Chicago Bulls: Building the all-time worst starting five

Power Forward: Dickey Simpkins, 1999-00

This might be one of the easier picks on the entire list for the Chicago Bulls of who their all-time worst starting five is. One of the picks here got to play in the most games in any season during his time with the Bulls the year after MJ left the Windy City. And that player that had such a poor season in 1999-00 is 6-foot-9 power forward Dickey Simpkins.

In 1999-00, the Bulls were just attempting their next rebuild after the dynasty years were over. This wasn’t even the time when the Bulls had something to build off of yet in the early-to-mid 2000’s. The “baby Bulls” wouldn’t exist until the additions of players like point guard Kirk Hinrich and shooting guard Ben Gordon were made.

What Simpkins provided for the Bulls in the 1999-00 season was 69 games played and 48 starts. He averaged just 4.2 points per game, 5.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.3 blocks, while shooting 40.5 percent from the field. As a big man that wasn’t particularly adept to hitting the glass hard, stealing the ball a lot, or effectively assuming the role of a rim protector, there wasn’t a whole lot of value that Simpkins brought to the table.

The advanced numbers wound up being very poor for Simpkins in this down season. He had a box plus/minus rating at an abysmal -6.3, bad value over replacement player rating of -1.8, offensive rating of just 81, and -.021 win shares per 48 minutes. His turnover rate was sky high, above 28 percent, and his block and steal rates were either at or lower than one percent.