Takeaway No. 1: Other than the Rondo (?) and Felicio duo, what was the purpose of the Bulls bench on Wednesday?
For those that say Rajon Rondo doesn’t get enough credit for when he does play well, he actually played fairly well on Wednesday night! (Surprised? Yeah, me too.)
Rondo dropped 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished out eight assists, while Bulls Twitter’s favorite son, the monster known as Cristiano Felicio, chipped in six points and four rebounds in his return to action, including a nice finish on a lob from Rondo in the first half.
It's nice to have Mr. Felicio back: pic.twitter.com/bWs4BxtJNd
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) February 9, 2017
Here’s where things went wrong: Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott combined to shoot 5-of-16 for 14 points, including 2-of-9 from behind the arc. In a game where Butler and Wade didn’t play and the two factors for the Bulls off the bench lay two horrible-looking duds, that’s not a great look for the Bulls (and the front office for that matter).
(Here’s your reminder that the Bulls virtually traded five picks — including two first-round picks — for McDermott, who seemingly can’t guard a stop sign or remember to shoot from distance anymore.)
Also, after lighting up the D-League in recent days, Denzel Valentine got 21 minutes on Wednesday night and shot 2-of-11 from the field, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range. The numbers say that’s bad … and it was really bad to watch. (He took a stepback on the baseline during his first stint on the floor and hit the side of the backboard. It was bad.)