Green, Drummond are surprise shooting stars of Bulls preseason
NBA preseason tends to get a little dull, but the Bulls were hit with a couple October surprises this weekend.
One is forward Javonte Green leading the league in true field goal percentage. Another was center Andre Drummond draining 3 straight 3-point attempts in Sunday's win at Toronto.
When it comes to players making improvements in the offseason, the focus is usually on recent draft picks. But it turns out Green, 29, spent the summer improving his outside shot.
Three preseason games is a small sample size, but so far Green has hit 17 of 22 shots overall and 6 of 8 from 3-point range. He's the Bulls second-leading scorer in preseason at 16.7 points. DeMar DeRozan leads with 21.3.
"I was committed this summer to space the floor, make it easier for Zach (LaVine) and DeMar and Vuc (Nikola Vucevic)," Green said Monday at the Advocate Center. "I worked hard this summer on doing that and I guess it's paying off."
Green said he spent most of his summer in Chicago working at the Bulls' facility. His 3-point shooting was OK last year at 35.6%, but he got plenty of open looks, especially from the corners.
"I got a lot more reps shooting," he said. "Usually I worked on shooting, but it wasn't the main focus. This summer it was, shooting and ballhandling, just making the right reads, learning the NBA game. It's just preseason, but I know I'm very confident from all the work I put in this summer."
Green's jumping ability didn't suffer with the focus on shooting. He unloaded the best highlight of Sunday's game, taking off a step inside the foul line for a monster dunk in traffic.
Did he feel like Michael Jordan while soaring over the lane?
"I don't even know how Jordan feels," Green said with a laugh. "It was a crazy play. It was just second nature. I didn't plan on doing that. It's just in the midst of the game, it kind of happened."
Drummond has made 15 3-point baskets over the course of his 10-year career, but suggested he has the freedom to let it fly when left open.
"I spoke to the coaching staff in the summer when I signed here," Drummond said. "It's something I've worked on. I want to be able to stay on the floor and add different facets to my game to help this team win. If I'm able to make that corner 3 when I'm wide open, it adds another element to our team."
When he first got to the league, Drummond couldn't shoot 40% from the foul line. He's spent a couple seasons recently above 60%, so his shooting touch has come a long way.
Green dismissed questions about battling Patrick Williams for the starting power forward spot. He said there's no competition and everyone is willing to accept whatever role the coaches think is best.
This is an important season for Green, who is in the final year of his contract, worth $1.7 million. After playing in college at Radford, he worked his way from the Spanish third division to a starting spot in the NBA. So he's pretty fearless in every aspect.
"If I'm making shots, making my teammates better, that's going to go a long way for me as well," he said. "It's not like I'm a selfish guy or just focused on my contract year. People get paid off the team winning."
Drummond will likely find himself as part of the Bulls' high-energy second unit this season with players like Alex Caruso, Coby White and Dalen Terry. That's fine with him.
"For me, that's how I prefer to play," Drummond said. "I prefer to run up and down, that's my game. I'm a runner, I'm an agile big. So for me to play with those guys, it's a lot of fun."
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