New Orleans Pelicans: 3 trade targets as Bulls turn over front office
By Willie Lutz
Fred Vinson renovated the jump shots of Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram, Chandler Hutchison could be his next success story
Only in his second year in the NBA but never finding consistency, Chandler Hutchison could represent a reach of a pick from the past Chicago front office regime that the new group would prefer to turn into an asset.
When Chicago drafted him with the 22nd-overall selection in the 2018 Draft (a pick that came from the Pelicans in the Mirotic swap), it was mostly because they thought he would be able to fit in their rotations sooner than later, as he drew comparisons to Scottie Pippen within the walls of the Bulls organization.
This year for the Bulls, Hutchison averaged 7.8 points and 3.9 rebounds, shooting a pretty brutal 31.6% from three on 1.4 attempts per game, though he shot 45.7% on 6.3 shot attempts from the field as a whole.
Hutchison can score around the rim and navigate the defense, but standing 6’7″ and 196 pounds, it’s hard for him to make an impact in today’s league without having to be respected as a floor spacer.
While Pelicans fans might be remiss to take on another project while their core is in development, Hutchison shows the ability to be a tough defender, plus has a higher offensive ceiling than Kenrich Williams.
The New Orleans Pelicans are lucky to have an in-house shooting coach beloved by players, it’s a huge asset to their organization; it’ll help them to continue to turn raw prospects into impressive NBA players.
Shooting coach Fred Vinson continues to make Pelicans players better overall shooters, so Hutchison would be another candidate for his programs.
Injuries are also a concern going forward for Hutchison, who played just 44 games last season and 28 games this season before undergoing surgery on his right shoulder.
Hutchison certainly has his fair share of red flags, but his potential to blossom into something much better if he can find consistency in his jump shot should have teams around the league interested in his availability this offseason.
Owning three second-round picks in this year’s draft, I would love to see the Pelicans try to cash those selections into one solid player; perhaps a combo of two of this year’s seconds and one in the future could be interesting to a Chicago team that needs to stack assets.