WHEN YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO ASK
Donovan already addressing Carter’s desire to do more
Bulls big man Wendell Carter Jr. wasn’t going to make waves while the season was still in progress. No, there’s a way to handle business in the NBA, and even though he was just 20 at the time, Carter was well- versed in how it works:
He’d sit down with his coach face- to- face after the final game and let him know there was more to his game than was being used.
Maybe he could play some four rather than just the five. It would be nice if, every so often, the Bulls would run some offense through him rather than just using him as a passer or a garbage man in the paint.
Simply put, Carter wanted to be developed. But the conversation with coach Jim Boylen never took place.
The coronavirus pandemic cut the Bulls’ season short, and then Boylen was shown the exit after the new front office took over.
So how is Carter feeling now as training camp opens under new coach Billy Donovan?
Probably as comfortable as he has been since the Bulls selected him seventh overall in the 2018 draft.
Call it the Donovan Effect.
“[ Donovan] actually came to me and told me that he wants me to be more interchangeable and learn the four position, learn the five position,” Carter said. “He actually came to me about those [ concerns I had]. I think that’s a good thing.”
Maybe a great thing.
Donovan’s expressed interest in improving Carter’s game was tested on draft day last month, when multiple reports had the Bulls trading Carter to the Warriors, along with their No. 4 overall pick, in exchange for the Warriors’ No. 2 pick. NBA trade rumors are common, but not for a player going into his third year with seemingly so much upside.
Carter wasn’t buying it.
“When I first saw [ the rumor], I kind of knew it was BS,” he said Thursday. “I didn’t pay much attention to it. Then my family members started hitting me up about it, like, ‘ Man, what’s going on? You going to Oakland?’ I’m, like, ‘ Man, I feel like I’m good.’ I didn’t pressure the front office at all. At the end of the day, it’s a business. So if it was to go through, I mean, it’s a business. But I had a lot of faith I was going to be here. I knew the coaching staff and the front office believed in me from the talks that we’ve had. . . . Deep down in my heart, I knew I was going to be a Bull.’’
Now that it’s certain he’ll still be one, what does Donovan do to help get Carter to the next level?
“I think for Wendell — just watching him and being around him and even communicating with him — I think there’s a lot of different things he can do,” Donovan said. “I think he can be a facilitator for us. I think he’s got very good vision — he’s a good passer for a big man. I think, also, him being put in some situations where he can kind of stretch his range a little bit and maybe do a little bit more on the perimeter, I think that will be a big part of his growth and development as a player.”
That’s a simple plan Carter can embrace.