Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Richard Jefferson vs. Mike Dunleavy
Dunleavy was a huge factor for the Bulls this past year both in the regular season and in the playoffs. While Dunleavy will have a larger role for Chicago than Jefferson will for Cleveland, the match-up makes sense. Dunleavy was the starting SF for the Bulls last year, but when Chicago matched up with Cleveland, Jimmy Butler took on more of a SF role by guarding LeBron James. This left Dunleavy matched up with Iman Shumpert and/or J.R. Smith; both of which aren’t great match-ups for Dunleavy.
Richard Jefferson played last season with the Dallas Mavericks and was not much of a factor, as he played a limited role with the team. However, Jefferson is similar to Dunleavy in the fact that they are both older (34 and 35) and rely on their basketball IQ, rather than their athleticism.
Here are their regular season stats in comparison:
Jefferson – PPG (5.8) RPG (2.5) APG (0.8)
Dunleavy – PPG (9.4) APG (1.8) RPG (3.9)
Dunleavy stepped his scoring up to 11.3 points per game vs Cleveland in the playoffs. Jefferson scored 3.8 points per game in his playoff series for Dallas against the Houston Rockets.
The conclusion of this match-up is once again in Chicago’s favor, as Dunleavy appears to have a few years left in him.
Next: Energy PFs: Thompson vs. Gibson