Bulls' rookies know playing time won't come easy
Between trips to Las Vegas and Spain this summer, Tom Thibodeau found time to do some research.
He announced his findings Tuesday: No team has gone to the NBA Finals with two rookies in the rotation since the 1974-75 Golden State Warriors. That team had Jamaal Wilkes and ninth-leading scorer Phil Smith playing their first NBA seasons.
Setting aside momentarily that the Jerry Sloan-era Bulls should have beaten the Warriors in the Western Conference finals that season (they were up 3-2 with Game 6 at the Stadium), the historic tidbit does have some validity.
There haven't been many NBA champs since Magic Johnson's Lakers who had even one rookie playing a significant role.
This is relevant to the Bulls because they have high expectations for Doug McDermott and Nikola Mirotic.
On the bright side, both players could be considered mature rookies. McDermott, 22, spent four years in college at Creighton, and Mirotic, 23, has played several years of high-level European basketball with Real Madrid.
"That's not to say it can't be done," Thibodeau said. "Doug and Nikola, they both have great attitude and approaches. Where it goes, I don't know. I know there's a steep learning curve."
The Bulls held their first training-camp practice Tuesday morning in the Advocate Center. McDermott felt he played well but said it was difficult to fall asleep the night before this first NBA practice.
"The butterflies came more last night," McDermott said. "Once I step on the floor, it's just basketball. Last night, I set like three alarms. I woke up every hour. I just had Thibs' voice in my head. I don't want to miss my first day. I was here bright and early."
Derrick Rose pointed out that McDermott forgot to bring doughnuts for the veterans. Like Thibodeau said, there's a steep learning curve for rookies.
While rookies don't usually put teams over the top in the NBA, it's possible to look at the Bulls and believe they won't be a great team this season without significant contributions from McDermott and Mirotic.
Both have the potential to be lights-out 3-point shooters, which might be the Bulls' greatest need besides a healthy season from Rose.
Thibodeau doesn't disagree with that outlook, but he sees no point in giving a rookie heavy minutes until proven ready.
"You can't do it at the expense of not winning games," Thibodeau said. "It's important they earn their time. I think they will as we go along. How much, I don't know yet. But shooting is one of the areas we wanted to address, and I think we've done that.
"You add in (point guard) Aaron Brooks to the mix, he's also a very good shooter. Mike Dunleavy's a terrific shooter. Kirk (Hinrich), a very good 3-point shooter in the fourth quarter. I'm counting on Jimmy (Butler) to shoot the ball better. Whatever Doug and Nikola can give us, to me, is great."
Rose said he believes Mirotic will surprise people with how well he can put the ball on the floor and attack the basket. Mirotic is expected to be the first legitimate "stretch four" the Bulls have had, but he could be limited by a numbers crunch at power forward.
Thibodeau admitted that after dividing minutes at center and power forward among Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, there won't be many left.
"I look at those three guys as starters," Thibodeau said. "But there's a lot of things that do unfold during the course of a season, whether it's injuries or foul trouble."
McDermott figures to have a clearer path to playing time. At Tuesday's practice, he played behind Mike Dunleavy at small forward. Of course, picking up the defensive schemes also will play a part in getting on the floor.
"I'm really just trying to learn," McDermott said. "I don't want to get ahead of myself. I know it's not going to come easy this first year, but I'm going to do everything I can to try to get on the floor."
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