Bulls Bolster Frontcourt With Thaddeus Young
The NBA has gone crazy with its first day of free agency, which is exactly what the league was going for when it moved up the start of the period by six hours. As of this writing, Twitter is rampant with stories, rumors and hot takes. Though the Bulls haven’t gotten anyone particularly high-profile, they haven’t remained idle, either. That itself should be considered a victory.
Per Yahoo! Sports, veteran power forward Thaddeus Young has verbally agreed to a three-year, $41 million contract with the Bulls. Young, who turned 31 on June 21 played the previous three seasons with the Indiana Pacers. The past year was his best in Indianapolis as he averaged 12.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game on 52.7% shooting from the field and 66.4% shooting from the free-throw line. His first seven seasons came with the Philadelphia 76ers (he was on the team that benefited from Derrick Rose’s ACL tear and Joakim Noah’s sprained ankle, allowing it to eliminate the top-seeded Bulls in the first round of the 2012 playoffs), and he was involved in the three-team trade that sent him and Andrew Wiggins to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Young wasted little time expressing his gratitude for the Bulls giving him his next NBA job. Let’s take a look at what he tweeted. Hey, it’s not every day you read positive thoughts about the front office.
The agreement also reunites Young with Zach LaVine, who was a rookie with the Timberwolves when they played together. That arrangement lasted a little more than half a season until the Timberwolves traded Young to the Brooklyn Nets to allow Kevin Garnett to finish his career in Minneapolis. Almost as soon as it was announced Young was coming to Chicago, LaVine expressed his excitement, and Young returned the favor.
There’s no way Young will take Lauri Markkanen’s starting spot at the four, and he surely understood that when he agreed to this deal. Perhaps he could play out of position and start at the three if Otto Porter has a disappointing start. Either way, he’ll provide a needed veteran presence on a team lacking one with Robin Lopez left for other teams to bid on. There’s no way the Bulls could make a push for the playoffs in 2019–20 if they don’t have someone who’s been around for awhile.
Young has been one of the NBA’s most reliable players for the past decade. In seasons not shortened by a lockout, he’s played less than 73 games only once and appeared in 81 in each of the past two seasons. He’s averaged at least 11 points a game in all but his rookie season. He’s never had a negative VORP and is coming off a career high 3.1.
For Week 9 this past season, Young was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. During that time, he averaged 18.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals while putting together three double-doubles and shooting 55.8% from the floor. His best game during that time was a 113–101 Pacers win over the 76ers on Dec. 14. He had 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while his team withstood a 40-point barrage from Joel Embiid.
The Bulls are getting Young while his value is at one of, if not the highest mark of his career. That could either mean he’s about to come back to earth or prove he’s in the middle of the best he’ll have to offer as a basketball player. Either way, the Bulls need consistency on their roster, and there’s no one who can fill that role better than Young. At worst, he should be their best bench player and maybe even a challenger for Sixth Man of the Year.
With a durable body and reliable numbers on the stats sheet, Young is beneficial to anyone, and the Bulls are lucky to have him. While he won’t change the franchise in a way Zion Williamson will in New Orleans or Kevin Durant in Brooklyn (whenever he gets healthy), he is the definition of what it takes to have a nice, long NBA career. If the younger Bulls, regardless of talent level, know what’s good for them, they’ll take inspiration from everything he says and does. And if those players are able to build off that extra step they’ll get from such a thing, well, I’m ready for another Red Out at the United Center in late April.
