When choosing rotations, Bulls can't ignore Jones' Finals experience
Derrick Jones Jr. and Alex Caruso were once NBA Finals opponents, when Miami played the Lakers in the 2020 bubble.
Asked if he'd ever awkwardly run into some of the Lakers at the Disney World hotel, Jones confirmed it wasn't really an issue once there were just two teams left.
"Me personally, I didn't really leave my room," Jones said. "Once they allowed the families to be in the bubble. I was with my family most of the time so I really didn't get to see anybody from the opposite teams.
"Early on in the bubble, we were all walking around in the hotel, so you had no choice but to see everybody. When it was just the last two teams, you would think we would see each other a lot, but were rarely saw anybody from the Lakers team."
Even if they stayed on opposite sides of the Orlando hotel, Jones said he knew Caruso pretty well when they became teammates on the Bulls.
"Me and AC have been cool ever since we were in the G-League together, playing against each other," Jones said. "He's a great guy and I already told him how happy I am for him to win that championship, even though I wanted to win."
Jones' experience in the NBA Finals illustrates some of the tough decisions Bulls coach Billy Donovan will have to make in the first-round playoff series against Milwaukee.
Part of the lure of making the playoff is to give the Bulls' younger players some postseason experience. But it's possible they'll be more competitive by giving more minutes to the guys who have been there before.
Let's begin with the starting lineup. The Bulls are likely to go with second-year forward Patrick Williams, since he's probably their best option to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Will Donovan go with Caruso in the starting lineup, along with DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic? Donovan has never been one to divulge his starters until about 30 minutes before tipoff, so he's not likely to provide any clues.
If that is the lineup, then candidates to play off the bench are Jones, Javonte Green, Ayo Dosunmu, Coby White, Tristan Thompson. That's already 10 players and rotations usually get smaller instead of larger in the playoffs.
Jones dropped out of the rotation late in the season when Williams returned from wrist surgery. But when he did play, the Bulls were better when he and Green were on the floor. Green is likely the second-best option to guard Giannis. Experience usually makes a difference in the NBA, and it's probably more important in the playoffs.
"It's not my job to come up with the rotations," Jones said Thursday at the Advocate Center. "Whatever the rotations is, that's what it is. I'm not going to sit up here and pout if I'm not in the rotation, but if I am, I'm going to go out there and give it everything I've got like I always do.
"I'm not about to be one of those guys to pout and bash my teammates, because these guys are great. I'm in here every day with them and we all work. So why would I sit up here and be mad because other guys play in front of me? That just tells me I need to work more. Stay ready, whenever my numbers called, give them a reason not to take me out."
The guess here is the playing rotations are likely to be flexible. If one thing doesn't work, Donovan has other options.
As much as he might like to limit the Bulls' reliance on young players, Williams will be needed to try to guard Antetokounmpo. White needs to play because him getting hot from 3-point range is one of the storylines that could conceivably lead to the Bulls winning games.
Could Dosunmu drop out of the rotation? He started 40 games as a rookie, but did leave the starting lineup for a few games late in the year in favor of Caruso or White. But the Bulls also started Thompson and two-way player Tyler Cook against the Bucks this season, so Donovan is likely to stick with anything that works in this series.
Let's put it this way, if there was ever a team that needed six days off to prepare for a playoff opener, it's these Bulls.
"A lot of guys have spoken up, as they should," Jones said of the team's practice sessions. "If we mess up on a rep, we holding each other accountable. We're not about to let us just go through that rep and brush it under the rug.
"If it's first group, second group, third group, it doesn't matter. If you mess up, you do it again. You're not going to end that drill until you get it done the right way."
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