Guards turning down good shots from two to get a teammate a great look from three isn’t a new thing. Having said that, Jevon Carter of the Chicago Bulls took that a little too far during Wednesday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the veteran guard flat out decided to not take about as automatic of a two points as you’ll ever see.
Carter thought about pulling up from the corner, but realized in mid-air that Georges Niang was gonna block his shot into the third row. Instead, he made a very smart play, as he kicked it to Nikola Vucevic, cut right to the rim, and got the pass back from his big man. He was, quite literally, the only player for either team in the restricted area and had as cut-and-dry of a layup as there is, but instead of taking that, he kicked it out to Coby White behind the three-point line, who missed.
Jevon Carter passed up a WIDE OPEN layup 😅 pic.twitter.com/BHNyIEiBpD
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 29, 2024
You can hear the crowd’s confusion, while Chicago’s broadcasters wondered what exactly he was doing here. Maybe he didn’t like that his momentum was taking him away from the rim or something? I have no idea, it’s certainly a unique one.
The funny thing is Carter kicking it out to an open White is a pretty good decision most of the time. White has been a revelation for the Bulls this year — he’s averaging 19.4 points per game and has hit 39 percent of his attempts from behind the arc, making him arguably the brightest spot on a Chicago team that has just not been up to par this year. Getting him a wide open look is normally about as good of an outcome as the team can have, but that’s a pretty easy two points if Carter just took it.
