Tony Snell Should Be Kept Over Spencer Dinwiddie on Roster

In terms of putting together the 2016-17 roster, Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman may have to choose between Tony Snell and Spencer Dinwiddie to keep on the depth chart.

Sure, Spencer Dinwiddie burned Derrick Rose last year during their matchups. This may be the only reason Gar Forman wanted to look at his fit playing for the Chicago Bulls.

But, Forman has another player on the roster in Tony Snell, who has shown flashes in regular season performances and summer leagues games both on offense and defense.

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Snell was able to score efficiently and in bunches during his time in summer league. He is one of Forman’s personal bets as a draft pick from New Mexico and Forman has more at stake keeping Snell on the team than just a few ties.

As much as Bulls fans and the Chicago media have a short memory of how good Snell can play in the right situation, Snell still has more game and is still a more valuable cog of the Bulls as a slasher-type shooting guard who can also light it up every once in a while from long range and put big numbers on the board when the ball swings to him.

The thing is, Snell cannot create offense on his own because he has long, clumsy arms and his handles are not as tight as others. He has trouble creating his shot in isolation plays where opponents lock in front of him and this is what plenty of fans were seeing from his fumbles last season.

Look at Snell from the 2014-15 season and you see a deadly off-ball slasher who can light it up from long range. He has a Rajon Rondo–Denzel Valentine mode of loping like an antelope, gaining speed and then exploding to the rim, scooping his shot off the glass or slamming it home.

Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg must review the tapes where Snell plays best and tailor the game plan to use him on offense in such situations. In no way is Snell a bust. Not by a long shot. No matter how analytics might say otherwise, I say screw analytics and take the eye test and measure Snell’s game versus any available Bulls guard prospect from Las Vegas.

With the new Bulls emphasis on swarming the opposing playmaker, Snell’s length and athleticism and natural defensive prowess are needed more than ever. He did did show promise against stars like LeBron James a couple years back; something Tom Thibodeau totally forgot in the playoffs.

Now, we have Spencer Dinwiddie, who showed how his offensive and defensive game does not even match Tony Snell’s best games. Dinwiddie is also a ball-hog for a combo guard and tends to to have blinders once he drives to the hoop. His at-the-rim offense isn’t as good as Snell’s if you use the eye test during film of both player’s games.

The only reason Dinwiddie may have beat Rose last year was because the Bulls didn’t have any interior defenders to assist. In Vegas, Dinwiddie had a poor offensive showing against D-League-quality defenders, while Snell was a scoring machine in his two summer leagues and during the 2014-15 season.

Snell often defers to pass to open teammates expecting a return pass as a sign to shoot himself, which is what fans and the coaching staff may be frustrated about. But in hindsight, I’d rather have Snell knowing his role and getting better coaching to rebound next year (take the shot or drive aggressively to the hoop) than someone like Spencer Dinwiddie, whose ceiling is already apparent from the summer league.

For GarPax and Hoiberg, don’t pay attention to the outside thoughts and review Tony Snell’s game carefully. He fits into the roster not as a starter or an isolation player, but as a reliable second-unit scorer who can pull his own weight in a system tailored to his slashing game and long range streaks. Dinwiddie on the roster at the expense of Tony Snell is a mistake if they trade Snell for anyone else.

Next: 5 things for Jimmy Butler to improve on this summer

It would be better to drop Dinwiddie and get two more bigs by trading Taj Gibson away, too. A monster rebounder like Jack Cooley or an aggressive role player like Raymar Morgan (Denzel Valentine’s teammate) from the summer league look like better and cheaper additions.

Cooley and Raymar Morgan on the team keep the roster’s brawn and hustle and keeping Tony Snell for plenty of slashing next year.

The Bulls can never have enough wings, but not Spencer Dinwiddie.

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The Bulls Might Need to Choose Tony Snell over Spencer Dinwiddie

By Michael RENE KANOY | Jul 25, 2016

In terms of putting together the 2016-17 roster, Chicago Bulls general manager Gar Forman may have to choose between Tony Snell and Spencer Dinwiddie to keep on the depth chart.