Chicago Bulls Positional Grades

By Jeremy Karll | Sep 23, 2015

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Point Guard: Derrick Rose, Aaron Brooks, Kirk Hinrich

Derrick Rose is one of the most talked about point guards in the NBA. On one hand he has the raw talent to be considered a top 10 player and one of the best point guards in the league. On the other hand, he’s had numerous amount of injuries and it’s hard to truly assess what level he’s at now.

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The years of Derrick Rose driving to the basket and finishing it with acrobatic finishes every play is in the past. He can still get to the basket, but not at will like he use to be able to. Rose is now more of a jump shooter, but last season didn’t draw confidence in the point guard’s new game.

Rose shot just 40.5 percent from the field and 28 percent from behind the arc, yet still attempted 5.3 three point attempts per game. He hasn’t averaged over 20 points per game since missing the 2012-13 season and has had averaged the least amount of assists per game in the past two seasons of his NBA career.

Aaron Brooks and Kirk Hinrich both come off the bench for the Chicago Bulls, and while they’re serviceable, they’re not the best backups in the league. Both players bring different skill sets to the team and they compliment each other well.

Brooks is more offensive-minded than Hinrich. He played in all 82 games; a rare feat for Bulls players, and averaged 11.6 points per game in 23 minutes per game. Brooks can heat up fast, which helps when the Bulls go through scoring droughts. He shot better than Rose last season from inside the arc at 42.1 percent, and from three as well, 38.7 percent. It’s always nice to have a guy off the bench who can score a quick five points.

While having an offensive specialist is nice, it’s also nice to have someone who can come off the bench and play tough defense on whoever you ask them to guard. Kirk Hinrich isn’t the player he use to be but still was a solid defensive player off the bench last season. He’s not able to be the pest on defense like he once was, but guarding a good player for a couple of minutes here and there is still something he is still capable of.

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It was the first time in his career that he didn’t average at least a steal per game (0.7 steals per game). Also, according to Basketball-Reference, he had a defensive rating of 108 last season; the highest since the 2010-11 season.

This position is a question mark for the Bulls. No one knows how many minutes Brooks and Hinrich will see. It’s expected that Hinrich won’t average 24.4 minutes per game again, but it all depends on how healthy Derrick Rose is. The fact of the matter is, Hinrich is not the same player he once was and Brooks can be streaky at times. If Derrick Rose is healthy and can improve his jump shot then the grade is higher. But for now, the Chicago Bulls point guard position is only a B.

Grade: B

Next: Shooting Guards

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