Getty Wendell Carter Jr. goes for a loose ball in a March 12 game against the Miami Heat.
With the NBA’s trade deadline fast approaching, it’s the most inopportune time for the Chicago Bulls roster to be broadcasting team needs and inabilities. But that’s where they currently sit, having lost four of their last five.
Chicago has dropped to 16-20 on the season and the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls Have Lost Two Straight, Badly
For Chicago, it’s been a season-long battle trying to find consistency on the defensive end of the ball. The majority of their struggles have come in the frontcourt.
As of Sunday morning, only the Sacramento Kings (52.6) and Minnesota Timberwolves (52.2) are allowing more points in the paint this season than the Bulls (50.7) per NBA.com.
Over their last two games, losses against two shorthanded contenders in the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat, they’ve given up 124 points in the paint. Both teams were without their starting centers.
Everyone’s eyes are turning to Bulls’ starting (but not closing) center Wendell Carter Jr. The third-year has been as inconsistent as they come this year, on both ends of the basketball. He recorded just 12 points combined in Chicago’s last two matchups, which were absent of All-Star caliber bigs in Joel Embiid and Bam Adebayo.
The 21-year old was at a loss for words after his four-point performance (via NBC Sports) on Friday:
I just… I don’t know. I just got to play better. I don’t really know what else to say. Finishing around the rim, I feel I’ve regressed in that area of being more aggressive on the offensive end.
Carter Jr. can’t be fully blamed for Chicago’s poor streak of play, but a lot of their problems stem from frontcourt efficiency and physicality, on both ends.
The Bulls shot just 18-for-47 in the paint and just 16-for-37 in the restricted area against Miami.
Still, his head coach stuck up for him after Friday’s loss:
Wendell’s competitive spirit was really good. And it was encouraging to see him battle through a difficult game, certainly offensively. He had a lot of plays around the basket he just couldn’t finish. But he kept fighting and he kept battling.
Donovan’s continued to put his trust in Carter Jr. despite the many low points he’s hit this season, by allowing him to maintain his spot in the starting five. Until now.
A Change in the Lineup
Given the Chicago Bulls’ playoff aspirations, it’s not surprising to see them quickly respond to a stretch of games like this with a change in the starting lineup.
Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic reported on Saturday night that the team would be promoting Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young over Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr ahead of their Sunday night matchup with the Toronto Raptors:
The Bulls coach has made preparations to alter his starting five, a source said, with Tomáš Satoranský and Thaddeus Young replacing Coby White and Wendell Carter Jr. The Bulls have lost four of five and have struggled with slow starts. They own a minus-17.6 net rating with White, Carter, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and Lauri Markkanen as their customary starting five.
It’s interesting to see White get the bump down to the second unit, although he’s had struggles of his own. The second-year point guard is averaging 16.1 points, five assists, and 4.9 rebounds this season. But Satoransky should provide more of an on-ball distributor for Chicago, who’s in desperate need of a guiding voice on offense.
The 29-year old is averaging seven points and 4.4 assists off the bench for the Bulls this season.
Nonetheless, the more significant choice is demoting Carter Jr., who’s started all 112 games of his career. Perhaps it’s a sign from both the front office and coach Donovan himself that while development is the priority this year, it can coexist with strategizing to win games, even at the sake of a young player’s confidence.
Over his last five games, Wendell Carter Jr. has shot just 10-for-31 from the field and played only 37 minutes total.
We’ll see how he responds.
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The Chicago Bulls Have a Wendell Carter Jr. Problem