Carter back home, but focus on game

ATLANTA — As if guarding the likes of Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond didn’t place enough on Wendell Carter Jr.’s plate, playing his sixth NBA game Saturday night against the Hawks in Atlanta before family and friends in his hometown could be a daunting assignment. Carter didn’t see it that way. “It’s exciting,” Carter said. “But it’s also a business trip.”

Carter said he received plenty of ticket requests but his main focus was elsewhere.

“I want to win and play better,” Carter said.

Carter posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in the Bulls’ 97-85 victory.

He sank his first career 3pointer during Friday’s road loss to the Hornets, a pick-and-pop play with which coach Fred Hoiberg is comfortable.

“If he’s open,” Hoiberg said, when asked if he would like to see Carter shoot that more. “He works on it. He puts a lot of time into his shooting.

“The biggest thing we need to see is his growth. He has made some really good plays at the rim defensively — blocks.”

Not enough for Carter’s liking. As someone who earned a 3.8 GPA and helped lead this city’s Pace Academy to the Georgia Class AA state championship in 2016 with 30 points and 20 rebounds in the title game, he has high standards.

“A couple of known players to come out of Atlanta are Dwight Howard and Josh Smith,” Carter said. “Those are the people whose footsteps I’m following.”

Carter played on the AAU team Smith ran. He has talked — briefly — to Howard only once.

“It’s fun being home,” Carter said. Rookie raves: The Bulls got their first look at the Hawks’ Trae Young, the 6-foot-2 guard they brought in for a predraft workout.

“He’s so crafty with the ball,” Hoiberg said.

“He has it on a string. He obviously can shoot it from anywhere. But I think his best quality is as a passer.”

The Hawks and Mavericks engaged in a draft-day trade in which Young landed in this city and Luka Doncic in Dallas. Carter said he knows Young well from AAU tournaments and offered an intriguing take on his fellow firstyear players.

“It’s competitive and a brotherhood,” Carter said on whether he monitors other rookies. “I try to keep it competitive between anybody I’m playing against. But at the same time, we’re in the same boat.

“So we have to look out for one another too.”