Who should/will be our starting C this season?

[League Circles]

Assuming Giddey is re-signed and no other moves, who do you think should be our starting C this year?

The poll is for your preference, but let's also note in our posts who we think WILL be the starting C, at least to start the season.

I think it should be Smith because he's the youngest, has the best contract situation, and IMO easily the best skillset for what we need. I don't expect him to be our long term starter but he still has a chance IMO, whereas Vuc and Collins have no chance IMO.

I really don't know who it WILL be, but if I had to guess I'd lean towards Vuc to start the season. It helps prevent us from winning "too much" (to at least marginally help our 2026 pick), and it "showcases" Vuc for the trade the team has been looking for. If Vuc is gone and/or we suck by the trade deadline, I suspect Smith will get his chance.

I know some people are pretty sure that Billy prefers Vuc and Collins based on Smith being benched last season after we had all 3 guys. That might be true, but IMO it's equally likely that they prioritized showcasing Vuc and Collins for trade because the season wasn't critical and we knew they weren't in our long term plans, and we knew we had the younger Smith for an extra year. Essentially I think they might have "saved him for later".

I do think all 3 will and should be in the rotation for the purpose of showcasing all 3 for trades.

I don't think Noa will play meaningful minutes at C, but it's possible so I threw him in there. Would be a development/low key tanking move.

Edit: for purposes of discussion assume the other 4 starters are:

Matas
Giddey
Okoro
Coby

[HomoSapien]

Jalen Smith is a young, modern, wildly productive recent lottery pick. Why not figure out what we have with him?

[jnrjr79]

Should: Smith

Will: Vooch

[League Circles]

Jalen Smith is a young, modern, wildly product recent lottery pick. Why not figure out what we have with him?

Exactly. He probably wasn't as good as his numbers suggested, but his numbers were really very good. #10 rebounder in the NBA. Giddey was #10 in assists for reference. Also a very good shot blocker and scored a lot of points, albeit at average efficiency.

[sco]

Great OP!

I've been ranting (too much?) about how Vuc starting is bad for the team on several levels:

1) Defensively, he's so bad. We've been discussing the risks/issues of having both Giddey and Coby starting. Before we resign Coby, I'd love to see what a starting line-up of Giddey/Coby/Okoro/Matas/[better defending C] looks like. Maybe it's ok, but if not, I'd want to know.

2) For our team to take a step forward, Matas needs to take on a bigger role offensively. Vuc, because he takes a fair number of shots AND that many of those shots require him to be fed the ball. No way Matas even gets a shot at being our 3rd option with Vuc starting.

3) Collins looked decent as our starter (although I like Smith more). Would want to give him a shot before he expires.

[nomorezorro]

i think collins with the starters/smith off the bench/vucevic bought out or traded would be ideal. collins is a stronger defender which is an asset with giddey/coby starting, and he meshed well with the first unit last year. smith can bring more of a scoring punch off the bench where that'll probably be more needed.

failing that and resigned to the fact that vucevic is starting if he's here, i'd bring collins off the bench and have smith out of the rotation to start the season. i don't think there's much of an appreciable difference between the two impact-wise, and collins seems to have had a higher peak value around the league than smith, so i'd show him off in the hopes that we could keep rehabbing his perception and bring something back for him in a trade around the deadline before his contract expires. smith is here through 2027, so he can sit on the backburner for now.

[sco]

i think collins with the starters/smith off the bench/vucevic bought out or traded would be ideal. collins is a stronger defender which is an asset with giddey/coby starting, and he meshed well with the first unit last year. smith can bring more of a scoring punch off the bench where that'll probably be more needed.

failing that and resigned to the fact that vucevic is starting if he's here, i'd bring collins off the bench and have smith out of the rotation to start the season. i don't think there's much of an appreciable difference between the two impact-wise, and collins seems to have had a higher peak value around the league than smith, so i'd show him off in the hopes that we could keep rehabbing his perception and bring something back for him in a trade around the deadline before his contract expires. smith is here through 2027, so he can sit on the backburner for now.

I agree that Vuc coming off the bench would be ideal. His negative impact on the team is largely mitigated with that move. That said I have no confidence that Billy has the stones to do that.

[BullsSD]

I think it will be Vuc, he's simply too productive to be a bench piece, especially when we are trying to convince teams to trade for him-- we can't bench him.

It SHOULD be Collins with Smith off bench, splitting minutes evenly. Collins I think helps cover up for a Giddey/Coby/Huerter starting lineup (Yes, Huerter over Okoro until Okoro proves himself. Huerter was apart of all of our best lineups last year). Smith would work better with the defensive lineup of Jones/Ayo/Okoro/Essengue.

Ideally we move Vuc, acquire a rim running center of starting caliber, and bring Smith off bench with Collins backing up in case of injury.

[sco]

I think it will be Vuc, he's simply too productive to be a bench piece, especially when we are trying to convince teams to trade for him-- we can't bench him.

It SHOULD be Collins with Smith off bench, splitting minutes evenly. Collins I think helps cover up for a Giddey/Coby/Huerter starting lineup (Yes, Huerter over Okoro until Okoro proves himself. Huerter was apart of all of our best lineups last year). Smith would work better with the defensive lineup of Jones/Ayo/Okoro/Essengue.

Ideally we move Vuc, acquire a rim running center of starting caliber, and bring Smith off bench with Collins backing up in case of injury.

I hear you on the first point, but IMO, if we haven't convinced teams by now, nobody is gonna be convinced. And the notion of "too productive" is an illusion, IMO. His style of play are diametrically opposite to the stated new direction of the team.

[Muzbar]

As long as Vucevic is wearing a Bulls jersey, he will be the starter, there's no question in my mind, and it's not because he's the best option.

Jalen Smith should get the starting nod but even if Vucevic were no longer in Chicago Zach Collins would be the next one up, because Billy.

I still wouldn't mind if Collins was starting so long as Smith got all the backup minutes. But alas, Vucevic is still a Bull so he'll be riding the bench getting DNP-CDs until Collins likely has an injury.

Oh, and Noa should in no way shape or form being playing C, that's ridiculous.

[ShouldaPaidBG]

The only question is how many goal kicks per game will Vuc average for us this season

[kodo]

I like Smith because he opens up options that most teams have that we don't, like lob plays off the P&R or a rim run in transition. He basically works well with a PG who can pass.

Vuc is better if you don't have any passing talent, he positions at the 3P line or mid range and slowly backs down from there and most of his shots are contested traditional post moves. You don't need a good playmaker for that, Zach Lavine can just bounce pass to Vuc at 18' and have him throw up a hook for 40% from the mid range. He'd be just fine off the bench without Giddey, and he's not fast or twitchy enough to catch defenses off-guard when Giddey has the ball.

Defensively, I don't think there's much debate that Vuc isn't there for defense.

I'm still curious on Collins, not sure how good he is. He'll be 28 next season and I'm not sure what he's good at.

[Tetlak]

Vuc is obviously going to start as long as he is on the roster. I doubt any of us are delusional enough to think otherwise.

Zach Collins is a journeyman, average player. Jalen Smith is still somebody we need to see develop, even if it's into average journeyman.

[Red8911]

If Vuc is here he is starting without a doubt and deserves to as well.He is still one of the better scoring bigs but I do think it’s time his minutes come down a bit since Collins and/or Smith can handle 20+ minutes and can help more defensively. Vuc is getting a lil older too, no reason to overplay him all the time.

[Rose2Boozer]

Vucevic. For better or worse, he's still the best center on the roster. I wouldn't be surprised if he was resigned and with the team another season.

[League Circles]

Vucevic. For better or worse, he's still the best center on the roster. I wouldn't be surprised if he was resigned and with the team another season.

Even though they've been trying to trade him for quite a while?????

[Dez]

Why the f*** is Noa an option? Him playing C is just ridiculous let alone as a rookie.

[League Circles]

Why the f*** is Noa an option? Him playing C is just ridiculous let alone as a rookie.

When you consider his length, defensive potential, and the fact that Matas and Giddey are probably locked in as our forwards for the foreseeable future, and the fact that Billy has proven to be willing to play very undersized centers at times, don't think it's all that Far-fetched. I'm not saying I want it or that he's ready to be a positive contributor as a center, but I can definitely see it as at least a potential part-time thing in the future. So who knows. Maybe we will or should experiment with it a little bit this year.

Noa would undoubtedly be a defensive upgrade from vucevic this coming season and also fit our offensive style of play better in the sense that he can run and handle the ball better than Vuc.

[HomoSapien]

i think collins with the starters/smith off the bench/vucevic bought out or traded would be ideal. collins is a stronger defender which is an asset with giddey/coby starting, and he meshed well with the first unit last year. smith can bring more of a scoring punch off the bench where that'll probably be more needed.

failing that and resigned to the fact that vucevic is starting if he's here, i'd bring collins off the bench and have smith out of the rotation to start the season. i don't think there's much of an appreciable difference between the two impact-wise, and collins seems to have had a higher peak value around the league than smith, so i'd show him off in the hopes that we could keep rehabbing his perception and bring something back for him in a trade around the deadline before his contract expires. smith is here through 2027, so he can sit on the backburner for now.

Collins actually played really well for us as a starter and is still young enough that he could be a long-term piece. That said, I just want to know for sure what we have with Smith. He's the one center on the roster that is signed for multiple years and has a lot going for him.

[Dominator83]

I don't know how Collins has so few votes. Did people not see how much better the team played with him starting?

As to who i think it will be, Vooch because Billy doesn't have the balls to bench him