You remember the stories leading up to the 2018 NBA Draft. The Bulls reportedly made a promise to Chandler Hutchison and his agent that they would take the Boise State forward with the 22nd pick and asked him to cancel any pre-draft workouts he had planned.
When draft night arrived, the Bulls took Duke center Wendell Carter Jr. at No. 7 and then added Hutchison at No. 22. Their hope at the time was both players would eventually develop into long time starters, joining Lauri Markkanen in a young, athletic frontcourt.
Unfortunately, both Carter Jr. and Hutchison have had their development affected by injuries. Carter Jr. started the first 44 games of his rookie season, but then was sidelined by a broken thumb. Hutchison was also limited to just 44 games because of a broken foot, averaging a modest 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds. The Bulls also traded for veteran small forward Otto Porter Jr. before the 2019 deadline, moving Hutchison into a clear back-up role heading into this season.
By all accounts Hutchison was having an excellent off-season before suffering a strained hamstring in a pre-camp scrimmage, and a lengthy rehab delayed his debut until November 5th. Then after getting back into the rotation, Hutchison banged up a shoulder, costing him the month of December. He’s only played in 25 of the Bulls’ 52 games to this point, averaging 7.5 points and 3.6 assists.
You couldn’t blame the front office or coaching staff for wondering if Hutchison would ever become a rotation fixture because of the string of injuries early in his career. But the 6’7” forward finally decided to put all that in the rear view mirror and go back to being the type of player he was in college. Hutchison has displayed a completely different mindset in recent games, scoring a career high 21 points against the Pacers on January 29th, and then following that up with a 17 point, five rebound effort against the Raptors on February 2nd.
But it’s more than just the raw numbers. Hutchison is showing the kind of two-way ability that made him a first round draft pick in the first place. He’s moved into the starting line-up because of the recent injury to Kris Dunn and should get a chance to showcase his ability over the final 30 games. Finding more consistency with his outside shot looks to be the key to fully unlocking his offensive potential.
Porter should return at some point this season, and it’s likely he’ll accept his lucrative player option for the 2020-21 campaign. But if Hutchison continues his strong play of late the Bulls will know they have another reliable small forward on the roster, which could impact their plans in the draft and other off-season personnel moves.
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Maybe that vision of a starting frontline of Carter Jr., Markkanen and Hutchison will become a reality after all.
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