Aussie Needs Assistance

I admit to being surprised Cameron Bairstow is still on the Bulls' roster.  With a new coach, new system and new way of distributing minutes, you'd think that would have given him more minutes, especially in lopsided games.  Instead, Bairstow has been assigned to the D-League's Austin Spurs as allowed by the Flexible Assignment Rule, which allows NBA teams without affiliates to select where to go.  Had this story taken place next year, he would have unquestionably been sent to the new Hoffman Estates-based affiliate.


Almost a month into the season, Bairstow has appeared in just two games and scored just two points.  This comes a year after scoring 10 points in 18 games.  Granted, he was on the short end of Tom Thibodeau's tendency to sit rookies, but you'd think things would have improved with Fred Hoiberg.  Apparently, not the case.

It should speak volumes that Doug McDermott has been able to get off the bench and earn significant minutes under Hoiberg, but Bairstow is no better off from a year ago.  True, you can't always expect big things from a recent second-round pick, but you would have thought some improvement would be in order.  Guess the law of averages doesn't always apply.

At least now, he'll be able to truly see if he's cut out to be an NBA player.  I'm not expecting him to dominate against lesser competition, but if he can't stand out to some degree, he probably won't be a Bull for much longer.  He's lasted longer than Erik Murphy did, so he's had a bigger leash.  Take that as a sign of encouragement.

The Bulls will get by without him for now and play the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday.  They'll be a little thinner down low, but does it really matter if he wasn't seeing the floor anyway?  Derrick Rose's return will give them a little more depth at the point.  Still, you have to wonder how better the Bulls would be (not that they aren't good already) if Bairstow was already a solid contributor off the bench.