We have now arrived at the second former Michigan State shooting guard on this list, but this one is more confusing than the last. It’s easy to say that the Chicago Bulls should’ve held onto Harris instead of dishing him and Nurkic out to the Nuggets in exchange for McDermott. But, it’s too early to tell how Denzel Valentine will pan out now.
Looking back at it now, Valentine likely wasn’t even close to the best option available for the Bulls in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. The Bulls could’ve gone with a multitude of options either to boost the frontcourt for the future or help the outside shooting issues. Neither of those were accomplished by selecting Valentin.
Moreover, Valentine has yet to play a game for the Bulls this season. Over the course of the previous two seasons, Valentine wasn’t even able to notch a career player efficiency rating around 12. We’ll reserve the final judgment of calling Valentine a bust at the back half of the lottery from 2016 for at least another season or two.
There’s two really good options for the Bulls to go with here, and a few other intriguing options that fell further down draft boards. The first is the former New Mexico State Aggies forward product Pascal Siakam, who is on fire right now with the Toronto Raptors. The second, and the one that makes sense more for the long-term, comes with the former Virginia Cavaliers guard Malcolm Brogdon.