Chicago Bulls’ Guard Depth Becomes Taller, Pass-First, Hoiball Fit

In the past, the Chicago Bulls have had scoring point guards. Because of who they drafted and acquired, Hoiball looks like it will change to a share-the-ball-more playing style.

All of the new guards on the Bulls depth chart right now are taller, pass-first point guards.

It’s a shift from the previous years for the Bulls where Kirk Hinrich, Nate Robinson, Aaron Brooks and even Derrick Rose (all scoring point guards) all took turns trying to score for the Bulls.

With the new crop of guards, the Bulls are moving in a new direction.

Here’s a look at the new blood, starting with the Bulls’ newest acquisition.

Denzel Valentine

Denzel Valentine was a consistent high-level performer in a team where he had a good player to dump the ball in the paint (Deyonta Davis) and one of the best three-point shooters in the country around (Bryn Forbes).

Jerian Grant

Jerian Grant came off a Notre Dame team built with shooter and was the catalyst on a fast-paced system going up and down while sliding into the pick-and-roll when a half-court set came on.

More from Pippen Ain't Easy

Grant got slowed down for a while for a New York Knicks team that tried to revive the Triangle Offense and he was not a good fit as a point guard in that type of offense.

Coming out of college as a junior, Grant was shooting just under 41 percent from deep, but as a Knick in the triangle, his three-point scoring dropped to 22 percent.

Grant redeemed himself when he played more minutes towards the end of the season and showed everyone that he was everything the draft hype the previous year made him out to be. He’s a smart passer and a creative offensive player who can also shoot better from long range.

Grant plays good defense against the best of them and will get help from Bobby Portis in blitzing the pick-and-roll — a role Justin Holiday was supposed to fill (before Gar Forman seemingly chose the lower and longer salary lock on Grant for four more years over an NBA champion guard with one year left, which may balloon easily to $6 million or more in free agency after next year).

Look at a game where Notre Dame plays against a Duke team with Justise Winslow, Jahlil Okafor, and Tyus Jones that won it all two years ago.

Grant plays as close to a Hoiball playmaker as you can see.

The trade to the Bulls may be a blessing in disguise for everyone. Grant may have a breakout season running the team as lead guard or as a secon-unit playmaker, keeping the offense humming by feeding the team’s shooters.

The Bulls lucked out to have Paul Zipser in the 48th spot and he may be one of the steals of the draft as a strong, 6’8″ defensive wing who can score inside and out. He can play alongside Doug McDermott or Nikola Mirotic and they can torch the nets with Grant feeding them.

Spencer Dinwiddie

Spencer Dinwiddie was a highly regarded combo guard from college, known to push the ball relentlessly and give opponents mismatch nightmares as a tall guard who could see over the defense.

He was regarded as an elite three-point shooter coming out of his draft class and he can defend well and stay in front of his man, which is why Stan Van Gundy took a chance on him in spite of Spencer getting a knee injury prior to the draft.

In Detroit, he assumed a backup playmaker role and blossomed into a decent NBA defender, too. His speed and long strides allowed him to blow by opposing guards (beating Derrick Rose when they were matched up and Detroit blew the Bulls away in a meeting two seasons ago) and his awareness of the floor passing to shooters or rim attackers helped Detroit perform better than they looked on paper whenever he was the starting guard.

In spite of Gar Forman’s press statement saying the Bulls needed more athleticism, all three guards they picked up recently are not the kind of studs Derrick Rose or even Justin Holiday was.

More likely, the back court makeover consisted of high-IQ playmakers who have good court vision and can snipe on catch-and-shoot situations.

And, all of them have that peculiar long first stride-speed burst combo with eurosteps that allow them to get to the rim even if they are not athletic studs.

Grant and Dinwiddie can both be known to hold their own against majority of NBA guards they match up with on defense. Robin Lopez and Cristiano Felicio can be two really good rim protectors for the Bulls to give them some backstops.

In spite of worries about a previous knee injury that sidelined him for four games in college, the Bulls medical staff cleared Denzel Valentine to play.

The make up of the final Chicago Bulls roster is not yet done.

Next: Bulls select Michigan State's Denzel Valentine with the 14th pick

Gar Forman is definitely keeping Jimmy Butler with the team (something that may be an order from higher-ups than Gar’s own personal choice).

Taj Gibson, Tony Snell and Mike Dunleavy‘s future are all still uncertain until the Bulls’ final roster is announced. The Bulls might still make moves and snatch a big free agent by July or attempt to re-sign Joakim Noah.

With three new pass-first, tall point guards, you can expect Fred Hoiberg to perform better than what armchair fans expect from the Derrick Rose-removed Chicago Bulls.