Can Jaden Ivey Find His Pre-Injury Form with the Chicago Bulls?

The Chicago Bulls had an active trade deadline that now sees them with six new rotation players--seven if you include Leonard Miller who has not played a regular role for Chicago yet--and each one of them are trying to find their appropriate role. The most intriguing addition in my opinion was the former 5th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Jaden Ivey.

The guard out of Purdue burst onto the scene his sophomore year of college, proving to be a devastating scorer at the rim or from the perimeter with averages of 5.0 3-PT attempts and 5.8 free throw attempts per game.

Ivey retained that explosiveness and shooting touch that made him such a threat in college at the NBA level, averaging 16.3 PPG and getting to the charity stripe 4.8 times per game his rookie year. Ivey finished a mere sixth in Rookie of the Year voting, but did enough to show he was on his way to being one of the most dynamic young guards in the league, and then the injuries started to pile up. 

A broken left fibula that caused him to only play 30 games over the 2024-25 season, and a right knee arthroscopic procedure in 2025 that caused Ivey to miss the first 15 games of the 2025-26 season. 

Now, as Ivey looks to get back to the player he was in 2024-25, the question is: Will it be possible for Ivey to reach his past heights in Chicago?

In short, yes, and it is easier to understand Arturas Karnisovas' line of thinking when you consider the risk/reward with Ivey. Even without all of his past speed, Ivey is still a solid scorer, dependable slasher, and aggressive jump shooter.

In his limited time with the Bulls--four games at the time of this writing--Ivey is averaging 5.3 3-point attempts per game, hitting them at a 38.1% rate. In his breakout year in Detroit, Ivey was hitting 40.9% of his 5.1 3-point attempts per game. So the shooting is very much still there, the big issue for Ivey has been a general lack of burst that has seen his free throw attempts per game plummet. 

Over 37 games with the Detroit Pistons and Bulls this season, Ivey is averaging 1.3 free throw attempts per game. Ivey's brief Bulls tenure has seen him collect 2.3 free throw attempts per game, showing signs of life but still a long way from the 4.8 free throw attempts he averaged his rookie year.

The key reason I believe there is real hope for Ivey becoming an effective player should he re-sign with the Bulls is the opportunity for him to develop as a playmaker. Ivey posted a 26% assist rate his rookie year, 20% his second year in the league, and hasn't hit a 20% assist rate in any season since. 

Injuries have, of course, had an effect on Ivey's development as a playmaker. But the larger impediment was the presence of Cade Cunningham. It is not that Cunningham did anything wrong, he is simply an extremely high-usage player (30.8% usage rate this season)--rightfully so--and doesn't leave much room for Ivey to do much outside of being a secondary scoring threat.

Now it is possible that "secondary scoring threat," simply describes Ivey's role as an NBA player moving forward, but I believe he still possesses some untapped potential, and playing next to Josh Giddey (2% usage rate this season)--a different type of high-usage guard--could show us a different version of Ivey. Coby White--a similar player to Ivey in terms of an aggressive, jump-shooting-oriented combo guard--posted a 23.7% assist rate over 29 games next to Giddey this season, and a 19.5% assist rate over 70+ games next to Giddey over the 2024-25 season.

There is real evidence that White was able to succeed as a setup man, and flourish in moments on the ball next to Giddey.

This season, he is posting a career-high 57.1% True Shooting Percentage and is still showing signs of being a solid inside-out scorer, but using shiftiness and change of direction to beat defenders off the dribble rather than straight-line speed.

Ivey--even with the history of lower body injuries--could become a high free throw rate player again one day. He posted a modest stat line of 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists against the Brooklyn Nets, but also finished that game 5-6 from the free throw line. 

Jaden Ivey will continue to be a real threat from the 3-point line, but if he can to find ways to breakdown opposing defenses and get to the charity stripe, playing next to Giddey could give him the runway he needs to become the best version of himself.