Is Bulls' new shooting philosophy of 'let it fly' really sustainable?
Billy Donovan had a priority list at the start of the fall camp.
Atop it was taking on an offensive philosophy that the Bulls coach was hellbent on turning into a day-to-day trait.
Not always easy to do when the roster construction hasn’t always supported such a drastic change, but playing faster and getting up more three-pointers was key from Day 1. If the five preseason Bulls games were any indication of Donovan getting the results he wanted, he can go ahead and check that box.
The Bulls will go into the regular season averaging 47.8 three-point attempts per game, trailing only the Boston Celtics in that department (52.6 attempts per game).
Sure, it’s meaningless preseason games, but considering the Bulls finished the 2023-24 campaign 26th in the league with 32.1 three-point attempts per game, this is a massive shift in the shot profile. Just what Donovan and his coaching staff wanted after moving on from the mid-range game of veteran DeMar DeRozan.
The Celtics led the league with 42.5 threes attempted last season and when the smoke cleared were holding up the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.
The team they beat to earn the confetti shower? Dallas, who, oh by the way, just happened to finish second in three-point attempts last season with 39.5 per game.
Does that mean the Bulls can punch their playoff ticket? Not so fast. Taking threes is one thing, making them helps.
Oklahoma City (38.9%) led the NBA in three-point shooting percentage last season, while the Celtics finished second (38.8%). The Bulls ranked 20th at 35.8%. They finished this preseason 13th at 34.3%.
What matters now, however, is will this drastic change in how the Bulls play offensively have staying power? Is it sustainable?
That’s a yes.
With Zach LaVine, Coby White, Josh Giddey, Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic the projected starting five come Wednesday in New Orleans, only Giddey is a shaky long-range shooter. That’s fine because his job is to use his positional size at the point to rebound and push the temp up the floor. If opposing defenses want to leave him wide open to shoot it, he’ll take that dare.
Then there’s the main rotation players off the bench in Ayo Dosunmu, Jalen Smith, Matas Buzelis and Julian Phillips. Dosunmu and Smith are proven long-range shooters, while the youngsters in Buzelis and Phillips have shown promise.
The trump card in all of this is Lonzo Ball and his availability from game-to-game. If the left knee holds up that’s another threat from beyond the three-point line, and a big one (42.3% the last time he was healthy in 2021-22).
“It’s a work in progress,” White said of the three-point barrage being launched. “We’ve still got to figure out stuff because at moments in the game, the game will slow down. It’s never going to always be fast-paced, and that’s where we’ve got to figure out how to still get to the spots and be productive on the offensive end.”
White better hope they can figure it out because he has a chance to be the biggest beneficiary of this shift in philosophy.
The former first-round pick out of North Carolina is on the cusp of being an All-Star, evident by finishing second in the Most Improved Player of the Year last season. White has been the team’s most consistent – and frequent – three-point shooter the past few seasons, and with LaVine possibly being out of the picture by the Feb. 6 trade deadline, those numbers should only increase.
Just don’t ask White to get caught up in that.
“Whatever role that may be, I’ve always been a team-first guy no matter what,” White said of the upcoming regular season and his role. “So for me, I’ll always do what’s best for the team. Whatever role that may be or whatever’s necessary that comes with it.”
What will come with it? Feet behind the three-point line and let it fly.