If you’re like me, you’ve been struggling to keep up with all the player movement in this crazy, truncated off-season. Everyday a new scroll appears on the ticker:”Tyson Chandler to the Knicks”, “David West to the Pacers”, “Chauncey Billups to the Clippers”, “Lakers decide not to give away key core member as they prepare for another Finals run.” (wait, what?!….sheesh, moving on!)  One of the least celebrated moves was Richard Hamilton reaching a buyout with Detroit and quickly inking another deal with division foe Chicago.  In Hamilton, the Bulls saw someone who could be the missing piece in their championship puzzle, perhaps a non-Derrick Rose option late in the shot-clock or late in games. I was certainly curious to see just what Rip would bring to the Bulls this season that would be an improvement over last year and what flaws the Bulls had that Hamilton could correct.

It’s probably generous to say Keith Bogans didn’t exactly set the world on fire last season, but he gave the Bulls a reliable two guard that started every game, defended his position and was assignment sure. But in the end, his production wasn’t enough and Chicago’s shooting-guard-by-committee approach saw their season end in the Eastern Conference Finals.  With an elite defense, the Bulls demise against Miami was attributed to a stunning lack of offense. According to Synergy Sports, the Bulls half-court offense went from 15th in the league during the regular season to the 14th (out of only 16) during the playoffs. In the playoffs, the Bulls half-court offense relied heavily on Derrick Rose trying to make a play with the shot-clock winding down.  Here’s a brief look at how that turned out during last season’s Eastern Conference Finals:

As you can see from these clips, a common theme throughout their run was Rose being forced to create something out of nothing far too often. In fact, during the playoffs, isolation and pick-in-roll offense accounted for over 25% of the Bulls total offense and just over 10% of those shots were taking with less than four seconds on the shot clock. The theory goes that during the playoffs, transition offense bogs down and takes a backseat to half-court basketball, leading teams like the Bulls to struggle without having an abundance of skilled players to run sets for.

Enter Rip.

According to Synergy, Bogans ran off-screens just 4% of his entire offense, an appropriate number given that he certainly didn’t carve out his NBA career by being a shooter coming off screens. Hamilton, on the other hand, had nearly 24% of his offense involve coming off them. Hamilton’s career long game of running opponents ragged off the ball will provide the Bulls with an option outside of standing around and seeing what Rose can conjure up out the ether.

That’s not all Rip can do either, when the defenses do converge on Rose, Hamilton can spread the floor and knock down a shot. Last year, Rip finished in the top 10% of players spotting up. While the offense still runs through Rose, when the defense does collapse, the Bulls now have another wing who can make them pay from the outside. Here is a look at Hamilton’s ability to move to open spots off dribble penetration:

In the above clip, you saw how naturally Rip slides in the line of sight of the driving Austin Daye to make his passing angle that much easier. On top of that, he also buries the jumper. This will be something that Rose can take advantage on his forays toward the rim. Well, assuming Rose is willing to improve upon an assist rate ranked 51st among point guards last season.

Finishing with the NBA’s best regular season record last year certainly clued in the rest of the league to how dangerous the Bulls are. Even though they took their lumps against Miami and had it eat at them for an extended off-season, it was a valuable experience for the youthful members of the team. In Richard Hamilton, the Bulls now have another veteran with a wealth of experience to help propel them to the next level in their championship quest.

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