Bulls veteran forward Thaddeus Young adds yet another coach whisperer
NBAE/Getty Images
The addition of Young in free agency and Otto Porter in a trade deadline deal last season, gives Jim Boylen players who get what he’s selling.
Thaddeus Young knows all about growing pains.
Yes, watching from the outside what the veteran forward helped build with Indiana the past three seasons was impressive, especially with the Pacers still making a playoff push after losing All-Star-caliber guard Victor Oladipo to injury midway through last year.
Not the only reclamation project on Young’s resume, either.
The newly-acquired free agent comes to the Bulls with stops in Philadelphia, Minnesota and Brooklyn since 2007, even before he was a Pacer. Four places that didn’t exactly have a lot of Larry O’Brien championship trophies being passed around at the time.
It was his final few seasons with the 76ers that Young might be the most proud of, though, as he was on the roster at the start of “The Process,’’ when Philadelphia took tanking to a whole new level in hopes of accumulating young talent through the draft.
Winning 19 games in the 2013-14 season was definitely no picnic.
“We all know what happened in Philly,’’ Young said recently. “I was there at the start of ‘The Process.’ We had a horrible season, but I went out there and played my butt off each and every night. It was like bringing a knife to a gunfight, but at the end of the day, I was swinging with that knife.’’
Almost proudly.
Getting three years and $41 million from the Bulls is a nice pain medication when joining a 22-win team, but it’s more than just being about a pay day for Young.
“I’ve taken on that role plenty of times in my career,’’ Young said of being deemed the leader on and off the court. “I’ve taken on that role as a leader and helping shape and build a culture. I know I can push them over the hump.’’
Music to the ears of coach Jim Boylen.
Boylen, who took over for Fred Hoiberg in December, had to immediately deal with outside criticism with his in-your-face style of coaching, highlighted by an attempted two-player mutiny that was quickly squashed once calmer heads prevailed.
And that was just Week 1 on the job for Boylen.
Once the circus tents surrounding the Advocate Center came down with the end of the regular season, and Boylen was given an extension to stay in that coaching seat, the thought was he would ease up on the gas pedal a bit.
Ease up and Boylen should never be used in the same sentence again.
It’s been Summer League, practice blocks, visiting as many of “my guys’’ as possible this summer – including a trip to Finland a few weeks ago to check in on Lauri Markkanen. It’s been meetings, late-night film study, practice planning, and more film study.
Boylen insisted several times he couldn’t wait until fall to have the team in the gym for his first full training camp, and he was saying that back in April.
Excited?
Think Chris Farley diving on a table in his “Van Down by the River’’ skit.
That’s where Young comes in.
Veteran forward Otto Porter has already taken on the role of Boylen translator within the locker room, and Young not only adds to that but also brings a toughness needed throughout the roster.
Boylen has jumpstarted the culture change, while Porter and Young are here to push that message.
“It starts by not getting tired of the grind,’’ Young said. “Not getting tired of the competitive nature. A lot of guys, they tend to get tired of the competitive nature, of coming to practices each and every day and playing over and over. But when you do those same things over and over, it helps you get better as a team, and it helps you win more games as a team.’’