Thaddeus Young is Pivotal to Bulls’ Future Success

Thaddeus Young, in his age 32 season, arguably had the best year of his career this past season. It seems like he has been in the league forever, but still shows signs of having a lot left in the tank. He finished with the highest field goal percentage and assists per game in his career. Young had never finished with more than 2.5 assists per game, but this past season he put up 4.3. He has changed the way he plays dramatically. He now is always on the lookout for cutters to the basket and shooters open on the perimeter. Whether he actually came up with it is unknown, but Bulls legendary announcer Stacy King has popularized the nickname “Thadgic Johnson” for Young’s newfound playmaking ability. This new playstyle brings so much value to this Bulls team in the present and hopefully the future.

Image courtesy of forbes.com

What Thad Brings to the Team

As mentioned earlier, Young’s playmaking has been a revelation for a team that lacks creators. The Bulls have scorers, but they lack someone who sets the table for others. By no means is he a primary playmaker that an offense is going to run through, but you can give him the ball and expect him to make the right play.

Billy Donovan deserves some of the credit for Young’s success. In Young’s first year with the Bulls under Jim Boylen, he was relegated to a lot of corner sitting and spot-up threes. Young has never been a good three-point shooter, at times he has been serviceable, but never good. Under Donovan, Young was afforded the chance to be trusted with the ball in his hands. This was great for Young and really allowed him to show some skill he had not really shown yet in his NBA career.

Another aspect that is so important to this team is Young’s leadership. Thad has more experience in the NBA than anyone else on this roster. He has been a really solid player for such a long time now. Young brings a veteran presence that is so important to a team filled with young players. He seems to be very well-liked within the team and is loved by fans. Young is just the type of player any team would love to have.

Thad’s Future Role

Before the deadline trade to acquire Nikola Vucevic, Thaddeus Young was taking up the role of the Bulls’ second-best player behind Zach LaVine. Young is so important to this team, but he may not be the greatest

Image courtesy of bleachernation.com

fit next to Vucevic. Before that acquisition, the Bulls were trying out lineups with Young at center, and that seemed to be the position where he was most effective. Next to Vucevic, he would be sliding back to power forward. Young is no longer the great athlete he once was when he entered the league at nineteen years old. He does not have the lateral foot speed to stay with most fours. Center is the position he should be playing for the rest of his career.

Due to this, it may be in the Bulls’ best interest to have him come off the bench. Young should not be

opposed to coming off the bench due to that having been his role with the team for about the first year and a half of his tenure with the Bulls anyway. This would immediately make Young one of the best and more valuable bench bigs in the league.

Conclusion

Young is a free agent after this upcoming season. Bulls fans would love to keep him for the long haul as a valuable veteran leader coming off the bench. He will hopefully come back and play a very large role for a

Image courtesy of awfulannouncing.com

Bulls team that should be competing during these next few years. To finish off, it is impossible to talk about Thaddeus Young without acknowledging the stat and graphic that has been circulating for years now. Young is truly in elite company.

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