The accounts coming out of the February trade deadline couldn’t have been any different.
Outside the Bulls locker room stood vice president of basketball operations John Paxson, fielding questions about the organization staying pat. Asked if there was any interest in veteran Thaddeus Young, Paxson responded, “No, no.’’
Inside the home locker room minutes later, Young sat at his locker with a much different view of the day. According to the power forward, he was in contact with his agent and was told that multiple teams were interested in him.
Just another he said, he said, and maybe the best way to sum up the Young experience with the Bulls.
Before joining the organization as a free agent last summer, Young’s 12-year career was half warrior/half choirboy.
The ultimate locker room guy, the ideal leader, and never one to rock the boat, Young’s credentials were stellar.
Leave it to the Bulls — the fifth team he’s played for — to be the first franchise to actually break Thad Young.
Early on in the season, there was a minutes discrepancy between Young and what coach Jim Boylen discussed months earlier in the free-agent recruiting process with him, that reared its ugly head.
Young, who had averaged 30-plus minutes per game in four straight seasons, knew he would sacrifice playing time to join the Bulls, but never imagined he’d be at the 21-minute mark per game through the first few months.
Boylen bumped up Young in playing time slightly, but the real boost in his playing time only came when Lauri Markkanen was sidelined for six weeks with a right pelvis injury.
So while he entered the NBA shutdown averaging 30-plus minutes per game over the final seven weeks, it was out of need from his coach rather than choice.
Not only were the minutes an issue, but when those minutes were handed out also bothered Young. The 31-year-old figured his experience and skillset would be perfect to close out games, but Boylen used a closer-by-committee mentality, using Zach LaVine and then whichever other four players Boylen deemed were in a good rhythm or had the right matchup.
Young is from the school of roles being defined, and didn’t see that happening consistently with the Bulls, privately insisting he was confused with the decision making in that department.
The Situation: The Young signing was the classic case of right guy, wrong time.
On paper, he was supposed to be versatile enough to back up Markkanen at the four, but also get minutes at the three, and then play alongside Markkanen when the 7-footer moved over to the five. It all sounded good.
The reality of it, however, was Young could no longer guard small forwards like he used to, and Markkanen struggled at the five. That left two players fighting for minutes at one position, with Markkanen deemed a developing talent that the franchise insisted they wanted to build around when this season started.
The Bulls are on the hook for all of the $13.5 million Young is owed next season, and have partial financial protection for the 2021-22 season when Young is scheduled to make $14.1 million.
The Resolution: Young and Markkanen can’t co-exist on the same roster, and considering the age and the ceiling on Markkanen, expect Young to once again be shopped this offseason.
Bold Prediction: Whether they were honest or not, the fact that Paxson couldn’t move Young at the deadline was somewhat concerning. The new general manager will get it done, however, as Young will be packaged by next February’s deadline, sent to a playoff contender.
