Chicago Bulls: Why are Valentine and Gafford out of the rotation?

This Chicago Bulls team has been underwhelming so far this season. Be it their defense, rebounding or shooting, they’ve been very inconsistent. In the preseason, lots of different lineups were used but it seems that Coach Jim Boylen has given up on playing certain personnel in the regular season.

Denzel Valentine and Daniel Gafford both showed enough in the preseason for the Chicago Bulls to warrant some spot minutes in the regular season. With Luke Kornet now out of the rotation, it seemed very strange to see Kris Dunn defending Giannis Antetokounmpo in the loss to the Bucks. Why doesn’t Jim Boylen want to play Valentine and Gafford?

Daniel Gafford had a great preseason and an equally strong summer league. At 6-foot-10, he has the physical skills and build to be a strong rim protector in the NBA. Wendell Carter Jr. is the starter at center, but Gafford could offer minutes as the backup.

As the Bulls are now 22nd and 24th in both rebounding rankings, this may be the time to insert Gafford into the rotation. Their rim protection numbers aren’t exactly setting the world on fire, only ranking 26th in blocked shots and 22nd in opponent field goal percentage at the rim.

Gafford is a big body who can block some shots, and with the likes of Chandler Hutchison, Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen, he can play in transition as a rim runner.

Valentine, it seems, may be a more complicated situation. A fourth-year player who didn’t get an extension at the rookie deadline, it seems Valentine may be out of favor with management. Valentine has virtually been absent from the court for almost a year. But again, with their struggles shooting the three-ball, you would think that he may get a look in.

Again the Bulls rank in the bottom eight when it comes to three-point shooting, both above the break and in the corner. Valentine can help in both places. He shoots 41 percent in his career from the corner and is a 37 percent three-point shooter overall.

Boylen’s cryptic interview this week didn’t help. When asked why Valentine wasn’t playing, he was quoted as saying “because I said so.”

With the Bulls flagging in a weak Eastern Conference, Boylen will need to work through the issues in the rotation or start playing guys like Valentine. If you are losing badly because of rotations that don’t make sense then that falls on the coach.

Both Valentine and Gafford can help this team. If the backup center you signed isn’t playing, and you need to guard the other team’s center, then why would use a combo guard to do this? If this team was winning, none of this would be a problem. But Boylen playing people out of position and not using some of the options that they have within the squad is a bad move.

This squad has the potential to make the playoffs in the East. But the coach and players alike need to buy into schemes that will get the most out of what they have. Here’s hoping that Boylen sees the light and uses the depth of his squad. That could be enough to get them out of the cellars of their conference.