Hopefully, Daniel Gafford was listening.
There’s a long line of Bulls players that fall under the category of “needs development,’’ but few have the raw ability of Gafford.
After all, there aren’t many 6-foot-10, 33-inch vertical, 7-3 wingspan, runs like a deer players on this roster. Then factor in the high-motor and intensity? Gafford is the perfect candidate to be the next NBA second-rounder to become an impact starter … with some serious development.
And this is a new-look Bulls front office seemed equipped to make that talk a reality. At least they have a plan on how to make it reality.
The old regime spoke of player development, but an actual plan? Considering newly-hired general manager Marc Eversley was shocked to find out that the organization had long had just one player development coach on the staff, of course there was inconsistency with the franchise in that department since former coach Tom Thibodeau was let go.
“That’s a helluva job for one person to take on,’’ Eversley said of the old way of doing business around the Advocate Center. “There’s a lot of key areas within it — skill development, physical development, mental enhancement. But with that, you need to hire people to help support that. We’re going to do a pretty diligent job in terms of looking for the proper staff to bring in here to work with our young guys. But player development is going to be a tremendous focus for this organization moving forward.’’
Enter Gafford.
Of the 43 games in which the rookie played, he hit double-digit scoring just seven times. But that also included a 21-point outburst in a November loss to Milwaukee, in which Gafford also had five rebounds and two blocks.
Throw in a six-block game against Charlotte in December, and an eight-rebound game in Dallas back in January, and the pieces are there for Gafford to maybe start to live up to that Clint Capela comparison that’s been thrown his way since leaving Arkansas early for the 2019 draft.
Heck, in some ways Gafford is ahead of the Capela path, especially early on. Capela — drafted 25th overall in the 2014 draft — played in just 12 games as a rookie, and then started to show a glimmer of promise his second season. It was Capela’s fourth season, however, that he finally started to shine, averaging 13.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.
Gafford would need a lot of work to head in that direction, but the new regime at least gives him that chance.
The Situation: Wendell Carter Jr. wants to play his natural power forward position rather than be a center at some point, but there’s an obvious logjam in the starting frontcourt these days. And while it’s unlikely, what if the team decides to move on from Carter or Lauri Markkanen in an offseason trade?
That would leave a void in the middle for Gafford to try and fill.
A lot of ifs, but all meaningless unless Gafford shows the new regime that he is a willing and able candidate to make that jump in improvement.
He’ll have to get stronger in the post defensively, learn how to stay out of foul trouble, and has all kinds of work to do on his offensive game.
The Resolution: Once the NBA can resume some sort of a season, whether it’s an offseason for the Bulls or a continuation of this season, it will be interesting to see how Eversley and Co. view the mix in the frontcourt and where Gafford fits.
Bold Prediction: Markkanen and Carter stay put for at least the next season, which means Gafford has to earn his playing time off the bench. He does, however, make a serious jump in improvement during the 2020-21 campaign.
