Billy Donovan Rebalancing Bulls Rotation Around Overabundance Of Guards

Moderators: bwgood77, Domejandro

RealGM Wiretap
RealGM
Posts: 114,457
And1: 313
Joined: Mar 19, 2013

Billy Donovan Rebalancing Bulls Rotation Around Overabundance Of Guards 

Post#1 » by RealGM Wiretap » Thu Feb 13, 2025 2:02 pm

The Chicago Bulls trade deadline moves left the team with a roster full of guards. That's something that Bulls coach Billy Donovan has to figure out with his rotation moving forward.


"We have an overabundance of guards, quite honestly," Donovan said. "We just do. I think we have nine guards. It’s a lot."


The Bulls have regularly started four-guard lineups around center Nikola Vucevic. In those looks, Josh Giddey and Zach LaVine were tasked with guarding bigger players. With LaVine out of the picture after being traded to the Sacramento Kings, Donovan is having to re-think that approach.


"With the number of guards we have, I’m not opposed to the times when we’ve started with four guards," Donovan said. "But that may not be the best thing for this group rotation-wise."


Chicago has been prioritizing starts and minutes for rookie Matas Buzelis in recent games. The development of Buzelis, plus reconfiguring the rotation, is something Donovan will focus on coming out of the upcoming All-Star break.


"I’m not going to sit there and just say, 'Listen, the whole entire offense is going to be geared around Matas,'" Donovan said. "But I do think for his development, his growth, he needs to be in some of those situations."

Via Julia Poe/Chicago Tribune

watpho71
Senior
Posts: 566
And1: 136
Joined: Jul 20, 2013

Re: Billy Donovan Rebalancing Bulls Rotation Around Overabundance Of Guards 

Post#2 » by watpho71 » Thu Feb 13, 2025 9:02 pm

I can't remember the last time the Bulls had a typical power forward. They have been guard dominant for five or six seasons. At least now they have Smith and Collins behind Vucevic. Not that any of that matters in mediocrity city.
User avatar
Tetlak
Assistant Coach
Posts: 4,276
And1: 2,355
Joined: Aug 16, 2010

Re: Billy Donovan Rebalancing Bulls Rotation Around Overabundance Of Guards 

Post#3 » by Tetlak » Fri Feb 14, 2025 12:12 am

watpho71 wrote:I can't remember the last time the Bulls had a typical power forward. They have been guard dominant for five or six seasons. At least now they have Smith and Collins behind Vucevic. Not that any of that matters in mediocrity city.


Take a look around the league. Patrick Williams, Matas Buzelis, and Julian Phillips are what 4's are now. The difference between the 3 and the 4 in today's game is nearly nonexistent.

Your "typical" power forward is what the league has moved away from.
User avatar
Future Coach
Assistant Coach
Posts: 4,249
And1: 510
Joined: Jul 07, 2006

Re: Billy Donovan Rebalancing Bulls Rotation Around Overabundance Of Guards 

Post#4 » by Future Coach » Fri Feb 14, 2025 12:43 am

It's not too often that you hear a coach openly talk about how their team is so unbalanced as far as the roster. I would think that is typically more of a "keep in house" type of discussion. Guess it's nice that even the coach openly calls out how bad the front office is, even if he did it in a pretty polite way.
watpho71
Senior
Posts: 566
And1: 136
Joined: Jul 20, 2013

Re: Billy Donovan Rebalancing Bulls Rotation Around Overabundance Of Guards 

Post#5 » by watpho71 » Sun May 11, 2025 11:39 am

Tetlak wrote:
watpho71 wrote:I can't remember the last time the Bulls had a typical power forward. They have been guard dominant for five or six seasons. At least now they have Smith and Collins behind Vucevic. Not that any of that matters in mediocrity city.


Take a look around the league. Patrick Williams, Matas Buzelis, and Julian Phillips are what 4's are now. The difference between the 3 and the 4 in today's game is nearly nonexistent.

Your "typical" power forward is what the league has moved away from.


That's a very good observation. The Bulls did improve in team rebounding the past two seasons. The two seasons prior to that they were at the bottom.

Return to Wiretap Discussion