1. Trae Young
The Bulls invested a lot of money, anguish and roster turnover to install Fred Hoiberg as the coach three years ago. Yet they still haven’t given him a real roster to see what he can do.
Hoiberg has another two years left on his deal, and at some point he needs to receive the tools where we can truly evaluate how he ranks among his peers. He had a reputation for getting the most out of unique prospects at Iowa State. That makes Young the perfect pairing for him.
Hoiberg has been stymied by incompatible point guards to run a seven-seconds-or-less style system at the NBA level. Those offenses depend on a lead guard that can push the pace, be a threat from distance, break down defenses and throw great passes. Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo and Kris Dunn have their strengths, but they didn’t check those boxes. Young does.
There is no denying that Young has serious flaws. He turns the ball over too much, his shot selection is suspect, and he will likely be among the worst defenders in the league due to his poor effort and relatively tiny size. I still think his offensive potential is high enough that it’s worth taking a big swing on him.
Everyone knows Young is a fearless shooter with NBA range. While he hit only 36 percent of his 3s at Oklahoma, he’s probably a better shooter than that number indicates. His ability to pull up from anywhere on the court is the game-changing weapon that every team should be prioritizing.
What’s more interesting to me about Young is his passing and dedication to pushing the ball up the court. He could jump-start the Bulls’ moribund transition attack, which has never ranked higher than 18th since Hoiberg took over. That is the centerpiece of Hoiberg’s system and its failure is why his offenses have never been better than 21st in the league.
Young is the best guard in this draft at making throw-ahead passes to start the break. His shooting has garnered all of the attention whereas his passing and vision have been criminally underrated in the predraft process. Young took his Oklahoma team from the No. 81 team in KenPom’s adjusted tempo rankings all the way up to No. 4.
Young also fits in seamlessly with the current Bulls core. Lauri Markkanen setting pick-and-pop drag screens in transition for him would be unstoppable. Young would also help him in the halfcourt game. Markkanen’s development has been stymied at times by weak point guard passing, and he’d make a big jump with Young.
Zach LaVine could also see a resurgence in his transition play. LaVine has missed playing alongside Ricky Rubio, who was one of the premier throw-ahead passers in the NBA. Those easy buckets will come back with Young as his point guard.
There have been concerns about how Dunn and Young would mesh, but those two could make up a good backcourt together with Dunn sliding over to shooting guard. The Bulls will have to hide Young defensively, and who better for that role than Dunn, who is already one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. Dunn’s turnover issues might make him better suited to dividing his time between shooting guard and backup point guard long-term anyway, and Hoiberg has always loved having multiple ball-handlers on the floor. Dunn could be the Marcus Smart to Young’s Kyrie Irving.
With Young, LaVine, and Markkanen, the Bulls aren’t going to be a great defensive team. But they could be the next seven-seconds-or-less Suns. Let’s give the vision a chance to appear.
