Chicago Bulls: Who is trending up, trending down amidst preseason

Trending Up: Forward Bobby Portis

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Bobby Portis is flourishing before our eyes. It is only the preseason, but my goodness, he looks good — real good.

Wednesday night against the Pacers, Hoiberg switched things up and threw Portis into the starting lineup, sending Jabari Parker to the bench in his place.

Yeah, you read that right. For those of you who didn’t see the game or didn’t follow along in some form, I understand the surprise you may be experiencing while reading this. But, yes, Portis did indeed start — and he was lights out.

In 22 minutes, Portis scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting (3-of-5 from long distance), grabbed six boards, added two assists, two steals and a block as well.

What a jam-packed line.

Don’t worry, we’ll get to how Parker performed later (spoiler alert: it was no different than his preseason action up to this point).

Portis has scored 21, 17, 17 and 20 points in his four preseason contests while also shooting 52.6, 46.7, 60.0 and 72.7 percent respectively. He has at least five rebounds in three of four games whle totaling five steals in those four games as well.

Could Portis supplant Parker as the starter, at least until Markkanen comes back? By the way, when Markkanen does come back, Hoiberg may have to toy with the lineup even more. Until then, if Portis stays locked into the starting lineup, Parker’s demeanor is going to be very interesting to watch.