How it worked out for the Bulls
Again, this trade deal looked to be a big win for the Bulls to fix the mistake that was the free agent signing of Parker during the 2018 offseason. Former Bulls vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman made that mistake to assume Parker could play at the three two offseasons ago.
Just because they somewhat patched that mistake by filling another hole in the rotation doesn’t mean that they walk away free and clear from blame for poor roster construction. OPJ brought that wing depth to the table, and two-way impact ability, that the Bulls so desperately needed since the start of the 2018-19 season.
And if the Bulls got more than 29 games played out of OPJ up to this point, then this might be a better deal than it was so far. OPJ averaged 14.5 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.5 blocks. He shot 48.3 percent from the field, 39.9 percent from beyond the arc, and 81.4 percent from the free-throw line. That amounted to a 55.7 effective field goal percentage and 58.5 true shooting percentage.
Since OPJ is likely to pick up his player option this offseason, and make more than $28 million in base salary next year, he’s probably the best option as the starting small forward for next season. If he’s able to stay healthy, then OPJ should be a valuable piece of the Bulls rotation. He just hasn’t contributed a lot lot on the court to date, thanks most recently to a foot injury.