The Chicago Bulls decided to go all-in at the NBA trade deadline by making a substantial trade for Nikola Vucevic, formerly of the Orlando Magic. Now, the Bulls have another NBA All-Star to pair with Zach LaVine as the team progresses towards a playoff run.
The Bulls made it clear that waiting for young players to develop who haven’t quite achieved sufficient results yet is not the course of action they want to take. Wendell Carter Jr. was moved in part of the trade for Vucevic as a result. Now, that must apply to Lauri Markkanen, too.
There is reason for intrigue when it comes to having Markkanen playing alongside Vucevic since both are skilled bigs with shooting range. However, the other end of the floor appears to be too much of a challenge for that tandem to overcome to be tenable.
From a defensive standpoint, a frontcourt pairing that features Lauri Markkanen and Nikola Vucevic is simply not going to work. Vucevic is a non-factor as a rim protector while Markkanen is a liability guarding out in space. That’s a combination that cannot be overcome.
It’s not easy to find versatile defensive fours but they are a necessity to have when a center like Nikola Vucevic is on the floor. The Magic figured that out and experienced legitimate success on defense with Jonathan Isaac (when healthy) alongside him, along with Aaron Gordon.
The Bulls do have an option already on their roster that can fly around the half-court defensively and handle tough assignments on the perimeter. His name? Thaddeus Young. Bringing Lauri Markkanen off the bench could help to feature him as a scorer and face easier defensive assignments while Young can do the dirty work alongside Zach LaVine and Vucevic.
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There would be a decline in floor spacing for the Bulls’ half-court offense by going from Markkanen to Young. However, acommon fixture in the Bulls’ half-court offense with Vucevic will be the use of early double drag screens. Markkanen will be involved in these sequences as a screener at times, but ultimately, a drop is going to occur with at least one defender sagging off regardless.
When factoring in that Vucevic has the shooting ability to space the floor, it helps to mitigate some of the drawbacks to having Thaddeus Young’s lack of jump shooting on the court. Additionally, Young can make plays with the ball using that space and attack favorable matchups.
There simply isn’t going to be overcoming the lack of defensive impact of Lauri Markkanen, especially against NBA teams who deploy spread personnel. However, there are pathways to overcome Thaddeus Young’s lack of perimeter shooting prowess — making the decision to start him an easier one to make.
