Daniel Gafford, Power Forward/Center
The former Arkansas Razorbacks rim-running rookie big man Daniel Gafford is having about as good of a start to his inaugural campaign in the NBA as the Chicago Bulls could hope for. He made a big splash in his real season debut, against the Milwaukee Bucks, where he finished with more than 20 points off the bench.
He should be getting a bigger and bigger role as the season moves along. He’s averaging 4.6 points per game and 1.8 rebounds while posting a player efficiency rating just shy of 20.
Grade: A
Ryan Arcidiacono, Point Guard
There are four point guards for the Bulls that sit among the top eight players in terms of total minutes played so far this season. One of those four Bulls point guards is the former Villanova Wildcats floor general Ryan Arcidiacono.
But Arcidiacono is producing all that well after signing a three-year contract extension over the offseason. He’s shooting just 36.4 percent from the field while averaging 4.0 points per game, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. He has to do better to warrant as much playing time as he’s getting under Boylen at the moment.
Grade: D
Denzel Valentine, Shooting Guard
Two of the Bulls players on this part of the grades list are very nice surprise breakthroughs early in the regular season. The first was Gafford and the second is shooting guard Denzel Valentine. The former first round pick of the Bulls is breaking out while averaging 6.5 points per game, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists.
Valentine is also shooting a sparkling 45.0 percent from three-point range and 46.6 from the field. That makes him good for a career-best player efficiency rating thus far of 19.4.