3. Could Kris Dunn or Denzel Valentine bring any trade value in return?
In the midst of all the trade conversations and ideas that were tossed around involving the Chicago Bulls since the end of last offseason, shooting guard Denzel Valentine and point guard Kris Dunn were two of the hottest names. Valentine and Dunn both bring very specific skill sets to the table that serve a lot of value elsewhere.
Dunn is a defensive stopper at point guard that is averaging two steals per game for the second time in his four year NBA career. The lengthy and intelligent 6-foot-4 Dunn could bring in a decent return for the Bulls, but that might be considered just a late first round or early second round draft pick. He is in the final year of his rookie contract.
Meanwhile, Valentine is pretty much the opposite of Dunn. He’s not very good on defense and gets burned on a regular basis. He’s a smart basketball player on the offensive end of the floor, but that off-ball awareness completely fades at times. Although he is posting a career-best 106 defensive rating so far this season, the -0.4 defensive box plus/minus rating is a more transparent ideal to how much value he brings to the table on that end of the floor.
Any team that needs a defensive stopper that can serve in the second unit off the bench should go after Dunn. There’s a lot of teams in playoff contention that could use someone like that at the moment. The Los Angeles teams make a lot of sense, as do the Houston Rockets.
And Valentine can go to any team that needs help on the wing with outside shooting, shot creation off the bench, and additional facilitators that can operate as secondary ball handlers.