Chicago Bulls Rumors: Kenneth Faried drops hint on Instagram

The Chicago Bulls are looking for a true power forward to round out their roster — someone who can provide size, rebounding, and defensive abilities in the paint. The Bulls might be able to check those boxes with Kenneth Faried.

The Faried-to-Bulls ties are being taken from a comment he made on Jordan Lawley’s Instagram post. Lawley is a basketball trainer that frequently works with Alex Caruso, and just recently posted a video of him, Caruso, and Zach LaVine working on 1v1 moves.

“That’s tough! Can’t wait to work!” said Faried in the comment section of the post.

Lawley pinned the comment to show viewers from a clearer view that Faried is excited about the work the newly rostered Bulls are putting in.

Why do the Bulls need a power forward?

Before we get into what Faried can bring to the table, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of needing a power forward added to the roster.

Quite simply, the Bulls lost dynamic power forwards in Lauri Markkanen and Thaddeus Young, while spending money at other positions on the team to bolster their roster.

The front office also missed out on signing Paul Millsap and LaMarcus Aldrige, two true power forwards that the organization attempted to sign to the team.

The players brought in include DeMar DeRozan, Alex Caruso, Lonzo Ball, Tony Bradley, Derrick Jones Jr, Ayo Dosunmu, and Marko Simonovic.

Technically, Jones Jr. and DeRozan can play small-ball power forward if necessary, especially DeRozan, who has a similar play style to Jimmy Butler on offense.

The problem remains, the Bulls have no size to the power forward position. On the roster, they list Patrick Williams, who is the biggest at 6-foot-7 and 215 pounds, Jones Jr., and Troy Brown as their power forwards.

Therefore, the Bulls could use a true power forward on their team.

How can Kenneth Faried contribute to the team?

Faried, 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, can only do so much to help the team’s need at power forward.

Faried is on the wrong side of 30-years old and hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2018-19 season with the Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets. Between both teams in his last NBA season, he averaged nearly 13 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in 25 games.

Faried has had his fair share of the injury bug with multiple leg problems (knee, hip, ankle). The most amount of games he has played in his NBA career was 80 for two straight seasons in his second and third years.

On the positive side, Faried has been keeping up in basketball, playing in China’s professional league as well as this past summer league with the Portland Trail Blazers.

He played one season in China before COVID-19 surfaced, and averaged 17.3 points and 10 rebounds per game. This past summer, the Manimal averaged 5.7 points and nearly nine rebounds per game with the young Trail Blazers.

“I could give you whatever you need that night, especially defensively and rebounding, because that’s who I am,” Faried said. “I love to play the game physical, love to be in the paint. The money isn’t what I’m worried about. I don’t care about the money. I care about basketball. I want to play in the NBA,” reported Shlomo Sprung of Boardroom.

If the words “defense” and “rebounding” didn’t stick out to Bulls fans, then you don’t understand why the team needs an aggressive and physical power forward like Faried.

The Bulls allowed 111.6  points per game to their opponents on average last season, a mark that barely placed them in the top half of the league, and a mark that was once bottom-tier NBA level.

The team was an above-average rebounding team, hauling in 52.3 per game last season. But, that can always be improved upon, and will especially be necessary with a guard-heavy lineup this season.

Outside of Faried, the Bulls might look into James Ennis or Jarred Vanderbilt to fill out the need. In the meantime, keep your radar on Faried as a possibility to join the team if given the chance.