In the last decade alone, the Chicago Bulls rostered some of the best and most underrated shooters in the Central Division.
Three-point shooting is an established weakness of the Chicago Bulls at the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. Under current head coach Jim Boylen, the Bulls can’t seem to figure out an offensive identity, even though the addition of former Brooklyn Nets assistant coach Chris Fleming seemed to help out some in the season that was.
The Bulls ranked 24th in the NBA this season in three-point shooting percentage (34.8), which was actually a slight drop in points from the previous season. Even though the Bulls saw a dramatic 35.6 percent increase in their number of three-point field goal attempts per game (up to 35.1 which ranked ninth in the NBA), they couldn’t get their percentage any higher.
This goes to show that more volume isn’t always necessarily a good thing in terms of shooting from deep, despite the tendency for teams to shoot in high volume each game in the modern NBA. Some of the most efficient season the Bulls had in recent memory in terms of three-point shooting percentage and overall shooting effectiveness came with lower volume per game.
During the 2015-16 season under former head coach Fred Hoiberg, the Bulls ranked third in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage (37.1), despite taking just over 21 three-point field goal attempts per game (ranking 24th in the NBA).
Another point that is important to note is that solid three-point shooting obviously doesn’t always lead to overall good free-throw shooting and field goal percentage. In that same 2015-16 campaign the Bulls ranked 22nd in field goal percentage (44.1), but seventh in free-throw percentage (78.7).
Throughout the 2010’s, the Bulls did have some solid shooters from deep, and overall efficient shooters from the field and charity stripe. The current roster doesn’t have many of them, but it could be something for the new front office personnel to learn from this offseason.
Here’s a look back at the three best shooters for the Bulls in the last decade.