Bulls all-time second unit: Chet Walker
I found the small forward position to be the most challenging for this exercise. There were four candidates that battled it out in my mind: Jimmy Butler, Toni Kukoc, Luol Deng and Chet Walker.
All things considered, Butler is probably the best pure basketball player out of that group. But I can’t give him this spot with the way everything went down. He’s close, but not close enough.
The argument for Kukoc comes down to how much you value winning. He’s the only guy on this list to help the Bulls win a championship, but he’s also the only guy on this list who was fortunate enough to play with MJ and Pippen.
Deng gave the Bulls 10 really solid seasons and made two All-Star teams, but ultimately he didn’t have enough on his resume to earn the spot. That’s why I’m giving it to Chet Walker.
Lots of modern NBA fans forget about Chet Walker. I get it. His last season was 1974-75, and unless you were around to watch him back then, it’s understandable that he would become forgotten as time goes on. But don’t sleep on “The Jet.” He was good.
In six seasons for Chicago, Walker averaged 20.6 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting from the field to go along with 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He also got to the free-throw line a healthy 6.6 times per game and connected on 85.4 percent of those attempts.
Walker led the Bulls in Win Shares during all six of his seasons, and in all six of those seasons, the Bulls made the playoffs. Don’t forget about Chet.