Chicago Bulls: Wendell Carter Jr. proving he is best rookie big man

The Chicago Bulls may not have drafted the first big man in this year’s draft, but Wendell Carter Jr. is proving he is the best of the group.

A 3-9 record. Four players out for significant time due to injury. Not a whole lot of hope for the playoffs. This season hasn’t been chock full of bright spots for the Chicago Bulls, so far.

But, with the state of the franchise heading into the 2018-2019 campaign, what would you have expected? Injuries are a part of the game, yes, but the Bulls have certainly suffered more than most teams.

Through the tough start to the year, however, the Bulls do indeed have plenty to be excited about. First of all, the emergence and breakout of Zach LaVine has been a blast. He’s been on a tear. But, aside from LaVine, one of the best stories of the Bulls’ young season has been that of the no. 7 overall pick in this year’s draft.

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Fans had mixed emotions about Wendell Carter Jr. going into the draft, and the emotions only grew stronger as they saw their team pass on Michael Porter Jr. only to draft Carter — who many labeled as a “safe pick.” Plenty of experts and analysts pegged Carter as a guy who might be a solid player off the bench, but never really pan out as a big-time, impact player.

So far, those folks should be searching for and deleting some of their old tweets — Carter is the real deal.

Carter has come into his own quickly over the last three games, posting a double-double while averaging three blocks and a steal at the same time. Before his string of double-doubles, Carter filled a bit of a different role for the Bulls, showing us that he isn’t always just points, rebounds and defense.

While averaging 18 points and 7.7 rebounds in a trio of games prior to his double-double streak, Carter also posted assists numbers of six, five and four — good for a clean five assists per game over that span.

On the season, Carter is averaging 15.9 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.0 steals per 36 minutes. Carter is shooting 46.1 percent overall, and 38.5 percent from long distance. He also has a fairly impressive defensive rating of 108 on the year.

Let’s check in on Carter’s fellow rookie big men who were drafted ahead of him, and to make it fair, analyze the same spread on a 36-minute basis.

Deandre Ayton: 17.3 points, 59.1 percent shooting (zero attempts from three), 11.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.9 blocks, 0.7 steals, defensive rating of 111

Marvin Bagley III: 19.8 points, 53.5 percent shooting (53.8 percent from three), 10.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.7 blocks, 1.0 steals, defensive rating of 110

Jaren Jackson Jr.: 17.9 points, 46.9 percent shooting (20.8 percent from three), 7.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.4 blocks, 1.6 steals, defensive rating of 103

Each of these guys have some impressive numbers in their own respect. Out of the bunch, Jackson is giving up the fewest points per 100 possessions, showing that he’s been the best overall defender of the group.

Bagley, meanwhile, looks to be the best pure scorer out of them all, especially with an impressive stroke from deep.

Ayton, then, looks to be just what we thought he would be coming into the league — all offense. He doesn’t do too well on the perimeter on either end, as seen by his zero attempts from deep. He’s also rated as the worst of the group, defensively.

So, we go back to Carter, who’s giving the Bulls a double-double per 36 minutes, like Ayton and Bagley are for their teams. He’s putting up the most blocks of all four guys. He’s shooting it well from deep. He’s barely second in assists to Ayton. Lastly, he’s been great defensively — second among the four.

All in all, Carter has proven to be the most balanced of the four rookie big men. Does that make him the best of the bunch? The way I see it, it does. Maybe others have differing opinions, and that’s fine. But, in today’s NBA, the more well-rounded you are as a big man, the better.

Carter is proving he will be a special player in this league, and Bulls fans should be very excited about not only his future, but the future of the team itself.