Hoiberg thinks Carter is ready to take on a greater role

Rookie center Wendell Carter is off to a good start and Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg thinks he's ready to take on more challenges, as evidenced by a decent showing against New Orleans' Anthony Davis on Wednesday. Associated Press

Center Wendell Carter Jr. has quickly taken on an important role for the Bulls and coach Fred Hoiberg thinks the rookie from Duke is ready for more.

"What I've seen with Wendell is he's got great maturity for a 19-year-old player in this league," Hoiberg said Friday at the Advocate Center. "When you see continued progress in his game and the conversations you have, you understand how smart of a kid he is, how high of an IQ he has and how mature he is.

"So we'll continue to get him out there and continue to increase his role. It was great to see him stay out of foul trouble the other night (at New Orleans) and have him in there at the end of the game."

In the last five contests, Carter has averaged 15.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. He fouled out once during that span and finished with 5 fouls another time.

"I think he (Anthony Davis) was 2 of 6 in the first quarter," Hoiberg said. "A lot of that was Wendell going out there. We really allowed him to play him 1 on 1."

LaVine chooses wisely:

Shot selection has been a large part of Zach LaVine's improvement. He's been attacking the basket all season and throughout games, which has obviously helped send his scoring average to 27.4 points per game.

"He's making tough shots right now," Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. "For example in the Knicks game, those three bombs he hit in a row (in the fourth quarter), those weren't great shots, but he was hitting them. Sometimes when a guy's in this type of rhythm, you've got to let him shoot some of those.

"He's not settling for as many shots as he did a year ago and I think a lot of that has to do with the confidence that he has with his health."

Windy City makes moves:

Power forward JaKarr Sampson, who played with the Bulls in preseason, has joined the G-League's Windy City Bulls. Sampson was a two-way player with the Sacramento Kings last year, averaging 17.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in the G-League.

Windy City added a local player in 6-5 wing Rodney Pryor, an Evanston native who played in high school at Niles Notre Dame. Prior averaged 18.0 points for Georgetown in 2016-17 after playing two years at Robert Morris. He spent last season with Sioux Falls in the G-League.

Windy City acquired 6-8 former Notre Dame forward V.J. Beachem in a trade with Wisconsin on Thursday. Beachem averaged 14.5 points for the Irish in 2016-17 and played in the G-League last year for the South Bay Lakers. Windy City released Karrington Ward, Jameel McKay and Matthew Fisher-Davis.