The Chicago Bulls completed their first leg of a pivotal offseason with the NBA draft. By the look of things, they did okay for themselves. Dalen Terry out of Arizona became the 18th overall pick. His strengths include a 6’7 frame and 7’1 wingspan, allowing him to be one of the better defenders in the class. He also possesses excellent court vision, making him a strong passer. While his scoring never stood out much, experts believe he can improve in that department. Considering how leaky the Bulls’ defense was last season, it’s not surprising that Arturas Karnisovas went in that direction.
The VP of Basketball operations explained that Terry is one part of a plan to help the team get better in that area. Terry comes across as a bigger version of Ayo Dosumu, somebody that can defend on the perimeter and plays energetic selfless basketball. The next step in the plan is obvious. Karnisovas explained during an interview with Mully & Haugh on 670 The Score. His goal is in two key areas.
“Another year playing together. Continuity, again. I think we’re going to address some things in free agency. We need to get bigger. We need some rim protection, we need some shooting. So we’re going to look to get better a little in free agency and see what our final product looks like.”
Arturas Karnisovas understands his team’s weaknesses well.
The Bulls had serious problems in the paint last year. Nikola Vucevic is a strong scoring presence on the offensive end, but he’s a borderline liability on the other end. Teams like Milwaukee and Miami took constant advantage of Chicago’s soft defense in the paint. For the season, the team allowed 49.3 points per game down low, ranking 22nd in the league. In addition, they had a hard time knocking down open 3-pointers all year. Despite 36.3% of their shot being from downtown, they ranked 29th in 3-pointers made for the season.
Some intriguing names can solve both of those issues expected to be available. For rim protection, players like Mo Bamba from Orlando and Mitchell Robinson from New York make sense. Both are ascending younger players with strong defensive identities. As for shooting, Malik Monk of the Lakers is a name to watch. Though his team was bad, the young guard averaged 39.1% shooting from long range. Arturas Karnisovas has already proven he’s a step ahead where free agency is considered.
He likely already has a plan in place and awaits the chance to execute it.
