Chicago Bulls: 3 players that benefited most from playing with D-Rose

Derrick Rose, Tony Snell, Chicago Bulls (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Derrick Rose, Tony Snell, Chicago Bulls (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
4 of 4
Tony Snell, Taj Gibson, Chicago Bulls
Tony Snell, Taj Gibson, Chicago Bulls (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

1. Tony Snell, Shooting Guard

One of the less successful first round picks of the Bulls in the early-to-mid 2010’s under the direction of former vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman falls in this spot on the list. With the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft, the Bulls selected the former New Mexico Lobos 6-foot-6 and 210 pound shooting guard Tony Snell.

Some light shined through right out of the gates that Snell was going to find success as a role player off the bench for the Bulls. He spent three seasons with the Bulls before he was dished out to the divisional foe Milwaukee Bucks in 2016, for the return of point guard Michael Carter-Williams. That didn’t really work out too well for either side.

In the three seasons that Snell spent with the Bulls, he played in 213 regular season games. He averaged 5.3 points per game, 2.3 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.4 steals, and 0.2 blocks. Snell shot 39.6 percent from the field, 35.1 percent from beyond the arc, and 81.4 percent from the free-throw line. He did see an uptick in his play once he landed in the Cream City, but he was also solid when on the floor with D-Rose.

In the final season that both Snell and D-Rose played in the Windy City, both benefited pretty greatly from being teammates. Snell saw about a five percent boost in his field goal percentage and about a dozen percentage point boost in his three-point shooting percentage. He was also more stout on the defensive end of the floor, which seems weird given Rose’s usual net negative presence on that end of the floor.