Shawn Respert and the challenge of player development in Chicago
Last Thursday, the Chicago Bulls announced that Shawn Respert would be the team’s new Director of Player Development. For most NBA teams that would be a normal, slightly newsworthy tidbit. However, the Bulls are notorious for having one of the worst front offices in the league. Chicago is also known in recent years for a lack of growth in their young players, so Respert’s hiring is a big deal.
With that being said, there is real reason to get excited about Respert’s arrival.
Shawn Respert was a superb player at the college level. He played all four years at Michigan State under coaching legend Jud Heathcote. He averaged 21.4 points per game over his career while shooting a respectable 48.4 percent. He won three Player of the Year awards in his senior season, and went on to be the eighth pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. After a brief NBA career, he played in Europe before settling into coaching in 2005.
Respert has held many roles throughout the league. He was once the Director of Player Development for the NBA G-League, and he has held positions — as an assistant coach and scout — with the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies. As the Director of Player Development for the Bulls he will have the difficult task of making sure that all of Chicago’s youngsters are in good spirits.
Fred Hoiberg has often been very unsure of rotations. One of the running storylines after the Bulls acquired Cameron Payne was that Payne was unsure of his role on the team because Hoiberg had not discussed that with him yet. Respert will be responsible for making sure players like Payne train like starters despite seeing so little floor time.
Last year, Sports Illustrated did a great interview with Jimmy Butler’s private skills-and-development trainer Chris Johnson. He had one quote during the interview that really did a great job of explaining what anyone who works in NBA player development is looking for:
“But I look at the player as an individual. What’s his strength? What’s his weakness? What can be areas we can focus in on and become great at? The NBA, it’s not about being great at everything. It’s about finding one or two things and becoming a master of it. Each player presents a different challenge.”
— Chris Johnson, the full-time skills and development coach for Jimmy Butler
In the first official year of the Bulls rebuild, Respert has a few prized prospects to work with right off the bat. And each of the three provide a very different challenge.
Kris Dunn was one of the more hyped guards out of last year’s class due to the tenacity he brings to the game. He fizzled in his rookie year, however, posting one of the worst shooting seasons of all time. He will need to work day-in, day-out on ways to score efficiently and maybe consider eliminating the 3-pointer from his game altogether. Dunn is in the mold of Rajon Rondo, and Rondo’s success within the Bulls’ system bodes well for him. Respert will need to rebuild Dunn’s confidence seeing as Minnesota gave up on the promising guard after one season. Dunn’s success will hinge heavily on the shooting of those around him and his minutes, two factors he doesn’t control. Dunn was the fifth pick in the 2016 Draft, so even the end of this upcoming season would be too early to call him a bust. But the results of his inaugural Chicago season will go a long way towards determining his staying power in the league.
Lauri Markannen was the No. 7 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and is considered by many to be the main piece of the Jimmy Butler trade. The 20-year old has dazzled in EuroBasket so far, scoring with ease and moving with a fluidity that reminds me of another particular seven-foot wing (there, I said it).
At EuroBasket, Markannen’s ball-handling has allowed him to beat his man off the dribble at a consistent rate. That has made him almost unguardable, especially when he is hitting the 3-point shot like he is right now (at a 53.8 percent rate). Playmaking and defense aren’t his strengths, but he has been extremely active in both areas this summer, showing that perhaps he already has a grip of the areas in which he needs improvement. Respert’s management of Markannen will be more about managing expectations. Markannen will — for the time being — be unfairly known as “the guy we traded Jimmy Butler for” in Chicago. So far, however, he has backed up all the hype about being the best shooter in the draft; all this while dominating European competition to the tune of 24.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. If Markannen fails to make a splash on a team bereft of shooting like Chicago, all signs point to the poor infrastructure lingering. Respert will be making sure Markannen is confident, but stressing how important it is for him to diversify his game will be crucial.
And when it comes to Respert’s responsibilities, Zach LaVine presents the biggest challenge. Zach LaVine is the most established out of the three prospects received in the Butler haul. In 47 games last season, LaVine put up 18.9 points per game while hitting 38.7 percent of his 3s, a mark that would’ve easily made him the best outside shooter on last year’s squad. The issue for Respert in LaVine’s case will be the Bulls’ communication throughout the orginization. It has seemed for some time that everyone within the Chicago franchise has a different plan. Now that the rebuild is underway, everyone has to be on the same page, and that is why LaVine’s impending recovery from an ACL tear worries me.
LaVine has no reason to rush back into action. The Bulls won’t be title contenders and Dwyane Wade is still under contract, so the 2-guard spot will be held down until he gets back. But Fred Hoiberg has gone on the record saying that he expects LaVine to play shortly after the season starts. LaVine himself says he is ahead of schedule with his recovery, and his agent echoed that statement. All signs point towards him coming back before December, which technically, is great. But Respert will be working with LaVine making sure he doesn’t over-exert himself before he settles in with the Bulls. The Chicago front office keeps things close to the vest, so there is no telling what they plan to do. But Respert has experience with young players trying to establish themselves in new environments. He needs to do whatever he can to make sure that LaVine comes back 110 percent, and he absolutely cannot keep his opinions to himself on this one. LaVine clearly has the talent level to be an elite shooting guard, but that potential can never be fufilled if he can’t stay on the court.
So yes, Shawn Respert is walking into what I would consider one of the hardest jobs in the league. Developing players in Chicago hasn’t been easy since it has been hard to tell what role is envisioned for everyone. And Hoiberg makes things even harder with his random rotations. But Respert is well-respected in the NBA community, and his MSU ties could mean he and Denzel Valentine develop a good rapport. That would be huge since last season basically acted as a redshirt year for the former first-round pick.
I like Respert a lot, and his experiences before being a coach is the main reason why. As a top-10 draft pick who only played four NBA seasons, he knows how tough it can be to make it in the league. So he will constantly be around for support as the Chicago Bulls gear up for what will likely be a tumultuous season. Expect to hear Respert’s name come up a lot as we see a litany of big performances from the youth movement. In his statement following his hiring, Respert said he’s, “thankful to have the chance to work with Fred Hoiberg and the rest of his staff.” We will see if he feels the same after his first season with the franchise. The Bulls are entering the bold, brave new world of rebuilding, and Respert stands at the forefront.
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