TORONTO — It didn’t take long for Julian Phillips to find his sweet spot this season. Phillips never defined himself as a shooter. But when he drifts into the corner, the Chicago Bulls forward finds himself in a comfort zone. Corner 3-pointers are one of the highest value shots on the court — and this season, they’ve become a cornerstone for Phillips. Through 25 games this season, 40 of his 61 attempts from behind the arc were taken from the corners — and he’s making 40% (16-for-40) of those attempts. Almost every player on the Bulls roster is attempting a career-high volume of 3-pointers this season, but this magnitude of shooting is especially new for Phillips. Phillips played only 32 games for Tennessee before declaring for the draft and landing in Chicago. During that short stint, he took only 46 shots from behind the arc. On draft night in 2023, Bulls general manager Marc Eversley acknowledged that shooting was the 19-year-old’s most obvious weakness. And Phillips knew it too. He was drafted for his athleticism and keen defensive IQ. But to make himself stick in the NBA, he needed to find his shot — as quickly as possible. “I wanted to be an all-around better shooter,” Phillips said. For Phillips, developing his shot took daily repetition with Bulls shooting specialist Peter Patton. Patton is notoriously meticulous. Phillips quickly learned that every single aspect of his shot could be perfected — the way he breathes while gathering his shot, how he sets his feet behind the line, the positioning of each finger on the ball. “He doesn’t really let you settle — even if you’re shooting it good,” Phillips said. The result is confidence and consistency from the corner that has allowed Phillips to begin building an offensive presence. Consistency is key for Phillips. His niche on the Bulls roster isn’t flashy, but he understands it. Cut on the backside any time a defender looks in the other direction. Nail those catch-and-shoot opportunities in the corner. Grab every loose rebound within arms reach. Lock down on defense. Swat shots in off-ball rotations. For coach Billy Donovan, this is a valuable asset from a 20-year-old second-year rotation player. When injuries removed Patrick Williams and Coby White from the starting lineup last week, Phillips was an automatic plug-and-play option. But while fitting into this mold is the crux of Phillips’ success this season, the next step of his development will require him to break out of it. The Bulls went small with their roster design, foregoing traditional frontcourt size to rely on lengthy wings that lean into a switchable, up-tempo style of play on both ends of the ball. In theory, this plays well into Donovan’s overall ethos as a coach, allowing the Bulls to take a higher volume of 3-pointers and run opponents ragged in transition. But Donovan still has roster limits due to the inexperience of the team’s perimeter length. If he tries to field a rotation with young wings like Phillips and Matas Buzelis, Donovan quickly runs up against a serious offensive problem. “There’s no shot creation,” Donovan said. “And then all of a sudden you put an enormous amount of pressure on who those two guards are out there.” This is the next frontier for Phillips if he hopes to leverage his limited playing time (14.2 minutes per game and two starts) into a heavier workload. Although Phillips is able to play off his teammates, he is still stuck in a state of reactive offense that is typical of first- and second-year players. But this means Donovan only feels comfortable playing Phillips in rotations with multiple creative playmakers (White, Zach LaVine and Lonzo Ball) on the court. 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But it’s something we’re trying.” This doesn’t mean Phillips needs to start taking on defenders one-on-one or attempt crazy dribbling stunts. It starts simple — noticing a sloppy closeout, getting the ball on the floor and his hips past his defender, putting enough pressure on the rim to draw a rotation and kick to the next open teammate. Transforming from a reactive offensive player to a proactive playmaker is the hardest hurdle to clear for any young NBA player. Donovan fully believes Phillips is capable of making the changes, but the timeline for that development is different for every player. It took teammate Patrick Williams, for instance, several seasons to develop to a point where Donovan feels Williams can reliably contribute to shot creation with the ball in his hands. For Phillips, finding this next nuance in his game follows the same process as finding his shot — it’s all a matter of repetition. “I think I’m still processing it,” Phillips said. “A lot of it is just — you’ve got to play and figure it out. So I’m still learning. I’m still figuring it out.”