Chicago Bulls counting on Wade to rub off on teammates
Preseason wasn't particularly insightful for the Bulls this fall.
Coach Fred Hoiberg used the exhibition games to experiment with lineups and rotations. When the regular season tips off Thursday against Boston at the United Center, the Bulls' success will be a function of how well the Three Alphas work together and, more important, whether the younger players contribute more than last season.
It will probably take a couple months before we have enough evidence to decide whether this Bulls team is anything close to a solid playoff contender.
This much is clear, though: The Bulls are counting on the Dwyane Wade Effect to pay dividends this season.
Wade more or less fell into the team's lap this summer when he was turned off by Miami's contract offer and the Bulls had enough cap room to make the idea of a Chicago homecoming palatable. Having Wade on board created a nice buzz among the fan base, which will help the Bulls stay relevant, at least once the Cubs' postseason run is over.
Most important, Wade brings exquisite credentials to the locker room. He's one of the NBA's best players of the past decade, a certain Hall of Famer who helped bring three championships to Miami.
He can still play at 34, but he also has a chance to rub off on everyone at the Advocate Center. When Wade speaks up during a film session or stops practice to counsel his new teammates, they listen. Or at least they should listen, if they're smart.
Imagine the benefit of having Wade as a role model for Jimmy Butler, the team's best player. Butler was in a difficult spot last season as he tried to assert himself as the team's leader, a role in which he had virtually no experience. That dynamic explains the poor chemistry on last year's team.
Now here's Wade, with a great resume as a team-builder, who also has a shared experience with Butler as a late-blooming star who played at Marquette. Butler has been empowered by Wade, and Rajon Rondo, to assert himself on the court. At the same time, Wade can serve as the primary team leader while Butler watches and learns.
One quality that stood out in preseason is Wade's playmaking. He averaged 4.5 assists in just 22 minutes per game. That Wade is so good at creating shots for teammates might count as an early surprise. Sharing the ball on this team was sometimes a missing skill last season.
If Wade and Rondo set a good example by making the extra pass and not putting a premium on personal stats, the Bulls could be in better position to succeed. Maybe avid ball movement will help overcome the team's lack of outside shooting, maybe not. But it is the right way to play, no doubt.
Plenty of questions remain heading into the season. Can the Bulls excel on defense? Will they need a long-range shooter on the floor? Will Doug McDermott truly weaponize his scoring skills? What will Nikola Mirotic accomplish in his third NBA season?
Preseason provided few answers. The Bulls saw newcomer Michael Carter-Williams and rookie Denzel Valentine for one game each, and both figure to be rotation players. McDermott was aggressive in looking for his shot, but made 37.5 percent from 3-point range, not on par with his past standards. Backup guard Isaiah Canaan had the best preseason plus-minus by a wide margin, which could be promising. Mirotic was at times good, bad and injured.
Big men Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio weren't great, but the Bulls will need minutes from at least one of them. Guards Jerian Grant, Spencer Dinwiddie and second-round pick Paul Zipser weren't bad, but may not fit into the rotation.
Atlanta packed the paint on Thursday in Omaha and the Bulls responded with 30.5 percent shooting. How many times will that happen in the regular season?
As the season approaches, the Bulls are a difficult team to predict. They could be pretty good, and they might disappoint. At least now they have the right role model to demonstrate how things should be done.
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