Chicago Bulls: Boylen’s nine man rotation may not be what we think
By Abe Rotbart
No. 3 Denzel Valentine and Luke Kornet
The Chicago Bulls will have a lot of competition for these final two spots in the regular rotation. Nightly match ups will eventually determine what players provide the best advantage. In addition, injuries and foul trouble require a team to have 11-12 players capable of stepping in without missing much of a beat.
Still, two players should make the core nine man rotation simply based on experience and the positions they play. Many people feel Denzel Valentine will be one of those players.
Valentine really started to come into his own two seasons ago before his devastating ankle injury. Supposedly he is now telling people he feels the best he has ever felt while in the NBA. CBSSports. com projects his fantasy value to be higher than Avery Bradley and Malik Monk.
The reason for this positive outlook is because Valentine, like Satoransky can play multiple positions. Not only will he back up Zach LaVine at shooting guard but he can also back up Otto Porter in a small ball lineup.
In addition, he is one of the better ball handlers on the team. Though the point guard depth chart is deep, if needed Valentine could also run the point for a couple of minutes. The only question with him will be his health.
The final player to round out Boylen’s nine man rotation will be Luke Kornet. While his size and shot blocking ability fit the description of a back up center, on offense he is more like a stretch four.
Signed as a free agent at $4.5 million over two years, Kornet can play a key role in creating mismatches that opponents will be difficult to counter. He is a big reason the Bulls flexibility will prove valuable. He can fill in for Markkenan and play with the starters just as easily as he can back up Wendell Carter, with Thad Young at power forward.
Both Valentine and Kornet provide the Bulls with the opportunity to mix and match as needed. They will round out the core nine man rotation. However, there are still three players we can expect to see in action especially if one of the first nine players goes down with an injury, is traded or just not performing.