Ace defender Michael Carter-Williams has never played on a team with the championship quality leadership that the Chicago Bulls will offer the young guard. Acquired in a deal with Milwaukee for Tony Snell, the 6’6″ Carter-Williams brings his 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year pedigree to a Bulls team that can use his youth, speed, length and versatility. The Bulls already have veteran leadership to spare, with newcomers Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade wearing championship rings around the locker room.
Carter-Williams, just 25, is a great athlete. He’s also a basketball player who delivers in multiple categories. He can pass and rebound, plus he’s capable of scoring the ball and slowing the opposition’s best scoring option. As a 76er, Carter-Williams had nowhere near the kind of veteran support and leadership he’ll see in Chicago. The Bucks didn’t deliver that kind of hierarchy to the young guard either. The Bulls are old school in another way, too — perhaps not quite as positive. Despite head coach Fred Hoiberg‘s focus on offense and the entire NBA’s increased emphasis on the 3-pointer as a weapon, the Bulls wing players — Wade, Rondo, Jimmy Butler, and now Carter-Williams — aren’t big 3-point threats.
