It was far from the sexiest move made on Sunday night – congrats, Brooklyn – and it won’t shake up the Eastern Conference – congrats, Philly. They didn’t back up the Brink’s truck for a player like Malcolm Brogdon (Indiana), and there won’t be any reunion tours, with Taj Gibson (New York) and Derrick Rose (Detroit) agreeing to deals elsewhere. The Bulls still need a point guard and plenty of perimeter shooting on the wing.
But for where the Bulls are, entering Year 3 of their rebuild, and where they’re trying to go, they were winners on Day 1 of free agency in agreeing to a three-year deal with power forward Thaddeus Young. It was the best move they could have made and one that should have a trickle-down effect on the organization as they inch closer toward relevancy.
When the clock struck 5 p.m. in Chicago and the new NBA season opened, Otto Porter and Cris Felicio were the oldest players on the Bulls. Chicago had the least experienced and fourth youngest team in the NBA last season, and that included 31-year-old, 11-year veteran Robin Lopez. The Bulls were in need of some sort of veteran and stabilizing presence.
They now have it in Young, who in one tweet put into words perfectly what he’ll provide.
Young is no stranger to building culture. He and Spencer Hawes were the lone veterans in Year 1 of Trusting the Process in Philadelphia – the Sixers went 19-63. The following offseason, Young was dealt to Minnesota and a Timberwolves team entering a rebuild with Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Anthony Bennett. Midway through the season he was shipped to Brooklyn and a Nets team still picking up the pieces from the infamous Celtics trade.
In Indiana, he was part of both the post-Paul George trade and post-Victor Oladipo injury Pacers. He was one of 12 finalists for the NBA’s Teammate of the Year award this season.
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All four teams were better off for having Young on it. Now he’ll attempt to do the same with the Bulls. He’ll take on a mentor role for young bigs in Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr. and Daniel Gafford – he undoubtedly had an impact on Indiana’s Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis – and work on transforming a locker room that seemingly has the talent to move forward, and will now have the guidance to do so.
He should lead the second unit in field goal attempts and points. He gives the Bulls some versatility in the frontcourt – Markkanen can bump to the 5 and Young can slot in at the 4 – and someone who shot 65% in the restricted area (the Bulls were 27th in that area last season at 60%).
The Bulls were 23rd in deflections per game under Boylen. They were 26th in loose balls recovered. They were 20th in drawn charges, though nearly half (16 of 34) came from one player, Ryan Arcidiacono.
How did Young fare in those three areas? He was third in deflections, 33rd in deflections and sixt in charges. He also contested 355 3-point attempts as a defender, the second most in the league. Make all the jokes you’d like about Young being a perfect Jim Boylen player, but effort like that from an 11-year veteran doesn’t come around all that often.
He wasn’t cheap – the Bulls have around $10 million (plus the Mid-Level Exception) left to spend on a point guard and shooter – but it’s hard to argue that Young isn’t worth the price tag. The third year isn’t fully guaranteed, according to K.C. Johnson, so the all-important 2021 flexibility is still in play.
The agreement with Young came during a wild first hour of free agency that also saw Phoenix spend $51 million on Ricky Rubio and the Pacers give up three draft picks for the ability to pay Malcolm Brogdon $86 million over four years. The Bucks, after losing Brogdon, agreed to a three-year, $29 million deal with George Hill and – gasp – Derrick Rose agreed to a two-year deal with the Pistons. A handful of point guards – including Kyrie Irving – came off the board.
The Bulls obviously valued finding a backup big – and that leadership – while also signaling that Coby White could start from Day 1. That, or the improvement John Paxson said the Bulls needed to show at point guard was fulfilled simply by adding White. Either way, Paxson and Gar Forman clearly identified their biggest need an addrerssed it a minute into Sunday night.
It remains to be seen how the Bulls will finish free agency, but they started it well. They got older with Young, and better, too.