Chicago Bulls: Why the team’s interest in Lonzo Ball doesn’t make sense

The Chicago Bulls’ interest in Lonzo Ball might make sense on paper, but doesn’t in terms of what the team needs at the point guard position 

There has been some chatter around the league that the Chicago Bulls are interested in acquiring Lonzo Ball this offseason. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune is one of the people talking about the team’s interest in Lonzo as he stated last week that the Bulls are intrigued with Ball:

"Ball intrigues the Bulls as a pass-first, defensive-minded point guard with positional size who can best maximize the talents of Lauri Markkanen, Zach LaVine and Wendell Carter Jr."

However, one can argue that Lonzo Ball would not thrive on the Bulls because of how head coach Jim Boylen uses the point guard position. Boylen prefers that his point guards spend a significant amount of time off the ball in the role of bystander or spot up shooter.

One example of this was during a road game against the Atlanta Hawks when Kris Dunn dribbled over halfcourt. Once this happened, he passed the ball to Zach LaVine Kris spent the rest of the possession standing at the top of the key in the role of a bystander as LaVine dribbled the ball to the right wing and waited a few seconds for Robin Lopez to set a screen.

After this occurred, he went over the screen and realized that Dewayne Dedmon stayed at the free-throw line instead of coming up to guard him. Dedmon’s decision allowed LaVine to end the possession by taking and making a 3-pointer.

Consequently, Jim Boylen’s offense would deemphasize Lonzo Ball’s ability to pass the ball while putting an added spotlight on his greatest weakness. Lonzo’s greatest weakness is three-point shooting as he has shot 31.5 percent from behind the arc (1.7 3’s in 5.3 attempts per game) in two seasons.

Lonzo’s shooting struggles put the opposing team in a good position defensively when he doesn’t have the ball because they can afford to leave him open to provide help defense elsewhere.

For Lonzo Ball to thrive in Chicago, Boylen would have to transition towards a point guard led pick-and-roll offense. Starting the pick-and-roll sequence would allow Ball to study the opposing defense to determine what is the right play on a specific possession.

In that offensive system, Ball can bring the ball up to the 3-point line and call for a screen. Once the pick is set, Lonzo can pay attention to his defender to determine the course of action. If the defender stays under the screen, he can either shoot the ball immediately or go over the screen to shoot a mid-range jumper.

If the defender fights over the screen, he can go over it as well and drive towards the basket to score or pass the basketball depending on whether a double team comes. In conclusion, unless Jim Boylen is willing to make this change, the team would be better off without Lonzo Ball.