At the end of the last season, the Chicago Bulls were sent home in a state of disappointment, as they lost in the Play-In Tournaments at the hands of the Miami Heat. But instead of tearing down the roster, Arturas Karnisovas made it clear that the team was going to push forward rather than enter a rebuild.
So far this summer, they have stuck with this plan. Chicago re-signed Nikola Vucevic and Coby White and then signed Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig in free agency. And on top of that, they brought in rookies Julian Phillips and Adama Sanogo via the draft and undrafted free agency.
And according to Elias Schuster of Bleacher Nation, Phillips (and Craig) have a real chance to make an impact for the Bulls next year.
“This continues to be an area where I think the Bulls can improve somewhat significantly this season,” Schuster wrote. “They finished 28th in OREB% in each of the past two seasons. As elite as both Andre Drummond and Nikola Vucevic can be on the glass, one player on the court can’t be doing all the work. Anyway, we also touched on this a bit in yesterday’s bullet, so I won’t dwell on it. But I do think adding guys like Torrey Craig and Julian Phillips can help give this team a much-needed boost when it comes to creating extra possessions.”
Plus, if Phillips can improve his shot, his ceiling will skyrocket.
“Phillips didn’t blow me away in his third Summer League game, but he made some solid plays and continued to get to the free-throw line,” Schuster wrote. “The lack of an ability to create his own shot off the dribble remains a relatively big concern. But there remains plenty of potential for his jumper to improve, especially since he’s a pretty good free-throw shooter.”
Will Phillips earn a rotational role for the Bulls next season?
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Story originally appeared on Lonzo Wire