{"id":97379,"date":"2024-09-24T10:51:55","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T14:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=97379"},"modified":"2024-09-24T10:51:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T14:51:55","slug":"solving-bulls-zach-lavine-coby-white-josh-giddey-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/24\/solving-bulls-zach-lavine-coby-white-josh-giddey-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Solving Bulls\u2019 Zach LaVine-Coby White-Josh Giddey Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls find themselves in a pickle after trading for Josh Giddey<\/a> and failing to move Zach LaVine<\/a>. However, the issue isn\u2019t between those two, who should mesh well offensively.<\/p>\n

Giddey, an intuitive playmaker, is the type of facilitator that the Bulls lacked without Lonzo Ball. LaVine is an All-Star-caliber scorer and upper echelon outside shooter. Together, they balance each other out. Chicago doesn\u2019t have to rely on LaVine\u2019s decision-making too much. They don\u2019t have to hope Giddey is on a heater.<\/p>\n

The problem is that, after his eye-opening 2023-24 campaign, the Bulls have to find out the best way to utilize Coby White<\/a>. Should he start between Giddey and LaVine, despite the defensive concerns? Should he start over LaVine, though he\u2019s not as effective a scorer?<\/p>\n

Solving Bulls\u2019 Zach LaVine-Coby White-Josh Giddey Conundrum<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s a hypothetical depth chart \u2014<\/p>\n

PG: Josh Giddey, Lonzo Ball*, Jevon Carter\r\n\r\nSG: Zach LaVine, Coby White, Chris Duarte*, Onuralp Bitim\r\n\r\nSF: Ayo Dosunmu, Torrey Craig, Dalen Terry\r\n\r\nPF: Patrick Williams, Matas Buzelis, Julian Phillips\r\n\r\nC: Nikola Vucevic, Jalen Smith<\/pre>\n
Looking at this, one issue sticks out like a broken thumb.<\/p>\n
At center, the Bulls don\u2019t seem to have enough depth. Even when considering that Adama Sanogo<\/a> is on a two-way contract, it\u2019s a bit disconcerting. The plan might be to move Nikola Vucevic<\/a> down the line, but to do so without adding another center would be foolhardy. Lastly, because Matas Buzelis<\/a> is 6-foot-10 and arguably their best shot-blocker, he may play up in the event of an injury to Vucevic or Jalen Smith<\/a>.<\/p>\n
In the end, the center depth is an issue that the front office needs to fix. There\u2019s nothing that Bulls head coach Billy Donovan can really do to fortify it. However, the rest of the depth chart looks fine.<\/p>\n
Patrick Williams<\/a> isn\u2019t living up to the expectations of a top-five draft pick. He doesn\u2019t put enough pressure on the defense, with a career average of 9.7 points per game. Regardless, he\u2019s an excellent 3-and-D player who will play a much needed role when he returns from injury. Until then, expect the dynamic but somewhat raw Buzelis to see plenty of floor time.<\/p>\n
Buzelis could very well start alongside Williams. As another lottery pick, that may even be the Bulls\u2019 hope for him. With his defensive upside, he and Williams would definitely make a difference at that end. Yet, with two starting guards who\u2019ll need the ball in their hands, they need a better catch-and-shoot option.<\/p>\n
In that event, Ayo Dosunmu<\/a> could be the best choice, as he\u2019s made at least 37 percent of his 3s in two of the three seasons he\u2019s played. Torrey Craig<\/a> has made over 39 percent of his 3s in back-to-back seasons. Nonetheless, he\u2019s a career 35.3 percent 3-point shooter. On top of that, Dosunmu is a more promising scorer and better playmaker, but willingly accepts any role.<\/p>\n
Ball may be healthy and available<\/a> when the season starts. It at least sounds like the Bulls sound like they\u2019re willing to give the floor general one last chance to resurrect his career in Chicago. Still, if he\u2019s too rusty or his body fails him again, Jevon Carter<\/a> is a decent point guard who can backup Giddey.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the shooting guard corps.<\/p>\n
A Unit Is About The Whole<\/h3>\n
LaVine, as previously stated, is one of the better wings in the NBA. For all the talk about his play style and whether his numbers translate to wins, he\u2019s undeniably similar to Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker<\/a>. To that point, the biggest difference between Booker now and back when his ability to turn stats into wins was constantly questioned is his supporting cast.<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t to say that he, nor LaVine, has been completely devoid of star-caliber teammates. However, those pieces still have to fit. In LaVine\u2019s case, stacking him with two iffy defenders in Vucevic and DeMar DeRozan<\/a> was simply not a shrewd move. Now that the Bulls have multiple frontcourt players with defensive upside<\/a>, his fortunes might change.<\/p>\n
White may not be happy about another role change, that\u2019s true. After the way he played in 2023-24, he might have even been expecting to start, whether at the 1 or 2. Yet, his play style, strengths, and weaknesses are all that of an archetypal sixth man.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a streaky shooter. He\u2019s a so-so facilitator. He doesn\u2019t even have a true position, as he\u2019s more of a combo of hybrid guard. Yet, he wants the ball in his hands. So, while he\u2019s more reliable than LaVine defensively, he\u2019s not a better fit in the first unit holistically.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Chicago Bulls find themselves in a pickle after trading for Josh Giddey and failing to move Zach LaVine. However, the issue isn\u2019t between those two, who should mesh well offensively. Giddey, an intuitive playmaker, is the type of facilitator that the Bulls lacked without Lonzo Ball. LaVine is an All-Star-caliber scorer and upper echelon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":97386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1608,62],"tags":[1782,4276,49148,457],"class_list":["post-97379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bulls","category-basketball","category-nba","tag-coby-white","tag-josh-giddey","tag-matas-buzelis","tag-zach-lavine"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}