3 ways the Chicago Bulls can mirror the Celtics’ recent success
By Josh De Luca
2. The Chicago Bulls need their own Marcus Smart
The Chicago Bulls need to find their version of Marcus Smart for the future.
Marcus Smart is arguably the “glue” of the Boston Celtics team. He has been a great defender for the team for many years now but was finally recognized as the NBA’s Defensive Player of the year just a few weeks ago.
He brings a certain level of grit and passion to the team that not many players in this league have. His play as a defender and as a playmaker this season has most definitely put the Celtics in the position they are now.
Finding a Marcus Smart-type player isn’t an easy task for any organization. However, I think the Bulls have two players on the roster who could evolve into the type of player Marcus has been this season.
Both Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso are great defending guards who were acquired the last offseason. Early on, Lonzo Ball was making a huge impact on both ends of the floor and the Bulls were 39-21, which was good enough for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately, Ball didn’t play in a game for the Bulls past Jan. 14. He had a torn meniscus and ended up getting surgery in late January. Usually, after routine surgery, you are able to fully recover and be almost at full strength the following season.
However, there has been growing concern around the organization around Lonzo’s knee. It’s been quite some time after the surgery and Ball is still struggling immensely to ramp up his workouts.
Hopefully, he can figure out how to improve his knee pain this offseason because when he was healthy, he had the Bulls playing like the best team in the East.
As for Caruso, he also dealt with some injury and COVID issues but was able to be at full strength for the playoffs. In the playoffs, Caruso played a big role both in assisting and his on-ball defense.
Most notably in game 2 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Alex was one point away from a double-double, posting 9 points, 10 assists, and racking up 2 steals and 2 blocks. Caruso’s main struggles this season came from beyond the 3-point line.
Shooting barely over 33% and only averaging a single 3-pointer a game this season, he wasn’t much of a scoring threat, often seeing teams leave him open for shots and double-teaming DeRozan and LaVine.
Both of these players show great Marcus Smart upside, but each has their own struggles that they have to improve on if they want to be as effective as a player as this season’s DPOY. Hopefully, one or both can make that leap.