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The trip from Chapel Hill, NC to Los Angeles is 2,518 miles. Reggie Bullock is about to become familiar with each inch of that journey.
The Clippers minted Bullock as the newest member of their squad when they took the former UNC Tar Heel 25th overall at Thursday night’s NBA Draft.
Bullock, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward, averaged 13.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game in his junior season, his final one at the University of North Carolina. The forward was remarkably efficient this past season, posting a 62.5 percent true shooting percentage and a 60.7 percent effective field goal percentage.
Bullock is a knock-down shooter, who improved his numbers in each of his three years in Chapel Hill. His three-point percentage jumped from a pedestrian 29.6 percent as a freshman to 38.2 percent as a sophomore to 43.6 percent in his junior season, his final one in Chapel Hill.
Bullock mainly gets his offense on spot-up jumpers. He was one of the best shooters in the nation in catch-and-shoot situations this past season, averaging 1.29 points per shot on catch-and-shoot jumpers as a junior, according to DraftExpress. He runs the floor well and should be able to get out in transition quickly, a good trait for someone slated to play with a Clippers bench unit that is (at least for now) run by Eric Bledsoe.
Technically, Bullock is listed as a small forward, but he should be able to play shooting guard in certain lineups. He moves well off the ball and can try to play the same role that Ray Allen and Jason Terry played in Doc Rivers’ offense back in Boston.
Defensively, Bullock is pretty long (6-foot-9 wingspan) and has above-average athleticism. He is relatively versatile and can guard both 2s and 3s at the next level. Bullock’s ceiling is basically Danny Green, another former Tar Heel, who has become a lights-out shooter and very good perimeter defender. Bullock made 2.5 threes per game this past season and should be able to handle a high volume of perimeter shooting as long as he gets good looks. With Chris Paul at the point, that might be easier than it was with Marcus Paige and Kendall Marshall.
Here is further analysis of Reggie Bullock’s strengths and weaknesses from Draft Express:
