New Chicago Bulls‘ head coach Fred Hoiberg made a bold move before his first game, benching franchise stalwart Joakim Noah in favor of second-year forward Nikola Mirotic. Noah went through a living nightmare before suffering season-ending shoulder surgery, and Mirotic has cooled significantly since his red-hot start. The Bulls are ranked 25th in offensive rating — a surprising number considering they made their highly-publicized coaching change for offensive purposes — and are in need of a spark. They should look no further than their promising rookie forward, Bobby Portis.
In his limited time on the court, Portis has shown the potential to be an impactful presence in the paint on both the offensive and defensive ends. According to NBA Savant, he has attempted 53 of his 167 field goals from the restricted area, converting on 69.8 percent. When guarding the painted area, Portis has held defenders to just a 48.5 percent success rate and an even more impressive 41.7 percent on all two-point shots combined. It’s true that he needs help on his offensive game when he leaves that area so close the rim, but that’s true for many rookies.
Portis has played in only 27 of Chicago’s 47 games, averaging just 14.8 minutes, so that small sample size gives way to the positives of his per 36 statistics. Via Basketball-Reference.com, Portis is scoring 15.8 points and grabbing 10.6 rebounds per 36 minutes. This is while he’s converting on just 44.5 percent of his shots, another area of his game that can improve with more consistent playing time.
The Chicago Bulls have nothing to lose by giving Bobby Portis more time on the court, and hoping he can be just as great an asset as Mirotic or Taj Gibson. They are locked in to one of the Eastern Conference’s playoff spots, and at best they find the gem that many expect Portis to be, while at worst they find out he needs another year to develop.
