The Chicago Bulls have plenty of issues glaring them in the face entering the first season of their new rebuild. Unfortunately for them, it’s at what you could argue is the NBA’s most important position: the point guard spot. Let’s take a look at what that depth will look like this season.
When discussing some of the best organizations in the NBA today, there’s something that they all have in common that the Chicago Bulls are currently lacking: star power at the point guard position.
For the Golden State Warriors, it’s two-time MVP Stephen Curry. For the Toronto Raptors, it’s Kyle Lowry. For the Washington Wizards, it’s John Wall. For the Boston Celtics, it’s now Kyrie Irving after an outstanding offensive season from Isaiah Thomas last year before he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Irving.
For the Bulls, they haven’t had a bonafide superstar at the point guard position since Derrick Rose‘s injury-riddled 2011-12 season that ended with his infamous torn ACL in the first game of the postseason against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Antonio Blakeney is an undrafted prospect who earned a two-way deal with the Bulls through a strong Las Vegas Summer League performance. Cameron Payne recently had another procedure done on his right foot and is slated to miss the next 3-4 months. Jerian Grant showed a few flashes of solid play before absolutely collapsing in the postseason against the Celtics.
Kris Dunn, last year’s No. 5 overall pick of the Minnesota Timberwolves, hardly played for former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau this past season and when he did, he struggled.
So, that leaves the Bulls in conundrum: who is the answer at point guard for this upcoming season that’s likely going to include more downs than ups?
Well, let’s glance at what each did last season while they were on the floor for their respective teams.
| Player | Total minutes played | Overall shooting percentage | True shooting percentage | Assist percentage | Turnover percentage | Player efficiency rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Blakeney (at LSU) | 1,018 | 45.8% | 55.0% | 10.7% | 11.7% | 8.1 |
| Cameron Payne | 462 | 33.2% | 40.7% | 17.7% | 12.9% | 5.5 |
| Jerian Grant | 1,028 | 42.5% | 55.5% | 17.4% | 11.7% | 13.2 |
| Kris Dunn | 1,333 | 37.7% | 43.2% | 19.4% | 20.8% | 18.1 |
Blakeney played two seasons at LSU, including last season, and while his turnover percentage did rise from 6.2 percent in his freshman season playing with current 76ers point forward Ben Simmons to 11.7 percent this past year, Blakeney did showcase his ability to take on a heavier load without Simmons with his solid shooting numbers.
Obviously you have to factor in the level of competition and the Southeastern Conference isn’t on the level that the football conference is on, plus who he was playing against in Las Vegas for the SummerBulls. But, for a kid to take almost 14 shots a night and make a shade under 46 percent of them for a team that had a hard time scoring, that’s encouraging.
Payne had some old “pure point guard” numbers at the first glance. He had the highest assist percentage outside of Dunn, but his shooting numbers were horrific. If he played enough minutes and actually was a qualified player for the statistic, only two other qualified players would’ve had a lower TS% than him in the entire NBA. He’s on the shelf until at least late November-early January, but the Bulls already have questions about his abilities.
Grant’s 55.5 true shooting percentage was encouraging to see, along with the lowest turnover percentage out of the three NBA players last season. It helps when you played with
, who handled most of the ball-handling duties for the Bulls last season, and 30.6 percent of your shot attempts were tracked as “
” with the nearest defender being 4-6 feet away.
What was a problem for the Bulls in the postseason was that turnover percentage ballooned to 22.3 percent in the 52 minutes he played in against the Celtics. He looked lost and was lacking a supreme bit of confidence.
Dunn’s numbers left a sight for sore eyes across this board. He had the highest assist percentage of the four players during his 1,333 minutes of action last season in 78 games. It helps when you can throw passes to a good young core of guys like Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and his now-Bulls teammate Zach LaVine.
But, he shot less than 40 percent from the field and had the third-worst true shooting percentage in the entire NBA among qualified players. Although he was just a rookie, he’s already 23 years old with some health concerns while playing college ball at Providence. What can his ceiling really be?
For now, it appears that the starting point guard battle will likely be between Jerian Grant and Kris Dunn heading into training camp. Antonio Blakeney should and will likely get a good amount of run in the newly-branded G-League for the Windy City Bulls. Blakeney has yet to see true NBA action, hence the edge going to Dunn and Grant.
Plus, the Bulls signed Blakeney to a two-way deal, so if the Bulls have issues at point guard throughout the season, they can bring Blakeney into the fold, but for only up to 45 days, according to the fine print on the NBA’s two-way contracts.
As for Dunn and Grant’s eventual battle for the starting spot with Payne on the shelf after surgery, both are going to have to play. Gar Forman and John Paxson have both claimed that they were high on both during both drafts two years ago and last year.
Time will tell who wins the starting role, but the Bulls plan to see what the young players can do and what they hold in their hand.
Next: What kind of scorer is Zach LaVine?
The question is, who is going to take a step forward and step up?