Ben Gordon:Scoring the Bulls more Airtime

Beyond signing Eddie Basden, resigning Chris Duhon and utilizing the CBA's amnesty clause to get Eddie Robinson’s contract permanently off the books, the Chicago Bulls have had a relatively quiet off-season. This hasn’t been really a bad thing because as of late, the Bulls fans have become accustomed to waiting, especially when it pays off the way it did last season. The Bulls are looking to bring back a majority of a roster that made up one of the best defensive teams in the league; a team that also features an extremely promising core of young players. Although they don’t have a lot of room to grow defensively, at least statistically, on the offensive end, the Bulls have as much upside as a number one draft pick. That is, if you leave out Kwame Brown, Joe Smith and possibly Andrew Bogut, but we’ll see with him. Possibly the biggest reason for the wealth of upside is that last years 3rd pick of the draft and Sixth man of the year, Ben Gordon, has what it takes to become a tremendous offensive weapon.

Offensively, Gordon could become one of the best players in the NBA. He has as stable a shot as anyone in the league. He also has great range on that shot. He has a solid frame like Gilbert Arenas with a better shooting touch. That allows him to get his shots off easily because it is more difficult for him to be off balance. Combine that with his ability to create for himself and drive inside and power his way to the hoop and you have all the makings of a superstar. As a rookie Gordon suffered issues of consistency, but those issues are consistent with most rookies. Look for him to come on strong this year as the primary scoring option for the Bulls. He also came off the bench last season, but this season will probably find a starting role, especially if the Bulls loose Eddie Curry, as Curry’s the other main offensive weapon and a restricted free agent.

Last season Gordon averaged 15.1ppg off the bench in only 24 minutes. Those numbers are good enough that he ranked 11th in points per 48 minutes, with 29.6. Gordon also proved to be an exceptionally potent option in the fourth quarter. This season Bulls coach Scott Skiles will likely integrate him more into the offensive scheme. Gordon also ranked 4th in field-goals attempted per 48 minutes, again with most of these coming in the fourth quarter. Skiles is a conservative coach offensively and doesn’t like to run an unbalanced offensive attack, so don’t expect Gordon to put up ridiculously high numbers next season, but there is a lot of natural room for his scoring to improve within the offense.

Here’s where those points are going to come from. Because scoring within an offense doesn’t take place unless a player is playing outside a set of offensive parameters, he’s not going to score any more points-per-game unless those points come from someone else within the offense. Antonio Davis and Othella Harrington averaged 15ppg between them last season. Both are going to be a year older next year and with the further development of Tyson Chandler, both will see fewer minutes. Let’s take five of their points away for next season. Also the Bulls were a below average offensive team last season. Let’s assume that they can execute their offense more precisely next season and keep their scoring more on par with the league average. That means the team would be scoring roughly 3 points more each game if they were an average team offensively. It’s also unlikely that both Chris Duhon and Jannero Pargo both return to the team, meaning that there’s an additional 6 ppg to be distributed among the team.

That leaves roughly 14ppg to be distributed among the Bulls scorers. Gordon certainly won’t see all of that, but he will see some of that. It’s worth noting too that those are just points made, not shots taken. If a player that shoots a low percentage, like Pargo, has his shots given to a player that shoots a higher one, like Gordon, that player is likely to make more of those shots. With that in mind, let’s assume that the only players to make significant strides offensively next season are Gordon and Eddie Basden, as he didn’t play in the league last season. Let’s also assume that Chandler and Hinrich take the same number of shots, but shoot a better percentage next season. That means they don’t become a significant factor in a change in the offensive flow. Eddy Curry and Loul Deng will likely see an increase in production, although probably not extremely significant. Let’s give un-rafted rookie Basden 4ppg, Curry and Deng 2ppg apiece and figure the rest of the scoring load will fall on Ben Gordon’s shoulders. That would mean he would be scoring approximately 19ppg next season. If you figure that he won’t suffer from as many issues of consistency that number could easily raise to 20 or 22ppg.

Ben Gordon won’t lead the league in scoring next season, but he will lead the Bulls. Gordon has enough offensive skill to be the team’s primary offensive option for years to come. The points are there, he just needs to learn to score them. If he can, the Bulls may be even more dangerous this season than they were last, finishing with the 3rd best record in the Eastern Conference. If Gordon can take over for a whole game, the Bulls will be making some serious noise in the playoffs next year. If Ben Gordon can transcend to superstar status, the Bulls will be making some serious noise in the NBA finals in the not too distant future. The skies the limit for this young team, as long as they can score enough points to get there.