Small Forward
2018-19 Starter: Justin Holiday/Jabari Parker/Otto Porter Jr.
Projected 2019-20 Starter: Otto Porter Jr.
The wing spot in the starting five was a revolving door for the Chicago Bulls last season until the former Wizards sharpshooter and two-way standout Otto Porter Jr. came to the Windy City. The Wizards shipped Porter Jr. to the Bulls for a return of the forward combination of Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis.
John Paxson and Gar Forman had the interesting thought that it was a good move to put Parker as the starting small forward on an overpaid one-year contract at the outset of the 2018-19 regular season. That didn’t work out very well and they got lucky that the Wizards were willing to part with Porter Jr. at the trade deadline.
But before the Bulls brought Porter Jr. into the mix, another name that appeared frequently in the starting five was the Memphis Grizzlies wing Justin Holiday. Bringing back Holiday was discussed during the summer months, but nothing really stemmed from that in any material way.
This season, the starting small forward job pretty much has to fall to Porter Jr. by default. He was really good down the stretch in a Bulls uniform. He managed to post a player efficiency rating of 18.0 and 1.1 win shares while playing in just 15 games after arriving in the Windy City from the nation’s capitol.