After Wednesday night’s 117-111 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls are desperately looking for answers as they now sit at 1-4 on their young season. Despite winning just 22 games last season, many expected a significant leap forward from the team this year. Only five games have been completed, but the panic should already be setting in for second year head coach Jim Boylen.
From a casual fan’s perspective they can interpret a 1-4 record to getting off to a slow start. Perhaps that type of excuse would work for a contending team. For a rebuilding team like the Bulls who are supposed to be taking the next step of their rebuild, however, too many red flags have been spotted out on the court.
What’s Gone Wrong?
The Bulls are bottom five in the league in: FG (41%), 3PM (29%), APG (21.0) and RPG (41.7) thus far. Basically, the Bulls have been inefficient in every major aspect of the game. None of which has stood out more than the Bulls’ lack of ability to rebound the basketball and play consistent defense.
Outside of Wendell Carter Jr., Lauri Markkanen and Luke Kornet, the Bulls have not exhibited much defensive tenacity inside the paint as the team’s main big men. Markkanen is viewed as a potential cornerstone of the franchise while having his offense far outweigh his defensive flaws. Kornet on the other hand, not so much. He was signed this past offseason to be brought in to do one thing only: set screens and make threes. Up to this point it’s fair to say he’s shot well below expectations. 32% from the field and an even more woeful 23% from three point range has made every Bulls fan curse Kornet’s name every time he checks into a game.
If that wasn’t bad enough, an argument could be made that the defense he attempted to play on Bobby Portis against the Knicks a few days ago cost the Bulls their second win of the year. Here is some further proof to back that up:
.@BawlSports @Bulls_Peck @jsabine214 talk about Bobby Portis going off on Luke Kornet pic.twitter.com/LAUm73bHeQ
— Gustavo (@iamvega1982) October 29, 2019
With the Bulls lacking a defensive identity early on this season, it is time to turn to Daniel Gafford for the solution. Gafford will not provide a career 35% three point conversion rate like Kornet, but his skill set is far more needed to this Bulls team than people realize.
Gafford Mirrors Former Chicago Success
If you think back to recently successful Bulls teams, the first thing they all have in common is high energy defensive stoppers. Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Taj Gibson are just a few that come to mind. The former Arkansas Razorback in Gafford is a walking volcano that is ready to erupt at any second. During his short venture throughout the Las Vegas Summer League, Gafford displayed tremendous amounts of defensive ferocity. 14 PPG, 8 RPG and almost 3 BPG during the summer league made many executives wonder how Gafford fell all the way down to the 38th overall pick.
In his second year at the University of Arkansas, Gafford terrorized big men all throughout the SEC conference. His 16.9 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 2.0 BPG, 66% FG stat line was good enough to make the All-SEC team and All-SEC Defensive Team. There is no doubt that Gafford has shown that he is a very capable defender. The only question remains is why hasn’t he seen his number called in the rotation?
The only logical and respectable answer I can give is that I have no idea what is going on in the mind of Jim Boylen. Look, I understand Kornet is a free agent acquisition and Gafford is a rookie second round draft pick that does need to be developed. At the same time, the Bulls are paying Cristiano Felicio $8 million/year to keep the bench warm for the water boy. If Boylen truly does care about winning as much as he does player development, then Gafford is the obvious choice going forward.
Potential is High
At 6’11, 233 pounds, Daniel Gafford has the potential to be an elite defender in the NBA. His raw strength and quick speed for his size allows him to move well in PNR and switching situations. Gafford finished top 5 in the SEC in blocks his freshman and sophomore year to go on and prove that he’s already an elite rim protector at the basket. Kornet has shown to be as advertised defensively: slow. Slow on rotations, switches, you name it. Gafford’s help defense to Markkanen while Carter Jr. is on the bench would also be exponential moving forward. The Bulls have allowed the 2nd most second chance points in the league so far this year (15.78). Being out rebounded by 25 boards to the Knicks and 16 to the Cavs would drastically decrease. Fewer second chances would lead to more scoring opportunities for the Bulls going forward.
For those worried about Gafford’s scoring going forward, it is a work in progress. Despite leading the SEC last season in FG% (66%) and 4th in PPG (16.9) doubts still surround the extent of Gafford’s offensive game. In an interview conducted by Chris Dortch of NBA.com, Daniel opened up about why he never attempted a single three during his college career and why he went about it the way he did:
“I wanted to work on my body and be more physical in the post, I wanted to move my game out to the free-throw line where I could attack the basket, and I wanted to work on my jump shot. But I didn’t shoot that many jumpers this year, which was a disappointment to me.”
Considering the Bulls are the 27th ranked team in the NBA in three point percentage, they would not be turning to Gafford to solve that issue with the team. He will solely rely on pick n rolls and put-backs for a vast majority of his points early on. As time and confidence come along, the offensive game for Gafford should extend beyond 10 feet from the hoop.
The more and more one thinks about it, giving Daniel Gafford minutes is almost a necessity at this point and time for the Bulls. This would not signal the start of a miraculous turn around but the team would improve as a whole and begin to turn in the right direction.
From long missed threes and defensive absence to powerful dunks and assaulting blocks, the time is now for the Bulls to plug in another piece to their rebuilding puzzle.
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