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3 Players On The Chicago Bulls That Need To See More Minutes In 2015-16

By Jeremy Karll

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The Chicago Bulls have been known for their tough defense and injuries throughout the Tom Thibodeau era. Anyone who follows the Bulls knows that Thibodeau’s rotations and minutes were atrocious.

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Thibodeau drove his players into the ground and as a result, the Bulls were never able to stay healthy and always entered the playoffs with some of their key players hurt. This has to change moving forward, and a way to do that is giving more minutes to their bench.

Last year, the Bulls ranked 29th in the NBA in bench minutes per game and if they want to win they need to use their deep bench to their advantage.

Doug McDermott: 8.9 MPG

Tom Thibodeau never gave Doug McDermott a fair shot. McDermott got some playing time at the beginning of the year, but once injuries hit him, he fell out of the rotation. It’s hard for a shooter to find a rhythm when they don’t get consistent playing time. That should change this year as McDermott is coming into his second year off of another impressive Las Vegas Summer League showing.

Also, the new addition of Fred Hoiberg should open up more opportunities for an offensive minded player like McDermott.

The Bulls drafted McDermott to be the “sharp-shooter” of the future rotation, but Bulls fans can’t expect him to be Kyle Korver; at least not right away. But, McDermott can score in more ways than Korver can and the Bulls need to use that to their advantage. He played like a typical rookie; certain games had good moments, other games had bad moments.

McDermott has worked hard this offseason and hopefully he has familiarized himself to the pro game’s three-point line. He should see increased minutes this year and the more consistent playing time should help his percentages go up as well.

Tony Snell: 19.6 MPG

Give Jimmy Butler a break! Please! Butler led the league in minutes per game for the second straight year and the minor injuries are starting to catch up to him. Tony Snell isn’t Butler, but he still is a solid player on both sides of the floor. Frankly, I think Thibodeau scared Snell a little too, and that was holding him back. It seemed like when Snell made one bad play he would get pulled, and playing in fear never helps.

Snell struggled shooting the ball in his rookie season, but shot the ball a lot better last year. His three-point percentage went up by 5.1 percent (32 to 37.1 percent) and it should go up a little more this year. Snell was a very good shooter at New Mexico and him finding his range in the NBA will help him see more minutes.

He also has long arms and is quick on defense. He is able to guard both wing positions, so putting him and Butler out there at the same time would be a nightmare for opposing teams. Snell isn’t going to drop 20 points a night, but you could get 10 out of him if he sees more minutes. Besides, giving Butler more rest this season would also not be a bad idea.

Nikola Mirotic: 20.2 MPG

We all know that he’s going to see more playing time, I mean how couldn’t he? Mirotic finished second in NBA’s Rookie of the Year voting last year and took Chicago by storm with his long beard and versatile play on offense. He still only saw the ninth-most minutes on the team last year and saw less than 15 minutes per game in the postseason. Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol are only getting older, not to mention all the injuries Noah has dealt with the past couple of seasons. Giving Mirotic more minutes would relieve the minutes from older players and keep them fresher for the postseason.

Mirotic’s shooting percentages have to go up this year for him to see a significant increase in minutes, but his play did improve a lot at the end of last year once Thibodeau gave him consistent playing time. Having a big guy who can run the floor and shoot the three like Mirotic can can only help the Bulls. He allows us to spread the floor and that can open up the lane for guys like Aaron Brooks, McDermott and Snell. His defense is nothing to go crazy over, but he still holds his own and isn’t a liability. I think him and Gibson will see a lot more playing time this year to help give Gasol and Noah more rest.

Next: 'Under-The-Radar' games for the Bulls in 2015-16

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