Chicago Bulls training camp is right around the corner, with the first preseason game coming Oct. 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Between then and now, CSNChicago.com will take a look at each player on the Bulls’ roster to preview and project their importance to the team as the Bulls hope to qualify for the 2017 NBA Playoffs.
Player: Bobby Portis
Position: Power Forward
Experience: 2nd season
2015-16 Stats: 7.0 points, 5.4 rebounds,
2016-17 Outlook: The Bulls' bypassed selecting a point guard in last June's draft when the SEC Player of the Year was still available at No. 22, and at times in his rookie season Bobby Portis proved why he was one of the draft's biggest steals.
Playing behind one of the deepest frontcourts in basketball, Portis logged DNP-CD's in 19 of the Bulls' first 23 games. But after the quadruple-overtime marathon against the Pistons, Portis got his chance in New York when Pau Gasol (48 minutes against Detroit) stayed in Chicago to rest. Portis exploded in the first meaningful minutes of his young NBA career, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He parlayed that into additional playing time when Joakim Noah injured his shoulder, and in a seven-game stretch he averaged 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds on 49 percent shooting - and 50 percent from deep.
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But the #FreeBobbyPortis campaign took a sharp turn when the calendar flipped to January. His field goal percentages dropped substantially, and his uncanny intensity on the floor couldn't make up for his lackluster defensive play. Portis put together a solid stretch in February shortly after Joakim Noah's season-ending shoulder surgery, averaging 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds in 24 minutes in the month's first nine games.
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Those small runs of positive play were both a reminder of what Portis can bring to the table. Now he'll need to do it in an increased role. The Bulls selected Portis in 2015 with an eye on 2016, when the front office knew the possibility of losing Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah was real. This past summer Noah wound up signing with the Knicks, while the Spurs added Gasol. And while the Bulls replaced the void in the middle by trading for Robin Lopez as part of the Derrick Rose deal, they're much shallower in the frontcourt than they were a year ago.
Assuming Nikola Mirotic starts to give the Bulls some floor spacing, and Taj Gibson is the first big off the bench, Portis likely will move into a role similar to the one Mirotic played a year ago: a main scorer on the second unit who could pair with Gibson to mask some of his defensive deficiencies. In terms of minutes, Portis played 20 or more minutes in 27 of the 62 games he appeared in. That 20-minute threshold should be a benchmark (Mirotic averaged 24.9 minutes last year) for Portis, who played well in his second Summer League stint, averaging 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds.
A full year shaping his body to fit the NBA game will also do him some good entering his sophomore season. Portis was listed at 230 pounds, and while he played physical was limited in how much he could do around the rim on both ends of the floor. He averaged just 0.4 blocks and the Bulls were more than six points per 100 possessions worth with him on the floor. Opponents shot 59.5 percent at the rim against Portis, the worst mark among Bulls bigs last year and only a shade better than Aaron Brooks' mark (59.7 percent).
Portis also took more shots (156) from 10 feet to the 3-point line than he did at the rim (140). Portis' range will serve him well, and he showed the ability to hit from beyond the arc in his rookie season. But he'll need to find easier baskets if he's playing more minutes, and it'll help improve on his 1.1 free throw attempts per game.
Portis' unique demeanor also can't be overstated. The Bulls lost their enforcer in Noah midway through the year, and it showed. The Bulls have their blue-collar forward in Gibson, but Portis can be that young spark off the bench that jolts a second unit. There isn't a young player on this Bulls team with more upside, and if he can harness his talent with his attitude the Bulls could have a significant frontcourt player off the bench in 2016.