Felicio, Nwaba will start as Bulls continue youth movement
The Chicago Bulls are fully committing to a youth movement, benching veteran starters Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday in favor of Cristiano Felicio and David Nwaba, the team's executive vice president John Paxson explained on Tuesday.
Reserve guard Cameron Payne will also see time as the backup point guard with Jerian Grant dropping out of the regular playing rotation. Payne is set to make his season debut Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers as he returns from foot surgery.
Paxson said that the reconfigured rotation will stand for "a sufficient time," according to the Chicago Tribune.
"You can't play 12 guys in our game. Nine or 10 is the most. And it's just the position we're in as a young team, 20-37, with a lot of young guys and several who we haven't really had the chance to see play much this year," Paxson told the Tribune. "For us to make the proper evaluation in terms of who fits us moving forward, this is something we have to do."
Nwaba, 25, is averaging 6.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 45 games this season, including three starts.
Felicio, 25, is averaging 3.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 31 games. He has struggled to earn playing time this season after signing a four-year, $32 million contract in July.
Felicio and Nwaba will join Kris Dunn, Zach LaVine and rookie Lauri Markkanen in the starting lineup as the Bulls take an extended look at their young core in their final 25 regular-season games.
The Bulls acquired Dunn, LaVine and Markkanen in draft-night trade last June that sent All-Star Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves and signaled a massive shift in direction for the organization. The decision to bench starters in favor of young players that were stuck outside of the rotation is the next step in the process as the Bulls continue to evaluate the roster in the post-Butler era.
"It's not a tryout. It's to learn," Paxson told reporters. "What you hope for from a player standpoint is they gain some confidence in who they are, get comfortable on the floor and play well. I still think we have a lot of really good young talent.
"I think the exciting thing for us is for the first time we're going to have a healthy Zach, Lauri and Kris. They're obviously the core."
--Field Level Media
