Adam Mokoka is a riveting Bulls player you should look out for
Bulls two-way guard Adam Mokoka had a spectacular 15-point output in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans on Feb. 6, 2020. According to Elias Stats Bureau, in the shot-clock era (since 1954–55), no player had ever scored 15+ points in as little playing time as Adam Mokoka. Although it was during garbage time because the Bulls were already down by 23, Mokoka might be the next player you should look out for.
Mokoka stepped up in his NBA game scoring debut showing what he was capable of in a very small sample size. Things that Mokoka excelled at that the Bulls desperately need are 3-point shooting and slashing. Mokoka went 3/3 from the three point line while the Bulls as a team have struggled to even shoot 35 percent from the 3-point line. Mokoka is also a slasher that has a knack for finding a lane into the paint and getting open with or without the ball.
Not only did he have this sensational game, but he also had a 26-point game Feb. 20, 2020 with the Windy City Bulls. As a two-way player, Mokoka has been putting in a lot of work in both leagues within the past two weeks, and to be quite honest, it is very timely seeing that he may fit into the Bulls lineup with all of the injuries that have partaken throughout the season.
With 26 games left and almost double the amount of losses as wins, the Bulls look like they are headed to the lottery. Even while being a 10th-seeded team and only 5.5 games out of a playoff spot, it is highly unlikely the Bulls make the playoffs. According to Basketball Reference, the Bulls only have a 4.8% chance of making the playoffs.
Adam Mokoka averaged 9.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 43.6% shooting during the Las Vegas Summer League 5 game stint before earning his two-way contract. In 25 games with the Windy City Bulls he’s averaging 10.1 points 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists a game on 36-percent shooting in 30.1 minutes per game. He has played in only five games for the Bulls thus far and in the first four games he went scoreless in garbage time playing four minutes or less in all of those games. This makes it very tough to gauge if he will truly be a breakout player.
One of the reasons that the Bulls have underperformed this season are due to the injuries that have punished this team. Losing Otto Porter Jr., Lauri Markkanen, Daniel Gafford, Wendell Carter Jr., and Chandler Hutchison for periods have made a huge negative impact.
The Bulls need to find a way to fit Mokoka on the court and give him more playing time throughout the season to figure out if he could fit their scheme since there isn’t much more to look forward to other than Zach LaVine scoring 30-plus points in a losing effort.
The 6-foot-5 guard from France has some decent versatility. He could easily be stretched to play small forward where the Bulls have faced a lot of injuries at position wise. Also Mokoka has pretty nice playmaking skills in the open floor, easily finding the open man and making extra passes to get easy fast-break points. The Bulls like to play fast so he would make a great fit on the second unit that lacks scoring prowess outside of Coby White.
It’s time that Bulls fans wake up and realize that Mokoka has game. When you look at previous rising stars from the G-League such as Spencer Dinwiddie (21.0 points, 6.6 assists) and Fred VanVleet (18.0 points, 6.8 assists), it saves the organization a lot of cap space to find great players organically through the affiliate teams. The Bulls have nothing to lose by letting him play more and if things work in their favor, the Bulls might find a hidden gem that they can implement in the 2020–21 season for a discount.
