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“Lucky, if you watch him play in Summer League, he’s probably going to hurt some people with how hard he plays, crack someone’s sternum,” Bulls Summer League coach Billy Donovan III said with a cautiously wry laugh earlier this week following practice. “If you tell him to run through a wall, he’ll try to run through two of them. You can tell he has a chip on his shoulder, but in a good way. He can handle the ball, he’s got a really good feel of how to play and can pass. Even when he gets rebounds, you’ll see him push the ball on the break. He can really pass, so we are relying a lot on him for his playmaking ability. If you watch (him play in Australia), he was leading the break, and he’s got a really good feel on how to space and how to make others better.”

“Physicality,” Olbrich agreed when asked about his strength following Bulls practice Tuesday. “Getting my teammates open. I’ll do all the dirty work so they don’t have to; an elite screener and rebounder. I feel as the competition goes up I’ve been better because I play with my teammates a lot and make them look better because I am going to get them in the right spots, get them open on screens.

The 21-year-old can grab-and-go, push the pace, and make hit-ahead passes in transition. He always runs the floor hard, and has a great motor on both ends of the floor. The Hawks prospect is a tenacious offensive rebounder, although we rarely see put-backs from him due to his athletic limitations. Despite those athletic concerns, his at-rim finishing is relatively good, as he has decent touch and knows how to use the basket as a shield against the defender effectively.

Fastbreak Potential: Being a physical rebounder who tracks the ball well is one thing, but Olbrich has shown he's comfortable trying to get the offense going, and he's done it with some success. If he can prove he has the vision to hit ahead or connect early in the break, that will be a nice bonus at the NBA level.

ghostinthepost1 wrote:I read this article -> https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/sam-smith-versatile-big-man-lachlan-olbrich-thriving-with-fast-paced-summer-bulls this morning which sent me down a Oblrich rabbit hole.

The quotes from the article seemed promising.

“Lucky, if you watch him play in Summer League, he’s probably going to hurt some people with how hard he plays, crack someone’s sternum,” Bulls Summer League coach Billy Donovan III said with a cautiously wry laugh earlier this week following practice. “If you tell him to run through a wall, he’ll try to run through two of them. You can tell he has a chip on his shoulder, but in a good way. He can handle the ball, he’s got a really good feel of how to play and can pass. Even when he gets rebounds, you’ll see him push the ball on the break. He can really pass, so we are relying a lot on him for his playmaking ability. If you watch (him play in Australia), he was leading the break, and he’s got a really good feel on how to space and how to make others better.”

“Physicality,” Olbrich agreed when asked about his strength following Bulls practice Tuesday. “Getting my teammates open. I’ll do all the dirty work so they don’t have to; an elite screener and rebounder. I feel as the competition goes up I’ve been better because I play with my teammates a lot and make them look better because I am going to get them in the right spots, get them open on screens.

Love that he knows to make it in the league he's going to have to do all the dirty work, rebound the ball, set good screens, etc. His passing also seems intriguing.

Then I read through some scouting reports:

https://floorandceiling.substack.com/p/lachlan-olbrich-scouting-report-australia
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25216437-2025-nba-draft-scouting-report-chicago-bulls-no-55-pick-lachlan-olbrich

The 21-year-old can grab-and-go, push the pace, and make hit-ahead passes in transition. He always runs the floor hard, and has a great motor on both ends of the floor. The Hawks prospect is a tenacious offensive rebounder, although we rarely see put-backs from him due to his athletic limitations. Despite those athletic concerns, his at-rim finishing is relatively good, as he has decent touch and knows how to use the basket as a shield against the defender effectively.

Fastbreak Potential: Being a physical rebounder who tracks the ball well is one thing, but Olbrich has shown he's comfortable trying to get the offense going, and he's done it with some success. If he can prove he has the vision to hit ahead or connect early in the break, that will be a nice bonus at the NBA level.

So, obviously my next step was to go to youtube and was able to find some clips of absolute monster Lucky games.

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Maybe I'm delusional but I kind of really like his game. He's obviously not going to become a starter or anything but I see someone who could be a energy 4/5 off the bench who plays hard, runs in transition, rebounds at a high clips, and can even do some playmaking.

ThisGuyFawkes wrote:I thought it was "Lachy". Are we calling him "Lucky" now?

Also, I agree that he's an intriguing player. Kinda hoping he becomes something like Nocioni and can become a contributor due to sheer motor/effort. I like the pace, passing, touch. We'll see if he can carve something out.

Almost Retired wrote:

ThisGuyFawkes wrote:I thought it was "Lachy". Are we calling him "Lucky" now?

Also, I agree that he's an intriguing player. Kinda hoping he becomes something like Nocioni and can become a contributor due to sheer motor/effort. I like the pace, passing, touch. We'll see if he can carve something out.

A season with Windy City will get him lots more minutes on the floor than being our 15th player. He can get more accustomed to almost NBA level talent. Next season we'll have more roster spots to fill, especially on cheap contracts. Sometimes heart can get you a little farther along than just your talent or size. I won't dismiss him. Anything like a Nocioni impact and it will have been an excellent pick up.

GoBlue72391 wrote:

Almost Retired wrote:

ThisGuyFawkes wrote:I thought it was "Lachy". Are we calling him "Lucky" now?

Also, I agree that he's an intriguing player. Kinda hoping he becomes something like Nocioni and can become a contributor due to sheer motor/effort. I like the pace, passing, touch. We'll see if he can carve something out.

A season with Windy City will get him lots more minutes on the floor than being our 15th player. He can get more accustomed to almost NBA level talent. Next season we'll have more roster spots to fill, especially on cheap contracts. Sometimes heart can get you a little farther along than just your talent or size. I won't dismiss him. Anything like a Nocioni impact and it will have been an excellent pick up.

I don't see the Nocioni comps. He was a SF/PF with a 3 ball and Olbrich is a pure big without a reliable shot.