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IndyStar
What's the deal?
Thaddeus Young has agreed to a three-year, $41 million contract with the Chicago Bulls.
What does Young bring to the Bulls?
Young will be a great bench piece for the Bulls. He will likely be inserted as their sixth man, and fill the much needed backup power forward position.
Young has had consistent production his entire career. He has averaged over 10 points per game for the last 11 seasons. Young has also averaged at least one full steal a game for his entire career. Young brings a much needed defensive presence to the Chicago Bulls and will have the opportunity to mentor the new rookie, Daniel Gafford.
Young will have more games played than the Bulls starting lineup combined. Chicago’s starters played a combined 856 games; Young has 901. Needless to say Young brings a much needed veteran presence.
What does this mean for the Bulls?
Young won’t make Bulls relevant by any means. Young’s main priority will be helping the Bulls adopt a tougher mentality. Young will also be a good example when it comes to his effort on defense. Last year the Bulls defense was in the bottom third of the league. Young should foster a big momentum change for the Bulls defensively. Outside of leadership and defense, Young isn’t going to be able to effect the Bulls too heavily in the win column. Gar/Pax has made it pretty clear that they believe in the young guys and will hold steady with them. Young is a good signing but Bulls shouldn’t expect a drastic change in success. Signing Young will slowly make cultural impacts on the team over the course of his three-year deal.
How would you grade this contract?
Pros:
Having Young on a three-year deal allows the young guys to build trust with him. Because Young is being brought in for the culture of the team, he will need time to build relationships and mentor young players.
If Lauri, Wendell, and White progress like Bulls fans hope, then the Bulls should be playoff contenders in the next three years. The duration of the contract allows chemistry and consistency to progress.
Young is just 31. If the aim is to win games next season, Chicago has brought in a very productive vet.
Cons:
Although the length of the contract helps the culture, it may bite the Bulls in 2021. 2021 the Bulls will have a tremendous amount of cap space. The Bulls should look pretty enticing for big name free agents in 2021. Lauri and Wendell will be nearing their peaks, and the Bulls will likely be a playoff team at that point. Having Young on contract for three-years opposed to two-years will hurt their ability to sign these potential big names.
Daniel Gafford will hopefully grow over the next three years and having a guy like Young on the roster will only take minutes away from the athletic big man.