Taj Gibson is in my mind, the most underrated player in the league. The season he had last year was a definite breakout year. I said all through season “Taj Gibson. You can be a starter in this league”. And I stand by that. He is a young Carlos Boozer and maybe better than Boozer now. He should’ve been 6th Man of the year but came second. And according to CSNChicago, he knows that he should be a starter.
Privately, Gibson isn’t too thrilled with the prospect of continuing to be a reserve, according to multiple people familiar with the situation, but the upbeat, team-first player values winning and chemistry too much to make it an issue or distraction. Furthermore, being an underdog his entire basketball career, it could serve as motivation and help him thrive, building upon last year’s bounce-back campaign and improvement as a scorer, which came after a disappointing, injury-riddled season immediately following a long-term contract extension with the Bulls on Halloween 2012.
In short, while Gibson might not like the writing on the wall, he’ll make the proper mental adjustment and the expectation here is that once again, the affable fan favorite will make his usual impact as one of the NBA’s most underrated defenders, explosive finisher with low-post polish and a reliable spark off the bench for a championship contender.
Chicago should be VERY GRATEFUL for what Taj Gibson is sacrificing here. He could easily ask for a trade and be a starter on another team but no. He is going to “Make the proper mental adjustment” and not affect team chemistry.
Feel lucky Chicago. Very lucky.
