that real plus/minus is one of those suspect all encompassing ratings of impact on the game. It’s from ESPN and only compiled once there are enough games as the NBA heads to the one quarter mark. It does take numbers from the reliably statistical basketball-reference. Though you do know it’s said there are three types of lies: Common lies, damn lies and statistics. Like the baseball manager once said his statistics people will explain to him that if you have one foot in an oven and one in an ice bucket you should be fine. Analytics, of course, has become the manual of sports. And the talk at the upcoming baseball meetings is to speed the game they plan just to have MBAs read from spreadsheets on the field, thus also reducing admission costs.

So we’ll accept that Parker is not the worst player in the NBA as the Bulls Friday prepare to host the Miami Heat. And off his 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in Wednesday’s Bulls win over the Phoenix Suns, you figure he has to at least have gone up to No. 420.

But could Jabari Parker really be a keeper? Could Parker become that steal every team seeks? This riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma who is a diamond in the rough? That’s perhaps more cliches than he uses.

While much of the Bulls recent personnel calculation is about the return of Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn and Bobby Portis to team with Zach LaVine, et al, Parker could be entering the conversation. He is now averaging 15.2 points, second to LaVine, along with 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

But it’s been more what he just did than what he had done.

With Parker, an excellent rebounder, often taking the ball off the backboard and pushing the ball or throwing ahead, the Bulls offense Wednesday was better than it has been in weeks. The Bulls had 19 fast break points against the Suns, a season best 124 points on 56.8 percent shooting and Parker efficient with just 10 field goal attempts and eight of 10 free throws.

“We can get better,” said the generally terse Parker. “That’s what I’m looking forward to. Things went well for us; most importantly we got the win.”

Parker’s play has often been disappointing and despite just 18 games, the thought was becoming that Parker’s stay would be short since he had just a one-year guarantee. Of course, there’s the question of where he plays with the eventual return from injury of power forwards Markkanen and Portis, the latter a restricted free agent. Parker isn’t a top defender, or probably not even average. But few are in this wide open NBA, and there are not going to be many available free agents who can average close to 20 points like Parker. At 6-8 and 250 pounds, he is an excellent shooter adept at handling the ball in the open court, which is vital and widely pursued in this so called positionless era.

“He causes a mismatch because he’s quick and he can shoot the ball,” noted LaVine after the Suns game. “So whenever I’m in a ball screen with him, he gets a smaller guard on him in the switch and he can take him in the post or face up a bigger dude and beat him off the dribble. He causes mismatches out there. They are going to have to double eventually and that’s what they started doing and he started making plays for us in transition.

“He got the old man game,” LaVine said with a laugh. “But he’s athletic, big hands, explosive and strong when he gets to the basket. He was extremely explosive and he’s starting to get that back again. We were in the same draft. He was the No.1 player in the country, him and Andrew Wiggins going back and forth. I was top 50, I think, but we all went to same camps. He was a man among boys (with that) same size going down the lane and rising above people.”

Parker’s begun to do that with regularity, more out of the post in those mismatches, but also like against the Suns with a full court fast break drive for a slam dunk. After all, Parker is playing for less than a year since his return from a second ACL knee surgery. Plus, he was targeted to play small forward for the Bulls until both Markkanen and Portis were hurt and then began starting at power forward after moving from starting small forward to backup power forward.

It was a lot of change in a short amount of time.

“It’s a whole new team, a whole new system, new players, new coaching staff; it takes time,” reminded LaVine. “Everything is not going to be perfect right away. You are going to go through some ups and downs. We all know how good Jabari is. He’s always been one of the top young players in the league. He had the injury just like I did during his best year when he was averaging 20. It’s tough to get back to that position; it’s a lot of hard work. So I know mentally, just coming from that injury his mental state is above most out there to get back to the player he is. He’s getting his rhythm and we’re starting to understand him and he’s understanding us.”

How about a 6-8 wing and post player who has three-point range and ball handling and playmaking abilities, a 23-year-old five-year veteran who was a former top two draft pick? Could the Bulls use a player like that?

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Quick, Athletic, Explosive & Strong - Jabari Parker

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